Joshua Aaron Phegley (born February 12, 1988) is an American former

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 professiona ...

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 catcher ...

and current director of player development for

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

. He 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

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 ...

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The t ...

, and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Amateur career

Phegley attended Terre Haute North Vigo High School in Terre Haute, Indiana. He was named Indiana's Mr. Baseball in 2006 after hitting .592 with 13 home runs and 50 RBIs. After high school, he attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

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 pl ...

for the

Indiana Hoosiers baseball The Indiana Hoosiers baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate athletic team of Indiana University Bloomington in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. The team competes in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I and are membe ...

team. In 2007, 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 operate ...

with the

Wareham Gatemen The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane F ...

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 thous ...

and was named a league all-star. In 2009, his junior year at Indiana, he slashed .344/.467/.633 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs in 59 games.

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Phegley was drafted by the

in the first round (38th overall) of the 2009 MLB draft. Phegley started his professional career in 2009 at Class A with the

Kannapolis Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan counties, in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984 ...

hitting .224 with 9 home runs and 33 RBI in 52 games. Then during an injury-plagued 2010 season, Phegley spent time at three different levels in the White Sox system, rookie league

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Winston-Salem and Double-A

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

. His totals for the 2010 season were .284, 5 home runs and 26 RBI in 48 games. He did not play the full season because he was put on the disabled list more than once as he suffered from Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP), an uncommon blood autoimmune disorder that lowers platelet count and prevents blood from clotting.Josh Phegley Stats, Fantasy & News , MLB.com
/ref> In November 2010 surgery he had his

spleen The spleen is an organ found in almost all vertebrates. Similar in structure to a large lymph node, it acts primarily as a blood filter. The word spleen comes .

removed, because doctors were of the view that the non-vital organ which is mainly a blood filter was where his platelets were being destroyed. Phegley then began the 2011 season at Double-A Birmingham but was promoted to Triple-A

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

for the last month of the season. He hit a combined .242, 9 home runs and 56 RBI in 116 games in 2011. Phegley spent the entire 2012 season at Triple-A Charlotte where he hit .266, 6 home runs, 48 RBI in 102 games. Josh Phegley on September 7, 2013

On July 5, 2013, Phegley was promoted from Triple-A after hitting .316 with 15 home runs, 18 doubles and 41 RBI. He collected his first Major League hit and RBI on a single off of

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 ...

pitcher Jeremy Hellickson on July 5, 2013. On July 7, 2013, Phegley recorded his first major league home run off of David Price. Phegley's first grand slam came four days later against Detroit's

Aníbal Sánchez Aníbal Alejandro Sánchez Jr. (; born February 27, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He made his Major League Baseball (MLB) debut in 2006 with the Florida Marlins and has also played for the Detroit Tige ...

. In 2013, he batted .206/.223/.299 in 65 games. In 2014, he batted .216 with three home runs and seven RBIs in 11 games.

Oakland Athletics

After the 2014 season, the White Sox traded Phegley, Marcus Semien,

Chris Bassitt Christopher M. Bassitt (born February 22, 1989) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Chicago White Sox in 2014 and played for the Oakland Athletics ...

, and Rangel Ravelo to the

for Jeff Samardzija and

Michael Ynoa Michael Jose Ynoa Ventura ( Michel; born September 24, 1991) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox. Career Oakland Athletics Ynoa signed with t ...

. In 2015, he batted .249 with nine home runs and 34 RBIs in 73 games. His season concluded in mid-September because he suffered a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include loss of consciousness (LOC); memory loss; headaches; difficulty with thinking, concentratio ...

when Billy Butler inadvertently hit him in the back of his head with a bat during batting practice as Phegley was standing around the

batting cage A batting cage (or tunnel) is an enclosed area for baseball or softball players to practice the skill of batting. The optimal material for batting cages is netting, and they are typically rectangular in shape. Chain-link fence is not required b ...

area. In 2016, he batted .256/.314/.372 with a home run and 10 RBIs in 26 games, as his season was shortened by 97 games because he was twice on the disabled list with a strained and inflamed right knee suffering from synovitis (an inflammatory disease inside the membrane that lines the knee joint) for which he had surgery. He threw out 11% (1 of 9) of runners attempting to steal. On May 7, 2019, he caught Mike Fiers' second career

No-hitter In baseball, a no-hitter is a game in which a team was not able to record a hit. Major League Baseball (MLB) officially defines a no-hitter as a completed game in which a team that batted in at least nine innings recorded no hits. A pitcher w ...

. It was the first No-Hitter of the 2019 MLB season and the 300th No-Hitter in MLB histor
99
Phegley was non-tendered by Oakland on December 2, 2019, and became a free agent.

Chicago Cubs

On January 17, 2020, Phegley signed a minor league contract with the

. Phegley made the team out of Spring Training and was selected to the roster on July 23. On August 30, 2020, Phegley was designated for assignment. On September 30, 2020, the Cubs selected Phegley’s contract. He became a free agent after the season. On February 3, 2021, Phegley announced his retirement from professional baseball.

Post-playing career

On August 18, 2022, Phegley was named the director of player development for

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Phegley, Josh 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana Chicago White Sox players Oakland Athletics players Chicago Cubs players Indiana Hoosiers baseball players Kannapolis Intimidators players Bristol White Sox players Winston-Salem Dash players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Baseball players from Indiana Major League Baseball catchers Nashville Sounds players Wareham Gatemen players