Jeffrey Scott Keppinger (born April 21, 1980) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

retired

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 (A ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. He played for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after s ...

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 Yo ...

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 ...

, and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. Known as a contact hitter, Keppinger consistently had one of the lowest strikeout rates in the major leagues. He led the league in

at-bats In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

-to-

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

ratio in 2008 (19.1) and 2010 (14.3), and posted a career mark of 13.47 (214 strikeouts in 2,882 at-bats).

Amateur career

In 1994 Keppinger played on the Dunwoody Braves summer baseball team, and was named to the AAU All-American team. He also played for the

New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league founded in 1993 and sanctioned by the NCAA and Major League Baseball. Each NECBL team plays an eight-week, 44-game schedule during June ...

Keene Swamp Bats The Keene Swamp Bats are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Keene, New Hampshire. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team collegiate summer basebal ...

. He compiled a .380 batting average at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

where, in the

College World Series The College World Series (CWS), officially the NCAA Men's College World Series (MCWS), is an annual baseball tournament held in June in Omaha, Nebraska. The MCWS is the culmination of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Divisi ...

, he hit a two-run home run off star pitcher Mark Prior. In 2000 and 2001, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the Orleans Cardinals of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. He was selected by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in the 4th round of the

2001 Major League Baseball draft The 2001 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 5 and 6. First round selections Supplemental First Round Selections Compensation Picks Background On June 1, 2001, Rolando Viera, a Cuban ...

Professional career

New York Mets

At the 2004 trading deadline, while Keppinger was in double-A ball, he was traded to the Mets as part of the Kris Benson for Ty Wigginton trade. His average soared even higher with the double-A

Binghamton Mets The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mirab ...

and stayed above .300 with the triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

earning him a call to the majors on August 20. He responded by hitting .284 with three home runs and nine RBI in 33

games played Games played (GP) is a statistic used in team sports to indicate the total number of games in which a player has participated (in any capacity); the statistic is generally applied irrespective of whatever portion of the game is contested. Basebal ...

. In 2005, Keppinger again excelled in Norfolk while hitting .337. He was poised to return to the majors in June when

Kazuo Matsui is a Japanese retired professional baseball player who played as a shortstop and is the current manager of the Saitama Seibu Lions. He is a switch-hitter. Matsui signed with the New York Mets on December 17, 2003, becoming the first Japanese i ...

was injured, but bad luck struck when Keppinger fractured his

kneecap The patella, also known as the kneecap, is a flat, rounded triangular bone which articulates with the femur (thigh bone) and covers and protects the anterior articular surface of the knee joint. The patella is found in many tetrapods, such as m ...

around the same time as Matsui. The injury not only prevented his return to the majors but ended his entire 2005 season.

Kansas City Royals

On July 19, 2006, Keppinger was acquired by the Kansas City Royals for middle infielder Ruben Gotay and Keppinger was sent to Triple-A Omaha. Keppinger was called up by the Royals in August 2006. With a season-ending injury to starting third baseman Mark Teahen, Keppinger was expected to see some major league action. A key moment in his career occurred on September 9, 2006 at Boston's

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and Boston Braves (baseball), since 1953, i ...

, when, after entering the game against the Red Sox as a pinch runner, he came to bat in the top of 12th inning in a 4-4 tie game with two runners on. Keppinger, batting against

Manny Delcarmen Manuel Delcarmen (born February 16, 1982) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He previously pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2005 through 2010, mainly for the Boston Red Sox; he was a member of Boston's 2007 World Se ...

, hit a ball just to the left of the right field foul pole for a three-run home run, breaking the 4-4 tie. The Royals went on to beat the Red Sox in that game 10-4.

Cincinnati Reds

On January 2, 2007, Keppinger was designated for assignment by the Royals. Eight days later, Keppinger was traded to the

. In return, the Royals received Minor League pitcher Russ Haltiwanger. On May 13, 2008, Keppinger fractured his patella in the second inning of a game against the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The fran ...

, placing him on the 15-day disabled list. On June 22, 2008, he returned, much to the joy of the Reds who had just recently lost another shortstop to injury in Jolbert Cabrera. In 2008, he had the lowest strikeout percentage in the majors, at 4.8%, striking out once only every 19.1 at-bats.

Houston Astros

On March 31, 2009, Keppinger was traded to the Houston Astros for minor league infielder

Drew Sutton Stephen Drew Sutton (born June 30, 1983) is an American former professional baseball infielder and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and Pittsburgh Pirates. ...

. Keppinger saw a majority of his playing time at third base, filling in for Geoff Blum while he was injured. Still versatile, Keppinger also played shortstop, second base, and first base during the '08 and '09 seasons. Keppinger began the 2010 season with the Astros as the primary backup at second base to starter Kazuo Matsui. However, after Matsui's offense proved inept after 71 at-bats, Keppinger was named the starter after Matsui was released by the Astros on May 19, 2010.

San Francisco Giants

On July 19, 2011, Keppinger was traded to the

for pitchers

Henry Sosa Henry Sosa Esther (born July 28, 1985) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, in the KBO League (KBO) for the Kia Tigers, Nexen Heroes, L ...

and Jason Stoffel. He hit a walk-off single against his former team, the Houston Astros, on August 27 and 28, 2011.

Tampa Bay Rays

On January 26, 2012, Keppinger was signed to a 1-year deal with the

. The deal became official the next day. Keppinger had a good season as a utility infielder, playing first, second and third base throughout the season. Over 115 games, Keppinger batted .325 in 385 at-bats. He also hit 9 home runs and 40 RBI with an OPS of .806. On May 19, Keppinger broke his big right toe while sitting in the dugout. A foul ball from

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struck Keppinger on the foot and he subsequently missed over a month. Keppinger became a free-agent at the end of the season.

Chicago White Sox

On December 10, 2012, Keppinger signed a 3-year, $12 million deal with the

. He was designated for assignment on May 14, 2014. On May 21, the White Sox officially released Keppinger.

Personal life

Keppinger's older brother Billy, a left-handed pitcher, played

independent baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

and minor league baseball in the

system. Keppinger resides in Dacula,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. He married his second wife Dihanna on October 7, 2017 at The Ritz Carlton in Lake Oconee,

. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=178911852669213&set=picfp.100016511977557&type=3&theater

References

External links

Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keppinger, Jeff 1980 births Living people Major League Baseball second basemen New York Mets players Kansas City Royals players Cincinnati Reds players Houston Astros players San Francisco Giants players Tampa Bay Rays players Chicago White Sox players Georgia Bulldogs baseball players Orleans Firebirds players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players Altoona Curve players Binghamton Mets players Norfolk Tides players Omaha Royals players Sarasota Reds players Louisville Bats players Corpus Christi Hooks players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Durham Bulls players Birmingham Barons players Baseball players from Miami