Chris Berset

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 191 lb.

• School University of Michigan
• High School The Heights High School

• Born January 27, 1988 in Natick, MA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Chris Berset has played as high as AAA.

Berset was a team MVP in both basketball and baseball as a high school senior. He hit .571 his senior year. As a college freshman, he batted .301/.401/.446 for Michigan, but he slumped to .224/.336/.294 as a sophomore in 2008. His junior year, he batted .296/.434/.429. He then joined Britain for the 2009 Baseball World Cup. He qualified for Great Britain via his mother who was born in England. He was the team's top performer, batting .387/.441/.516. His biggest hit was a 2-run homer off Croatia's Jimmy Summers in the lone British win over 10 games.

The Cincinnati Reds chose Berset in the 20th round of the 2010 amateur draft. The scout was Brad Meador. He made his pro debut on June 21, going 0 for 1 for the Billings Mustangs. He hit .244/.381/.337 for Billings that year and threw out 41% of those who tried to steal. In 2011, he struggled on offense except for walks for the Dayton Dragons (.215/.359/.311) but fielded .998 and gunned down 36% of base-stealers. Both years, he backed up Tucker Barnhart. In 2012, he split time between the Bakersfield Blaze (.217/.319/.360 in 49 G) and Pensacola Blue Wahoos (.227/.346/.227 in 7 G).

He was 1 for 8 with a double, walk, two runs and a RBI as Britain's catcher in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. During 2013, he again suited up for Bakersfield (.248/.344/.394 in 43 G) and Pensacola (.182/.258/.273 in 16 G). He split 2014 between the Blaze (.310/.403/.500 in 16 G), Blue Wahoos (.187/.281/.201 in 42 G) and Louisville Bats (0 for 3). He excelled for Britain in the 2014 European Championship, hitting .261/.433/.609 and going deep in their last two wins, off Chris Kapothanasis and again off Summers. His 7 walks tied Adam Sorgi, Moritz Buttgereit and Daniel Martinez for 5th in the event. He was second on his team in slugging and OPS, behind Mitch Evans.

Berset played in 2015 for Pensacola (.125/.196/.200 in 14 G) and Louisville (.218/.285/.269 in 45 G), backing up Ramon Cabrera with Louisville. By 2016, he was a regular for the Bats, batting .249/.306/.294, fielding .992 and throwing out 30% of attempted base-stealers. In the 2016 European Championship, he hit .333/.524/.600 but had an uncharacteristic two errors and two passed balls in five games. He homered off Dimitri Kourtis for his second long ball against Greece in the span of two European Championships. He was 9th in the Euros in OBP, between Felix Brown and Artemiy Artamonov.

He was Britain's primary catcher in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, going 0 for 12 with two walks and a run; he was not their only oh-fer starter as Jordan Serena was 0 for 13. He came up big to end a win over Brazil in the semifinals, gunning down JC Muniz stealing.

Primary Sources: Michigan bio, World Baseball Classic, European Baseball Confederation