Trevor Plouffe

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Trevor Patrick Plouffe

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Biographical Information[edit]

Shortstop Trevor Plouffe was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 2004 amateur draft, the first of five first-round picks that year by the Twins (counting picks in the sandwich round) and the 20th overall in the draft. He had hit .481 and slugged .852 as a high school senior and was 12-2 with one save and a 0.78 ERA. He made the Baseball America high school All-America team as a utility man.

Plouffe was signed by scout Bill Mele for $1.5 million and made his pro debut that summer with the Elizabethton Twins, hitting .283/.340/.380 in 60 games. Baseball America ranked him as the #6 prospect in the Appalachian League. He spent the next season with the Beloit Snappers, where he hit .223/.300/.345 with 13 homers and 60 RBIs and was picked as the 12th-best prospect in the Midwest League. He moved on to the Fort Myers Miracle in 2006 and hit .246/.333/.347 with 4 home runs and 45 RBIs.

On August 29, 2014, Plouffe hit the 10,000th home run in the history of the Twins franchise, dating back to its beginnings as the Washington Senators in 1901. The homer came in the 7th inning of a 9 - 1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. His season was cut short on September 24th when he broke his left forearm in a collision at third base with A.J. Pollock of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Plouffe's 2016 season was cut short by a rib injury that landed him on the disabled list three times and limited him to 84 games. He was designated for assignment the following November, and signed a free agent deal with the Oakland Athletics in January, 2017. Given a chance to start at third base early in the year, he hit .214 in 58 games, with 7 homers and 14 RBIs. On June 15th, the A's decided to go in a different direction, however, as he was again designated for assignment to make room for top prospect Matt Chapman, who took over as the starting third sacker. A couple of days later, he was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for future considerations. He played 42 games with Tampa, hitting just .168, to finish at .198 with 9 homers and 19 RBIs in 100 games.

On February 12, 2018, he signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers in the hope of relaunching his career. However, he failed to make the team and was released on April 10th after 4 games in AAA with the Round Rock Express. He then signed with the Philadelphia Phillies a couple of weeks later. He hit .240 in 60 games for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs and on July 10th was called up to the majors and getting a pinch single in his first at-bat that day. On July 24th, he made history by hitting a walk-off homer in the 16th inning off Kiké Hernandez of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The utility player had been pressed into mound duty that inning after the Dodgers had run out of relievers, and after issuing a couple of one-out walks, he grooved an 85 mph fastball to Trevor, who deposited it in the stands for a 7-4 win. It was the first walk-off homer ever given up by a position player.

Notable Achievements[edit]

  • 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2012 & 2015)

Further Reading[edit]

  • Rhett Bollinger: "Plouffe fully recovered from broken left forearm: Third baseman rested and on normal timeframe for 2015 season", mlb.com, January 23, 2015. [1]

Related Sites[edit]