Chad S. Tracy

Chad Samuel Tracy

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.
• School Pepperdine University
• High School Claremont High School

• Born July 4, 1985 in Arlington Heights, IL USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

The grandson of Jim Tracy Sr., son of Jim Tracy and brother of Brian Tracy and Mark Tracy, Chad S. Tracy was a catcher in the minor leagues until injuries forced a move to 1B. He won home run and RBI titles in the minors. In 2012, he was traded to the Colorado Rockies, the team managed by his father.

Tracy had a fine freshman year in 2004 with Pepperdine University, helping the team to a West Coast Conference title. He led the Conference with 12 homers and batted .320/.353/.539. Collegiate Baseball named him to their freshman All-American team.

In 2005, Chad was even better, hitting .367/.428/.609. He led the WCC in average, hits (94), doubles (22), home runs (12) and RBI (61) and was named the Conference Player of the Year and All-Conference catcher. Tracy was named a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball.

Chad batted .333 with one homer and 17 RBI for the 2005 Kenai Peninsula Oilers. Had he qualified, he would have ranked fifth in the Alaska Baseball League in average. Almost every source listed him as a preseason All-American for 2006, ranging from first team to third team. Back at Pepperdine for the 2006 campaign, Tracy helped the team to another title despite slumping to a .315/.381/.496 average. His 254 at-bats led the WCC.

Considered a potential first-rounder earlier in 2006, Chad fell to the third round of the 2006 amateur draft before the Texas Rangers took him with the 88th overall pick. He was signed by scout Todd Guggiana for a $427,500 bonus.

Tracy hit .262/.339/.456 in his pro debut for the Spokane Indians, limited by a .158 average against left-handers. He was the Northwest League All-Star catcher and was ranked as the #13 prospect in the NWL by Baseball America.

Tracy played in 2007 with the Clinton Lumber Kings; in 134 games, he hit .250/.320/.409, with 35 doubles and 14 homers. He tied Travis Snider for the Midwest League lead in two-baggers and was 6th with 84 RBI (third-most in the Rangers chain). However, he only played 11 games as a catcher that year because of arm troubles, spending the remainder of his time as a left-fielder, first baseman and designated hitter. That fall, he played for the West Oahu CaneFires.

The arm problems continued in 2008, as he played on 7 games behind the plate for the Bakersfield Blaze, which would turn out to be his last as a catcher in the pros. He played 130 games altogether between Class A Bakersfield and the AA Frisco RoughRiders, hitting .296/.365/.478 with 40 doubles, 17 homers, 82 runs and 82 RBI. He tied for fourth in the California League with 37 doubles and led Texas farmhands in that department. He struggled in the hitter-friendly Arizona Fall League, hitting only .158 for the Surprise Rafters.

He played for Texas in a March 21 spring training game and hit a game-winning grand slam against his father's Rockies club. He returned to Frisco in 2009, where he played primarily first base; he had another solid season with the bat, with a line of .279/.333/.488. He had 32 doubles, 26 home runs and 107 RBI. He had 15 errors at first base, fielding .980. He was 5th in the Texas League in doubles (behind Chris Carter, Josh Donaldson, Craig Cooper and Mark Trumbo), led in homers (two ahead of Carter), was second in RBI (two behind Drew Locke), tied Carter for the most sacrifice flies (10), finished 5th in slugging, was third with 261 total bases (after Carter and Locke) and led in errors at first base (15). He set a Frisco franchise record for RBI and had the second-most homers in franchise annals to that point (after Nate Gold's 34 in 2006). He led Texas minor leaguers in RBI. He was named the TL All-Star designated hitter (Carter was picked at 1B).

Chad looked to be on the doorstep of the major leagues at that point, but he faced a setback as he missed almost half of the 2010 season with injuries, being limited to 79 games, all but one with the AAA Oklahoma City RedHawks. He hit .263/.349/.502, and again displayed excellent extra-base power, with 14 doubles and 17 homers. In 2011, the Rangers' AAA affiliate switched to the Round Rock Express, and Chad had another good season, hitting .259/.339/.475. He hit 32 doubles and 26 homers, scored 80 runs and drove in 109 in 134 games while playing first base and being the DH. He tied Trayvon Robinson and Anthony Rizzo for 8th in the 2011 PCL in dingers and tied Nick Stavinoha and Bryan LaHair for the RBI lead. He was chosen for Team USA that fall. In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, he was only 3 for 26 with 2 walks, a double and 7 strikeouts for the US (which shared the Bronze Medal with Team Canada when the Bronze Medal game was rained out). In the 7-5 loss to the Netherlands, he came up with two outs in the 9th and men on the corners against David Bergman, but grounded out to 1B Curt Smith to ruin the US hopes in that contest. He split first base duties with a fellow son of a major leaguer, Matt Clark. In the 2011 Pan American Games, he was 2 for 11 with a walk while starting at 1B ahead of Jim Gallagher (Clark moved to DH). In the Gold Medal match with Canada, he hit 7th and went 1 for 3 against Andrew Albers in a 2-1 loss; he left in the 7th for pinch-runner Gallagher.

However, the Rangers were loaded with talent both in the outfield and at first base, and there was no room for him to move up. On January 5, 2012, the Colorado Rockies acquired him in a trade for former top draft pick Greg Reynolds. The trade meant that he would have a chance to play for his father, who was now the Rockies' manager. He did play 133 games for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox in 2012, hitting .269 with 12 homers and 82 RBIs, but he did not get the chance to play in the Show. In 2013, he started the year with the Omaha Storm Chasers, in the Kansas City Royals organization, but was released after hitting .187 in 45 games. Not ready to give up the dream just yet, he then signed with the York Revolution, in the independent Atlantic League, for the remainder of the year, and hit .289 with 9 homers and 37 RBI in 59 games. He was back with York in 2014, playing 133 games during which he hit .272 with 23 homers and 97 RBIs.

He obviously still could hit, but he decided to move on, following in his father's footsteps into the managerial side of things. In December of 2014, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim announced that he had been hired as the manager of the Class A Burlington (IA) Bees for 2015. Tracy became minor league field coordinator for the Angels from 2018 to 2021. He then moved to the Boston Red Sox' organization as manager of the Worcester Red Sox.

Year-By-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2015	Burlington Bees	Midwest League	63-76	13th	Los Angeles Angels
2016	Inland Empire 66ers	California League	48-82	10th	Los Angeles Angels
2017	Inland Empire 66ers	California League	65-75	6th	Los Angeles Angels
2022	Worcester Red Sox	International League	75-73	9th	Boston Red Sox
2023	Worcester Red Sox	International League	79-68	7th	Boston Red Sox
2024	Worcester Red Sox	International League			Boston Red Sox

Sources: MILB.com, 2007 and 2011 Rangers Media Guides, 2005-2011 Baseball Almanacs, The Baseball Cube, Pepperdine player bio, 2011 World Cup stats, 2011 Pan American Games