Brian Nicholas Serven (born May 5, 1995) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

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 catc ...

in the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

and

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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

. Serven was drafted by the Rockies in the fifth round of the

2016 MLB draft The 2016 Major League Baseball 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 were distributed for players who ...

and made his MLB debut with them in 2022.

Early life

Serven was born in

Palm Desert, California Palm Desert is a city in the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, California. The city is located in the Colorado Desert arm of the Sonoran Desert, about east of Palm Springs, northeast of San Diego and east of Los Angeles. The popula ...

. He is childhood friends with infielder Scott Burcham. He attended

Palm Desert High School Palm Desert High School is a secondary school located in Palm Desert, California. The school is a part of the Desert Sands Unified School District. Academics Palm Desert offers numerous Advanced Placement and Honors courses, amongst CP classes ...

where he led the Aztecs to the

California Interscholastic Federation The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) is the governing body for high school sports in the U.S. state of California. CIF membership includes both public and private high schools. Unlike most other state organizations, it does not have s ...

championship his junior year in 2012. Serven played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the

Arizona State Sun Devils The Arizona State Sun Devils are the sport, athletic teams that represent Arizona State University. ASU has nine men's and eleven women's Varsity team, varsity teams competing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Divisi ...

. In 2014, 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 ...

with the

Bourne Braves The Bourne Braves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Bourne, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Braves play their home games at Doran Park (ballpark) ...

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 1,000 forme ...

. With the Sun Devils, he batted .280 with 97 RBI in 162 games over three seasons. He was named to the First-Team All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

team in 2015, his sophomore season.

Career

Colorado Rockies

The

selected Serven in the fifth round of the

. Serven did not play in a game in 2020 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Returning to action in 2021, Serven spent the year with the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an ...

. In 73 games, he slashed .250/.308/.504 with 16 home runs and 38 RBI. He returned to Albuquerque to begin the 2022 season. On May 17, 2022, Serven was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut the next day on May 18. In his second game for the Rockies on May 21, 2022, Serven hit two home runs against the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, becoming the first player in major league history to record his first two career hits with two multiple-run home runs in the same game. He finished his rookie season with a .203/.261/.332

slash line This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

. Adjusting for playing in the hitter-friendly Coors Field, he was the third worst hitting catcher in 2022. Serven had limited playing time in 2023, catching only 11 games for the Rockies. He was sent down by Colorado for the final time on June 15, when the team acquired

Jorge Alfaro Jorge Mario Alfaro Buelvas (born June 11, 1993) is a Colombian professional baseball catcher in the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Miami Marlins, San Diego ...

. Later in the minors, Serven missed one week with a concussion, then two months with a sprained thumb on his catching hand. He hit .130 with one double and one RBI for the Rockies.

Toronto Blue Jays

On January 5, 2024, Serven was claimed off waivers by the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. However, he 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 ...

by the team on January 11. On January 16, Serven was claimed off waivers by the

. On January 29, he was removed from the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and sent outright to 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 Fiel ...

. On March 23, the Blue Jays announced that Serven had made the

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster following a strong spring and an injury to Danny Jansen. The team selected his contract on March 28. In 28 games for Toronto, he slashed .159/.243/.222 with no home runs and three RBI. Serven was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on September 16. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Buffalo on September 19. Serven elected free agency on October 1.

Detroit Tigers

On December 13, 2024, Serven signed a minor league contract with the

Personal life

Serven's parents are Jim and Laura Serven. His brother, Jonathan played college baseball for Long Beach State. He also has a younger sister, Kristina. Their father Jim coached several sports teams at

and was also the sole survivor of a plane crash in 1978 that killed three other teenagers. Serven also played basketball in high school. He was captain of the basketball team his senior season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Serven, Brian 1995 births Living people Sportspeople from Palm Desert, California Baseball players from Riverside County, California Major League Baseball catchers Colorado Rockies players Toronto Blue Jays players Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Bourne Braves players Grand Junction Rockies players Asheville Tourists players Lancaster JetHawks players Hartford Yard Goats players Salt River Rafters players Albuquerque Isotopes players 21st-century American sportsmen Tigres del Licey players Toledo Mud Hens players Palm Desert High School alumni Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Lakeland Flying Tigers players