Chris Roberts

Christopher Roberts

• Bats Right, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• School Florida State University
• High School Middleburg (FL) High School

• Born June 25, 1971 in Middleburg, FL USA

BR minors page

Collegiate career, Olympics, draft

Pitcher/outfielder Chris Roberts played for the US in international competition and was a first-round draft pick but never made the majors.

Roberts went 5 for 25 with 5 walks, a double, two home runs, 9 runs and 6 RBI for the US when they won Gold at the 1989 World Junior Championship.

In the 1991 Pan-American Games, Roberts was one of two non-Cubans on the All-Star team, making it as an outfielder. He had hit four home runs, tied for the lead with Lourdes Gourriel Sr. and Orestes Kindelan. He competed for the United States at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. As a college senior that year he hit .286 with 12 homers and went 8-4 with a 2.34 ERA. He allowed one run in three innings in the Olympics. He was selected by the New York Mets in the first round of the 1992 amateur draft (the 18th overall pick) but never reached the major leagues. After being drafted, Roberts was used solely as a pitcher.

Pro career

Roberts made his professional debut with the 1993 St. Lucie Mets and went 13-5 with a 2.75 ERA. He was fourth in the Florida State League in ERA, third in the FSL in wins and fanned 111 while walking only 36 in 173 innings. He was voted to the FSL All-Star team. Named the #8 prospect in the New York Mets system by Baseball Almanac, Chris was working in AA already in his second season and posted a 13-8 record and 3.29 ERA. He was 9th in the Eastern League in ERA, tied for third in victories and again helped his team advance to the postseason - this time his club, the Binghamton Mets won in the championship, with Roberts fanning 12 in the finale against the Harrisburg Senators.

Chris began to decline significantly in 1995. With the Norfolk Tides he went 7-13 with a 5.52 ERA and allowed 197 hits in 150 innings; the record was especially bad considering the team went 79-43 when Roberts did not pick up the decision. In 1996, the free-falling Roberts was 2-7, 7.24 for Binghamton, 1-0 for St. Lucie and 0-0 for the GCL Mets. He presumably was injured either in '95 or '96 given the decline and constant movement from club to club. In 1997 he recovered a bit, going 5-8 with a 4.96 ERA for Binghamton and 0-4, 2.89 for Norfolk.

Released by the Mets, Roberts was with the Edmonton Trappers in 1998 (0-4, 5.86), falling to 7-21 at AAA. He also pitched for the Newburgh Black Diamonds and went 5-2, 4.56 for the Atlantic League team. A year later he was with the Carolina Mudcats (5-4, Sv, 3.78), finding some success as a reliever and being effective for the first time in 5 years and Greenville Bluesmen (0-0, 9.88).

In 2000 Roberts went overseas to join the Chiba Lotte Marines. He went 3-5 with a 5.64 ERA as a swingman and walked 64 while fanning 53 in 95 2/3 innings. The Marines did not bring Chris back in 2001 and at age 29-30 he finished his career the next year with the Indianapolis Indians (0-0, 6.48 in 5 games) and the Camden Riversharks (1-3, 5.61 in 7 contests). Overall Roberts was 55-63 as a professional.

After his playing career

Roberts was a volunteer coach at Flagler College (2001), and pitching coach at Western Carolina University (2002-2003), North Carolina State University (2004-2007), University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2008-2009), and Stetson University (2010-present).

Related Sites

Chris Roberts' Bio