David Sutherland

From BR Bullpen

David Andrew Sutherland
(Goofy)

BR minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

David Sutherland has played in the Australian Baseball League.

Sutherland hit .265/.286/.382 with 8 RBI in 8 games for Australia in the 2002 World Junior Championship, serving as their main 1B and also backing up Trent D'Antonio in left field. He made his Claxton Shield debut at age 17 and batted .375/.483/.500 with 7 runs in 7 games for the 2003 Queensland Rams. The youngster was named an All-Star outfielder for the event. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him and he batted .236/.281/.272 for the 2003 GCL Dodgers. He led Gulf Coast League first basemen in putouts (470), assists (28) and double plays (47).

With the 2004 Rams, he produced at a .389/.389/.444 clip with six runs in seven games. He followed by hitting .301/.357/.353 for the GCL Dodgers, fielding .997 at first. He was 6th in the GCL in average and led first basemen in fielding percentage. He hit .474/.474/.526 in five games for Queensland in 2005, leading the Claxton Shield in average, finishing second in slugging and tying for third in OBP.

He kept on hitting with the Ogden Raptors in the summer of '05, batting .336/.422/.453 with 44 runs and 47 RBI in 66 games, with more walks (34) than whiffs (27). He was 5th in the Pioneer League in average (between Ryan Crew and Rusty Ryal), tied Hainley Statia for 6th in hits (83), was 5th in RBI (3 of the guys with more wound up in the majors), tied Evan Tartaglia for 6th in walks, was 4th in OBP and was 9th in OPS (between Jase Turner and Mat Gamel). He was named the league's All-Star first baseman.

His .250/.344/.464 line in the 2006 Claxton Shield was his lowest to that point in four Shield tournaments but he drove in 9 runs in 7 games to help Queensland to the title. He tied for the lead in RBI for the event. He made it to a full season minor league with the Columbus Catfish but his numbers fell off (.268/.331/.353). As Australia's main first baseman in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, he hit .310/.355/.586 with 8 RBI in 9 games. He led the team in RBI, one ahead of future major leaguer Luke Hughes.

He hit .250/.304/.300 for Queensland in 2007 then only .197/.217/.256 in 34 contests for the Great Lakes Loons to end his time in the US minors. The tall infielder was resurgent in the 2008 Claxton Shield, producing at a .442/.480/.558 clip with 12 RBI in 12 games. He was second in average (.028 behind Clint Balgera), 5th in OBP, tied Stefan Welch for 2nd in hits (19, 1 shy of Mitch Graham) and tied Paul Weichard for second in RBI (two behind Tom Brice).

The Brisbane native slumped to .204/.302/.352 for the Rams in 2009. In the 2009-2010 Claxton Shield, he did not even see action. When the Australian Baseball League was revived for 2010-2011, he joined his hometown Brisbane Bandits and did well - .298/.372/.386. In 2011-2012, he produced at a .305/.365/.462 clip with 31 RBI in 45 games. He tied Joshua Roberts for 7th in RBI and just missed the top 10 in average. He slumped to .247/.311/.300 in 2012-2013.

Sutherland's batting line for the Bandits in 2013-2014 was .257/.315/.419. He tied Ryan Battaglia for 6th in the ABL with six home runs and drove in 35 in 43 games, good for third in the loop behind Brandon Tripp and Ryan Casteel. In 2014-2015, the veteran hit .258/.319/.392. During 2015-2016, he batted .309/.387/.463 and was 11th in average, OBP and slugging.

He made the Australian squad for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, ten years after his last time donning the Green and Gold. In his only game as Australia swept the Sydney qualifier, he replaced Welch at first in the top of the 8th in the finale against South Africa (Welch having been lifted for pinch-runner Aaron Whitefield). Sutherland came to bat in the bottom of the inning and drew a Russell Olivier walk then scored on a hit by D'Antonio.

Sources[edit]

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