Luke Richard Maile (born February 6, 1991) 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 ...

for the Cincinnati Reds of

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). He has previously played in MLB for 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 ...

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

, Milwaukee Brewers and

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

. Before his professional career, Maile played amateur baseball for

Covington Catholic High School Covington Catholic High School (abbreviated CCH or CovCath) is a private, Roman Catholic, high school for boys in Park Hills, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1925 by Bishop Francis William Howard and Brother George Sauer, and is part ...

and the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state ...

Amateur career

Maile attended

Park Hills, Kentucky Park Hills is a home rule-class city in Kenton County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 3,162 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. Much of the city was listed on the National Register of Historic P ...

. While there he set school records for

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 ...

, on-base percentage, hits, walks, runs scored,

runs 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 ba ...

(RBIs),

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * ...

s, and triples. Maile was named ''

The Cincinnati Enquirer ''The Cincinnati Enquirer'' is a morning daily newspaper published by Gannett in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. First published in 1841, the ''Enquirer'' is the last remaining daily newspaper in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, al ...

''s Player of the Year in three of his four years at Covington Catholic, and was named Kentucky's Mr. Baseball in his senior year. He graduated in 2009. 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 ...

selected Maile in the 43rd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, but he did not sign, because they were not offering enough money. Instead, Maile enrolled at the

, where 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 ...

for the

Kentucky Wildcats baseball The Kentucky Wildcats baseball team represents the University of Kentucky in NCAA Division I college baseball and competes in the Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The current head coach of the Wildcats is Nick Mingione. K ...

team. In 2011, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Cotuit Kettleers The Cotuit Kettleers are a collegiate summer baseball team based in the village of Cotuit, Massachusetts, which is in the southwest corner of the town of Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the lea ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, his junior year, Maile won the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

(SEC) Player of the Week Award twice, was an All-SEC Second Team member, and was a semifinalist for the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

as well as the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the a ...

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

The

selected Maile in the eighth round, with the 272nd overall selection, of the

2012 Major League Baseball draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the List of first overall Major League Baseball draft picks, first ...

. He was assigned to the Short Season-A

Hudson Valley Renegades Hudson may refer to: People * Hudson (given name) * Hudson (surname) * Henry Hudson, English explorer * Hudson (footballer, born 1986), Hudson Fernando Tobias de Carvalho, Brazilian football right-back * Hudson (footballer, born 1988), Hudson R ...

for the entire 2012 season, appearing in 61 games and batting .278 with three home runs and 41 RBIs. In 2013, Maile played in 95 games for the Class-A

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

. He finished the year with a .283 batting average, four home runs, and 49 RBIs. During the offseason, Maile played for the

Salt River Rafters The Salt River Rafters are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick near Scottsdale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility o ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

. In 2014, Maile played for the

Montgomery Biscuits The Montgomery Biscuits are a Minor League Baseball team based in Montgomery, Alabama. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays and play in the Southern League. The team was founded in Orlando, Florida, in 1973 as the Orlando Twins ...

of the Double-A Southern League. The Rays promoted him to the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

of the Triple-A International League at the end of August, but he did not appear in any games for the Bulls in 2014. In 97 games for Montgomery, Maile hit .268 with five home runs and 37 RBIs. Maile played for the Bulls in 2015, hitting .207 in 89 games, and was promoted to the major leagues on September 1. He appeared in 15 games for the Rays in 2015, and hit .171 with two RBIs. Maile split time between Durham and Tampa Bay in 2016. He played in 58 games for the Bulls, hitting .242 with two home runs and 12 RBIs. With the Rays, he appeared in 42 games and recorded a .227 batting average with three home runs and 15 RBIs. The Rays designated Maile for assignment on April 2, 2017.

Toronto Blue Jays

The

claimed Maile off waivers on April 6, 2017. On April 28, Maile was recalled from the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen ...

after

Jarrod Saltalamacchia Jarrod Scott Saltalamacchia (; born May 2, 1985) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Between 2007 and 2018, he played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Miami Marlins, Arizona ...

was designated for assignment. Maile was placed on the disabled list on July 4 with knee inflammation. An

MRI Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to form pictures of the anatomy and the physiological processes of the body. MRI scanners use strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves ...

later that day determined he had a torn

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

. He was activated from the disabled list on September 1. For the 2017 season, Maile hit .146 with two home runs in 46 games. Maile served as the backup catcher for the 2018 season. He hit .248 with three home runs and 27 RBIs. Maile appeared in only 44 games in 2019 due to an oblique injury, hitting .151 with two home runs. He was non-tendered on December 2 and became a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 16, 2019, Maile signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On July 18, 2020, the team announced that Maile would undergo season ending finger surgery after being hit by a pitch in an exhibition game. On October 30, 2020, Maile was outrighted off of the 40-man roster.

Milwaukee Brewers

Maile signed a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers on December 8, 2020. On April 30, 2021, Maile made his Brewers debut, coming in as a pinch runner and staying in the game as the catcher. Maile played in 15 games for the Brewers, hitting .300 with three RBIs. On November 5, Maile elected free agency after rejecting an outright assignment to Triple-A.

Cleveland Guardians

Maile signed a one-year contract with the

on March 14, 2022. The Guardians declined to tender Maile a contract for the 2023 season by the non-tender deadline of November 18, 2022; Maile subsequently became a free agent.

Cincinnati Reds

On November 20, 2022, Maile signed a one-year contract with the Cincinnati Reds. In 74 games for Cincinnati, he hit .235/.308/.391 with a career–high 6 home runs and 25 RBI. On October 19, 2023, Maile re–signed with the Reds on a one–year. $3.5 million contract for the 2024 season.

Personal life

Maile was married on November 1, 2014, to Paige Maile, née Archinal. Maile is the first cousin of Michael Mayer, a professional football player who currently is a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

for the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West div ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maile, Luke 1991 births American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball players from Kentucky Bowling Green Hot Rods players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Cincinnati Reds players Cleveland Guardians players Cotuit Kettleers players Covington Catholic High School alumni Dunedin Blue Jays players Durham Bulls players Hudson Valley Renegades players Kentucky Wildcats baseball players Living people Major League Baseball catchers Milwaukee Brewers players Montgomery Biscuits players Nashville Sounds players Sportspeople from Kenton County, Kentucky Salt River Rafters players Surprise Saguaros players Tampa Bay Rays players Toronto Blue Jays players