Colin Curtis

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Colin Benedict Curtis

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Biographical Information[edit]

Batting for New York.

Outfielder Colin Curtis made his major league debut with the New York Yankees in 2010.

Curtis had a 1.40 ERA as a sophomore in high school. In 2002, he hit .459 and was All-State. He also played in the American Legion World Series that year. In 2003, he batted .405 and had a 2-1, 2.67 record. He was again All-State and shared the Washington state 3A MVP with Tim Lincecum. Baseball America rated him the #15 high school prospect entering the 2003 amateur draft. Due to a strong college commitment, he fell to the 50th round, when the Cincinnati Reds chose him.

In college at Arizona State University, Colin wore number 9 in honor of Roger Maris. He hit .300/.428/.437 as a freshman with only one error in 57 games and 12 steals in 14 tries. He hit .223 for the Orleans Cardinals in the Cape Cod League. His sophomore season, he batted .342/.442/.427 and stole 17 bases in 24 tries. He was 5th in the Pacific-10 Conference in steals. He also made the 2005 College World Series All-Tournament Team after going 9 for 19 with two doubles and 3 RBI; he led the CWS in hits that year. Returning to Orleans, he improved to .323/.437/.384 with 11 swipes in 15 tries. Baseball America rated him the #23 prospect in the loop, just ahead of Scott Sizemore. Curtis was named a Cape Cod League All-Star outfielder.

His junior season, the Washington native hit .335/.432/.515 with 21 stolen bases (in 25 attempts) and 60 runs in 58 games. He tied Brad Boyer for the Pac-10 lead in swipes and made All-Conference outfield. The New York Yankees selected him in the fourth round of the 2006 amateur draft; along with 6th-rounder Mitch Hilligoss, he was one of just two position players they took in the first ten rounds.

In 2006, the ASU alumnus made his pro debut, going 4 for 8 with two doubles, a homer, 3 runs, 4 RBI and a walk in three dominant games for the GCL Yankees. Promoted to the Staten Island Yankees, he hit .302/.362/.403 in 44 games as his club won the New York-Penn League crown. Had he qualified, he would have tied for 7th in the NYPL in average.

He began the following season with the Tampa Yankees and moved up to the AA Trenton Thunder in June after hitting .298/.378/.412 in 65 games. With Trenton, his line read .242/.298/.329 in 61 contests, facing the first challenge of his career. He spent the entire 2008 campaign with Trenton, hitting .255/.329/.368 with 10 home runs and 71 RBI. He drew nine intentional walks, leading the Eastern League.

After splitting 2009 between Trenton (.268/.343/.385 in 56 G) and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees (.235/.302/.307 in his first 70 AAA games), he hit .397 with 19 runs and 18 RBI in the Arizona Fall League, leading that elite circuit in slugging (.731).

Curtis was back with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to begin the next year. He hit .280 in 35 games for the team before being recalled by New York, replacing Chad Moeller, and making his big league debut as a pinch hitter in a June 21st game against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Batting for A.J. Burnett, he flew out against Rodrigo Lopez.

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