Shane Opitz

Shane Michael Opitz

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Heritage High School

• Born January 10, 1992 in Centennial, CO USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Shane Opitz has been a minor league infielder.

Opitz was picked by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th round of the 2010 amateur draft; the scout was Jon Bunnell. He debuted with the GCL Blue Jays, going 10 for 33 with 3 doubles, a triple and two walks. He hit .259/.285/.312 and fielded .945 at SS for the 2011 Vancouver Canadians. He batted only .225/.282/.317 and fielded .961 at short for the Lansing Lugnuts in 2012. His 10 sacrifice hits tied Jamal Austin and Zeke DeVoss for 5th in the Midwest League. In 2013, he was a utility infielder for Lansing (.370/.424/.500 in 15 G) and the Dunedin Blue Jays (.309/.362/.399 in 60 G). He joined the Canberra Cavalry for the 2013-2014 Australian Baseball League. In the 2013 Asia Series, he went 7 for 16 with two doubles, four runs and a RBI as the Canberra shortstop as they became the first Australian Baseball League club to win an Asia Series. He was 3 for 4 with two runs and an error in the finale against the Uni-President Lions. For the Series, he tied Mike Crouse, Hyung-sik Jung and Wu-Hsiung Pan for second in runs, one behind double play mate Jon Berti. He also tied Mitch Dening for third in hits.

Opitz played in the Blue Jays minor league system from 2010-2017 and rose to the AAA level. In 2018 he joined the Milwaukee Brewers organization and played for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox. Over this nine-year period, Opitz hit .254 with an OBP of .309 and slugged .336 while playing every position except catcher and pitcher. After leaving the Brewers system, Opitz wasn't quite ready to hang up the spikes, so he played a final season with the independent league High Point Rockers.

After his playing career ended, Opitz began a move into the coaching ranks at the collegiate level. He served as the volunteer assistant coach at the University of Northern Colorado during the 2019-20 academic year. In 2020-21 he was a graduate assistant coach with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks who spent most of the season ranked No. 1 in the nation. Opitz joined Stetson University as a volunteer assistant coach in the summer of 2021.

Shane is the brother of Jake Opitz and Casey Opitz who also played professionally.

Sources

• 2013 Blue Jays Media Guide
• 2013 Asia Series
• Stetson University Bio