Cito Culver

Christopher S. Culver

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 185 lb.
• High School West Irondequoit High School

• Born August 26, 1992 in Rochester, NY USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Cito Culver was a first-round selection in the 2010 amateur draft. Culver had a commitment to the University of Maryland when the New York Yankees chose him at #32. He was signed by scout Matt Hyde for $954,000 foregoing college for a chance to don pinstripes. He made his pro debut on June 25th, going 0 for 3 for the GCL Yankees but had four hits four days later. Only 17 years old that first season, he hit .251/.325/.330 in 56 games, moving up to the Staten Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League that August. He spent a full year at Staten Island in 2011, where he hit .250/.323/.337 in 69 games, while not turning 19 until the last couple of weeks of the season. In 2012, he moved up to the Charleston RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League, where he played 122 games but hit only .215/.321/.283, with 14 doubles 6 triples and 2 homers in his first experience of full-season ball. He stole 22 bases in 33 attempts, scored 66 runs, and did draw 71 walks.

Culver was an invitee to the Yankees spring training in 2013 and played a number of games with the big league team. Although starting shortstop Derek Jeter was not healthy, Culver was never in contention to start the year in New York, given his low batting averages in the lower levels of the minors. He was sent back to Charleston to start 2013, but was still hitting only .213 in mid-May. By then he was repeating a relatively low level, and was no longer significantly younger than the majority of his opponents, making observers wonder if he would ever hit enough to reach the majors, and throwing some serious shadow on his supposed status as Jeter's heir apparent. he hit .232 in 104 games for Charleston, then after getting a late-season promotion to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League, suddenly began to hit, putting up a batting average of .355 in 16 games. Overall, his batting line was .248/.322/.362 in 120 games. He was assigned to Tampa at the start of 2014, but fell back to hitting in the low .200's. He stayed in the Yankees system through 2017, then joined the Miami Marlins organization for 2018. He continued his pro career in the independent ranks in 2019. He found some success in 2020, slashing .395/.495/.617 in 22 games for the Sussex County Miners of the All-American Baseball Challenge; he also spent 10 games with the American Association's Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks, batting .258 in 10 games with them.