Michael Collins

Michael John Donald Collins

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 190-213 lb.
• High School Daramalan College

• Born July 18, 1984 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory Australia

BR Minors page

Biographical information

Michael Collins reached AAA in the minors and has played for the Australian national team.

Collins debuted in the minor leagues in 2001 with the AZL Angels, hitting .179/.256/.179. In the 2002 Claxton Shield, the Canberra native hit .294/.294/.353 for the Australian Provincial team. In 2002, the teenager hit .275/.353/.353 in a return trip, alternating between catcher, first base and DH. He hit .180/.353/.313 in the 2003 Claxton Shield. That year in the USA, Collins batted .333/.353/.447 for the Provo Angels and .368/.409/.553 for the AZL Angels.

In the 2004 campaign, Collins struggled, hitting .218/.323/.300 for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and only playing 13 games in the field. In 2005, Michael hit .444, third-best in the Claxton Shield and was named as the All-Star catcher. Collins fared better in his second year at Cedar Rapids, producing at a .320/.412/.482 clip with 16 steals and 32 doubles while splitting time between catcher (59 games) and first base (40). He finished third in the Midwest League in batting average behind Eric Patterson and Tonys Gutierrez and made the league All-Star team at catcher.

In the 2006 Shield, Collins hit .438/.538/.700 with 5 runs and 4 RBI in five games. Thanks to his fine performance, he was added to the Australian team for the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Collins was 0 for 4 in the event. He started at catcher against Venezuela; he struck out against Kelvim Escobar and ground out against Tony Armas Jr. before Matthew Kent replaced him. Against the Dominican national team, he pinch-hit for DH Brett Roneberg in the sixth and ground out against Daniel Cabrera. He stayed in and later flew out against Robinson Tejeda.

Collins hit .291/.371/.400 for the 2006 Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and was hit by 33 pitches. He also drove in 82 runs. He led the California League in times hit by pitch. Landon Powell beat him out for the All-Star nod at catcher. In the 2007 Claxton Shield, Michael hit .333/.440/.524 with 5 RBI in five games to lead the Provincials.

In 2007, Collins struggled in the US, batting only .242/.286/.333 with 12 walks to 70 strikeouts in 119 games for the Arkansas Travelers. Worse, he was now playing only first base, where those numbers were clearly inferior. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, he hit .217/.296/.261 as a 1B-DH for Australia. Collins returned to Arkansas in 2008 and hit .264/.351/.412 while manning first. He was with Australia for the 2009 World Baseball Classic and was 1 for 3 with a run and a RBI as the first man off the bench. His hit was a key single off Pedro Luis Lazo as Australia took the lead against Cuba (they later blew it).

He played for the Arkansas Travelers in 2008, hitting .264 with five home runs and 37 RBI in 67 games. His 2009 season was split between the San Antonio Missions (53 games) and Portland Beavers (five games), and he hit .230 in 58 games.

Collins has also managed the Canberra Cavalry in the Australian Baseball League. He coached for Australia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic and 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In 2019 he was named catching coach for the Houston Astros.

Year-by-Year Managerial Record

Year	Team	League	Record	Finish	Organization	Playoffs
2012	DSL Padres	Dominican Summer League	28-42		San Diego Padres
2013	AZL Padres	Arizona League	28-26	5th	San Diego Padres	Lost in 2nd round
2014	Fort Wayne TinCaps	Midwest League	63-76	12th	San Diego Padres	Lost in 2nd round
2015	Lake Elsinore Storm	California League	50-90	10th	San Diego Padres
2016	AZL Padres	Arizona League	25-30	11th	San Diego Padres
2017	AZL Padres 2	Arizona League	30-25	5th (t)	San Diego Padres

Sources

• Flintoff & Dunn Australian Baseball Almanacs
• 2002-2007 Baseball Almanacs
• MILB.com
• Sportsline.com
• IBAF site
• World Baseball Classic