Chase Aaron Strumpf (born March 8, 1998) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

second baseman and

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system u ...

in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

organization. He played college baseball at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. Strumpf was selected by the Cubs in the second round of the

2019 Major League Baseball draft The 2019 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 3 to 5, 2019. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order was set based on the reverse order of the 2018 MLB season standings. In addit ...

Early life

Strumpf was born in Atlanta, Georgia, grew up in

Dana Point, California Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...

, and is Jewish. His parents are Gregg and Nani Strumpf, and he has a sister named Chloe.

High school

Strumpf attended

JSerra Catholic High School JSerra Catholic High School is a private coeducational Catholic high school located in San Juan Capistrano, California. Named after Saint Junípero Serra, the school was founded by parents in 2003 and is an independent school sanctioned by the ...

San Juan Capistrano, California San Juan Capistrano ( Spanish for " St. John of Capistrano") is a city in Orange County, California, located along the Orange Coast. The population was 34,593 at the 2010 census. San Juan Capistrano was founded by the Spanish in 1776, when St. ...

. During his freshman year, he committed to play

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

. After his freshman year, he played on the

USA Baseball USA Baseball is the national governing body for organized baseball in the United States, and is a member of the United States Olympic Committee and the World Baseball Softball Confederation. The organization selects and trains the World Baseba ...

15U National Team, helping Team USA win a gold medal in

Barranquilla, Colombia Barranquilla () is the capital district of Atlántico Department in Colombia. It is located near the Caribbean Sea and is the largest city and third port in the Caribbean Coast region; as of 2018 it had a population of 1,206,319, making it Co ...

. He was a 2014 Perfect Game USA second team Underclass All-American, a 2015 Perfect Game USA first team Underclass All-American, and a 2016

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname), including a list of people with the name See also *Rawlins (disambiguati ...

/Perfect Game Honorable Mention All-American. He was not drafted out of high school in the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be di ...

, and enrolled at UCLA.

College

In 2017, Strumpf's freshman year at

, playing second base he appeared in 55 games (making 54 starts), hitting .239/.315/.399 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs. That summer, he played for the

Duluth Huskies The Duluth Huskies are an amateur baseball team playing in the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league. They have been operating in Duluth, Minnesota since 2003. The Huskies play home games at Wade Stadium in Duluth, which was b ...

in the wood bat

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not paid, so as to maintain their college el ...

, where after playing primarily shortstop and batting .335/.425/.549 (ninth in the league) over 164 at-bats with six home runs, he was named a post-season All-Star. As a sophomore at UCLA in 2018, Strumpf started 58 games in which he slashed .363/.475/.633 with 59 runs, 23 doubles, 12 home runs, 53 RBIs, and 45 walks, ranking second in doubles and third in

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

while ranking in the top ten in the other statistics (except RBIs) within the conference. He was top-50 in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

in doubles (13th), on-base percentage (25th), total bases (36th), and slugging percentage (49th). He was named to the

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS; formerly Division ...

First Team, and was named D1Baseball, ''

Collegiate Baseball ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') is an American publication based in Arizona that considers itself the "voice of amateur baseball" which has been published for over 40 y ...

'', and Perfect Game All-American second team. After the season, he was selected to play for the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team, but was unable to participate due to injury. Prior to his 2019 junior season, Strumpf was named a preseason All-American by D1Baseball, Perfect Game, ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form ...

'', ''Collegiate Baseball'', and the

National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is an association of baseball writers, broadcasters, and publicists in the United States. It was founded in 1962. The NCBWA compiles a preseason ranking of the top 35 teams in the nat ...

. He finished his junior year batting .279/.416/.472 in 233 at bats with nine home runs, 44 RBIs, 48 walks (fifth in the conference), and eight hit by pitch (eighth) in 63 games. He was again named to the Pac-12 First Team. In his three-season college career he batted an aggregate .297/.409/.507, while playing second base where he had a .983

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, div ...

Professional career

Chicago Cubs organization

2019–21

Strumpf was considered one of the top prospects for the

. He was selected by the

in the second round with the 64th overall pick, and signed for a

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

of $1.05 million. Strumpf made his professional debut in 2019 with the Rookie-level

Arizona League Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of player ...

, and was promoted to the

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (cre ...

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Basebal ...

after seven games. After 26 games with Eugene, he was promoted to the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team was ...

of the Class A

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganiza ...

with whom he finished the year while playing through a back injury. Over 39 games between the three clubs, Strumpf slashed .244/.374/.400 in 135 at-bats with three home runs and 17 RBIs, while playing second base. He was named a 2019 Northwest League Mid-Season All Star. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, but in the instructional league he batted .375/.414/.792. To begin the 2021 season, Strumpf was assigned back to South Bend, now members of the

High-A Central The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

. On June 1, he was promoted to the

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off I ...

of the

Double-A South AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * Do ...

. In late August, he was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

and missed the remainder of the season. Over 78 games played between South Bend and Tennessee, Strumpf slashed .231/.352/.381 in 268 at-bats with 19 doubles, seven home runs, and 36 RBIs. He played 56 games at third base and 18 games at second base.

2022–present

Strumpf returned to Tennessee for the 2022 season. Over 116 games and 393 at bats, he slashed .234/.379/.461 with 73 runs (seventh in the league), 22 doubles, 21 home runs (seventh), 57 RBIs, 73 walks (fifth), and 19 hit by pitch (second). In the field he played second base (59 games), third base (55 games), and first base (3 games). He was named an MiLB Organization All Star. Strumpf returned to Tennessee to open the 2023 season, and hit .258/.401/.500. In late May, he was promoted to the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The Cubs play their ho ...

of the Triple-A

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ( ...

. Over 104 games between both teams, Strumpf hit .229/.373/.464 with 72 runs, 21 home runs, 66 RBIs, and 72 walks in 349 at bats. Between the two teams, in the field he played 45 games at third base, 43 games at second base, and seven games at first base.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Strumpf, Chase 1998 births Living people Baseball players from Atlanta Baseball second basemen Jewish American baseball players People from Dana Point, California Baseball players from Orange County, California UCLA Bruins baseball players United States national baseball team players Arizona League Cubs players Eugene Emeralds players South Bend Cubs players Tennessee Smokies players Duluth Huskies players