Christopher Ryan Herrmann (born November 24, 1987) 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 professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

and

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who is a free agent. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Minnesota Twins,

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

, and Oakland Athletics. He played

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 p ...

at the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

Amateur career

Born and raised in

Tomball, Texas Tomball ( ) is a city in Harris County in the U.S. state of Texas, a part of the Houston metropolitan area. The population was 12,341 at the 2020 U.S. census. In 1907, the community of Peck was renamed Tomball for local congressman Thomas Henry ...

, Herrmann attended

Tomball High School Tomball High School is an accredited public high school in the city of Tomball, Texas. It was the only high school in the Tomball Independent School District before the construction of Tomball Memorial High School in 2011. The high school was rem ...

where he earned numerous honors as a second baseman. After high school, he attended Alvin Community College where he hit .442 with 14 home runs, and was named to the NJCAA Division I All-American team. In the Junior College World Series, Herrmann hit .500 with three home runs and was named to the All-Tournament team. After only one season at Alvin, Herrmann transferred to the

. At Miami, he spent one season at the school before deciding to play professional baseball.

Professional career

Herrmann was drafted by the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

in the 10th round of the

2008 MLB draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first rou ...

out of Alvin Community College, but he did not sign.

Minnesota Twins

In the 2009 MLB draft, Herrman was again selected, this time out of the University of Miami by the Minnesota Twins in the sixth round. He began his professional career in 2009 with the Elizabethton Twins, and advanced to Double-A level in 2011 with the

New Britain Rock Cats The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado Rockies for one. They played ...

. After playing 127 games for New Britain during 2012, Herrmann was called up to the majors for the first time on September 14, 2012. He played in seven games, collecting a single and one

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI) in 18 at bats. During 2013, he split time between the Twins and the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings. He hit his first MLB

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

on June 2, 2013, off of

Jeremy Bonderman Jeremy Allen Bonderman (born October 28, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. Bonderman batted and threw right-handed. High school Bonderman attended Pasco High School in Pasco, Washington. In his last year of high school ...

of the

. Herrmann played in a career high 57 games for the Twins in 2013, split almost evenly between catcher and outfield,

batting Batting may refer to: * Batting (baseball), the act of attempting to hit a ball thrown by the pitcher with a baseball bat, in order to score runs * Batting (cricket), the act of defending one's wicket with the cricket bat while attempting to score ...

just .204 with four home runs and 18 RBIs. He displayed poor plate discipline, striking out 49 times in 157 at bats. In 2014, he batted .213 in 75 at bats, playing almost all of his MLB games in the outfield. In addition to 33 games with the Twins, he also played in 60 Triple-A games. In 2015, Herrmann had a

slash line S sabermetrics :Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. The term is derived from the SABR – the Society for American Baseball Research. The term was coined by Bill James, an ...

of .146/.214/.272, striking out 37 times in 103 at bats. For the season, he played in 45 MLB games and 23 Triple-A games. Overall, in parts of four seasons with the Twins, Herrmann appeared in 142 MLB games, batting .181 with six home runs and 33 RBIs. He made 69 appearances at catcher, 52 appearances in the outfield, two appearances at first base, and was the

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

three times; he was also used as a pinch hitter and pinch runner.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On November 10, 2015, Herrmann was traded to the

for

Daniel Palka Daniel Bennett Palka (born October 28, 1991) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Boston Red Sox organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox and in the KBO League for the Samsung Lions. C ...

. In 2016, Herrmann hit a career high .284 in 56 games for the Diamondbacks. The following season, he served as a utility player for Arizona playing catcher, outfield, and first base, batting .181/.273/.345 and hitting 10 home runs with 27 RBIs in 106 games as he struck out 67 times in 226 at bats. Herrmann was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on March 25, 2018, and released the following day.

Seattle Mariners

On April 7, 2018, Herrmann signed a minor league deal with the

. He began the season in Triple-A and was called up by Seattle during the season, appearing in 36 games, batting .237 and striking out 24 times in 76 at bats. On defense, he caught 4 of 18 base-stealers. On November 2, 2018, Herrmann was claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros. He was non-tendered by the Astros on November 30 and became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Oakland Athletics

On December 11, 2018, Herrmann signed a one-year deal with the Oakland Athletics. On March 19, 2019, Herrmann was placed on the 60-day injured list to start the season, after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on March 8. He debuted on July 2 against his former team, the Minnesota Twins, hitting a

grand slam Grand Slam most often refers to: * Grand Slam (tennis), one player or pair winning all four major annual tournaments, or the tournaments themselves Grand Slam or Grand slam may also refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category te ...

en route to an 8–6 Athletics victory. In his second game for the A's on July 4, Herrmann went 4-for-4 and drove in a run. On September 10, Herrmann was designated for assignment. Herrmann elected free agency on September 13.

Tampa Bay Rays

On January 13, 2020, Herrmann signed a minor league deal with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

. Herrmann did not play in a game for the Rays organization due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of 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 identi ...

. Herrmann exercised his opt-out clause on July 18, 2020, and became a free agent.

San Francisco Giants

On July 25, 2020, Herrmann signed a minor league deal with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

organization. Herrmann also did not play in a game for the Giants organization due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Boston Red Sox

On February 11, 2021, Herrmann signed a minor-league deal with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

. Herrmann played in 48 games with the Triple-A

Worcester Red Sox The Worcester Red Sox (nicknamed the WooSox) are a professional minor league baseball team based in Worcester, Massachusetts. Beginning play in 2021, the team is the Triple-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, succeeding the Pawtucket Red Sox. The ...

in 2021, slashing .222/.328/.431 with 7 home runs and 20 RBI. He elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.

Washington Nationals

On March 16, 2022, Herrmann signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

that included an invitation to Spring Training. Herrmann appeared in 28 games for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings, hitting .173/.267/.187 with no home runs and 8 RBI. He was released on August 9, 2022.

Kansas City Monarchs

On March 22, 2023, Herrmann signed with the

Acereros de Monclova The Acereros de Monclova (English: Monclova Steelers) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monclova, Coahuila, Mexico. Their home ballpark is Estadio de Béisbol Monclova, which has a capacity of 11,000 people. The Ace ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. However, prior to the start of the season, on April 18, he signed with the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 19 ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. Herrmann played in 94 games for Kansas City, hitting .355/.439/.617 with 23 home runs and 88 RBI. He was additionally named an All–Star for the Monarchs during the season. After the 2023 season, Herrmann became a free agent.

References

External links

*
Miami Hurricanes bio
via

Wayback Machine The Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web founded by the Internet Archive, a nonprofit based in San Francisco, California. Created in 1996 and launched to the public in 2001, it allows the user to go "back in time" and see ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrmann, Chris 1987 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Diamondbacks players Baseball players from Harris County, Texas Elizabethton Twins players Estrellas Orientales players Fort Myers Miracle players Kansas City Monarchs (American Association) players Las Vegas Aviators players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball outfielders Mesa Solar Sox players Miami Hurricanes baseball players Minnesota Twins players New Britain Rock Cats players Oakland Athletics players People from Tomball, Texas Peoria Javelinas players Reno Aces players Rochester Red Wings players Seattle Mariners players Tacoma Rainiers players Worcester Red Sox players