Christopher S. "Cito" Culver (born August 26, 1992) 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists wh ...

for the

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats (often shortened to Cats) are a professional independent baseball team based in Troy, New York. The Tri-City name refers to the three nearby cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy which make up New York State's Capital D ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League is a professional independent baseball league with teams in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Eastern Canada. Formed in 1993, it is the oldest currently running independent league in the United States. The le ...

. He was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in the first round of the

2010 Major League Baseball Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pi ...

Career

Culver attended

Irondequoit High School Irondequoit High School (IHS) is a public high school in the town of Irondequoit, a major suburb of Rochester, New York. History Irondequoit District Number 3 renamed their original ''Irondequoit Union Free School'' as Irondequoit High School in 1 ...

Irondequoit, New York Irondequoit is a town (and census-designated place) in Monroe County, New York, United States. As of 2019, the coterminous town-CDP had a total population of 50,055. Irondequoit is a suburb of the city of Rochester, lying just north and east of ...

, a suburb of

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

. He played little league for Irondequoit Athletic Association.

New York Yankees

Culver was selected by the

with their first-round pick, 32nd overall, in the 2010 MLB Draft. While he had already 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 p ...

for the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

, he passed on his commitment and instead signed a contract reportedly worth $954,000 with the Yankees. He made his professional debut that season for the

Gulf Coast Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseba ...

. He was later promoted to the

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pla ...

. Overall in 56 games, Culver hit .251/.325/.330 with two home runs and 18 RBI. Culver spent the entire 2011 season with Staten Island, posting 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 .250/.323/.337 with two home runs and 33 RBI in 69 games. In 2012, he played for the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Hi ...

, batting .215/.321/.283 with two home runs and 40 RBI in 122 games. Culver decided to stick to batting right-handed rather than switch hitting prior to the 2013 season. He started the season back with Charleston. In August, he was promoted to the

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

. Overall, he hit .248/.322/.362 with nine home runs and 34 RBI in 120 games. He remained with Tampa for the 2014 season and in 132 games, he batted .220/.298/.303 with five home runs, 48 RBI, and 12 steals, playing 130 of the games at shortstop while serving as the DH the other two. Culver spent 2015 with both the

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the ...

and the

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pennsylvania, in the ...

, where he posted a combined .207

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

with three home runs and 30 RBI in 114 combined games between both teams. In 2016, Culver also split time between the Thunder and the RailRiders, where he batted .254 with four home runs and 51 RBI in 117 games. Culver played his final season in the Yankees organization in 2017, batting .224 with 12 home runs and 48 RBI in 103 games with the RailRiders. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Miami Marlins

On January 9, 2018, Culver signed a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins. He elected free agency on November 2, 2018.

Sussex County Miners

On February 8, 2019, Culver signed with the

Rockland Boulders The New York Boulders are an American Independent baseball league, independent professional baseball team playing in the Frontier League based in Pomona, New York, Pomona, Rockland County, New York (state), New York. The team was founded as a mem ...

of the independent

Can-Am League The Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball, commonly known as the Can-Am League, was a professional, independent baseball league with teams in the Northeast United States and Eastern Canada, founded in 2005 as a reorganization ...

. On June 14, he was claimed off waivers by the

Sussex County Miners The Sussex County Miners are a professional independent league baseball team based in the Augusta section of Frankford Township in Sussex County, New Jersey, United States. The Miners are members of the East Division of the Frontier League, an ...

of the

. Culver was signed to a contract extension by the Miners on January 8, 2020.

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks

On February 21, 2020, Culver was traded to the

Kansas City T-Bones The Kansas City Monarchs are a professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Kansas. Formerly known as the Kansas City T-Bones, they are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball; which, in 2020, became designated as a Majo ...

of the

American Association of Independent 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 ...

. The T-Bones were not selected to compete in the condensed 60-game season due to 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 ...

. He was later drafted by the

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks are a professional minor-league baseball team based in Fargo, North Dakota, in the United States. The RedHawks are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major Leagu ...

in the 2020 dispersal draft. Culver was released on July 18, 2020.

Sussex County Miners (second stint)

On November 27, 2020, Culver signed with the

of the

Tri-City ValleyCats

On July 18, 2022, Culver was claimed off waivers by the

of the

Personal

Culver's father served nine years in

Attica Correctional Facility Attica Correctional Facility is a maximum security campus New York State prison in the Town of Attica, New York, operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. It was constructed in the 1930s in response ...

for attempting to set his family's house on fire on March 22, 2008. He was later diagnosed with

bipolar disorder Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...

. By terms of the plea agreement, Culver can have no contact with his father.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Culver, Cito 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Rochester, New York Baseball players from New York (state) Gulf Coast Yankees players Staten Island Yankees players Charleston RiverDogs players Tampa Yankees players People from Irondequoit, New York Trenton Thunder players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Indios de Mayagüez players New Orleans Baby Cakes players Rockland Boulders players Sussex County Miners players Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks players