Kole Alan Calhoun (born October 14, 1987) is an American former 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 ...

right fielder A right fielder, abbreviated RF, is the outfielder in baseball or softball who plays defense in right field. Right field is the area of the outfield to the right of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the ...

. He 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

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

, Texas Rangers, 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 , the team has played its home gam ...

. Calhoun 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, ...

Yavapai College Yavapai College is a public community college in Yavapai County, Arizona. The main campus is in Prescott, with locations in Clarkdale, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Sedona. History Yavapai College was established in 1965 by means of a ...

and

Arizona State University Arizona State University (Arizona State or ASU) is a public university, public research university in Tempe, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 as Territorial Normal School by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, the university is o ...

. He was drafted by the Angels in the eighth round of the

2010 Major League Baseball draft The 2010 Major League Baseball 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 picking first. ;Key ...

and made his MLB debut in 2012. He won a

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

in 2015.

Early life

Calhoun attended Buckeye Union High School in Buckeye,

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

. In 2005, Calhoun and

Sammy Solis Sammy is a nickname, frequently for people named Samuel or Samantha, and also an English spelling of the Arabic name Sami. People Music * Sammy Adams (born 1987), American rapper and songwriter *Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), American songwriter *Sammy ...

were named the West Valley High School Baseball Co-Players of the Year.

College career

Calhoun then attended and played

for

and

. In 2010, his senior year at Arizona State, he batted .321 with 17

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s and 59

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBIs) in 61 games 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 ...

Professional career

Draft and minor leagues

The

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. Since 1966, the team has pl ...

selected Calhoun in the eighth round of the

. He was assigned to Rookie League

Orem Orem is a city in Utah County, Utah, United States, in the northern part of the state. It is adjacent to Provo, Lindon, and Vineyard and is approximately south of Salt Lake City. Orem is one of the principal cities of the Provo-Orem, Utah Me ...

, where in 56 games, he hit .292 with 7 home runs and 42 RBI. He played 2011 with High-A

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

, where in 133 games, he hit .324 with 22 home runs, 99 RBI and a .957 OPS. He also stole 20 bases. He was named to the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leagu ...

Postseason All-Star team as a utility player. He was the Kenny Myers Minor League Player of the Year in 2011. This monster season earned him a direct promotion to Triple-A

Salt Lake A salt lake or saline lake is a landlocked body of water that has a concentration of salts (typically sodium chloride) and other dissolved minerals significantly higher than most lakes (often defined as at least three grams of salt per liter). I ...

to begin 2012. In 43 games prior to his first callup, he hit .296 with 5 home runs and 31 RBI.

Los Angeles Angels (2012–2019)

On May 21, 2012, Calhoun was recalled by the Angels to replace

Vernon Wells Vernon Wells may refer to: * Vernon Wells (baseball) (born 1978), American baseball player * Vernon Wells (actor) (born 1945), Australian actor * Vernon Wells (Neighbours), a character on the soap opera Neighbours {{hndis, Wells, Vernon ...

, who was placed on the disabled list. He made his debut the next day, and he recorded his first major league hit the day after, a double off of

Jarrod Parker Jarrod Parker (born November 24, 1988) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks as the 9th overall pick in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft from Norwell High School in Ossian, Indiana. ...

. Calhoun was the 8th player from the

2010 MLB draft The 2010 Major League Baseball 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 picking first. ;Key ...

to make his major-league debut. He was sent back down on June 12 after 8 games with the Angels. He made the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

All-Star team. He had another short stint with the Angels before being called up for good in August. His final stats with the Bees in 105 games were .298 with 14 home runs, 73 RBI, and a .877 OPS. He was used exclusively off the bench in August and September. In 21 games with the Angels, he hit .174 with 1 RBI in just 23 at-bats. In 2013, Calhoun was competing for the fifth outfielder spot with J. B. Shuck, but after a poor spring training, in which he hit .174 with 10 RBI and 16 strikeouts in 23 games, Shuck won the position, and Calhoun began 2013 with Salt Lake. Calhoun was recalled on July 28 to replace the injured

Albert Pujols José Alberto Pujols Alcántara (, ; born December 11, 1985) is a Dominicans, Dominican professional baseball Manager (baseball), manager and former first baseman and designated hitter who is the manager of the Leones del Escogido of the Domin ...

. Calhoun was hitting .354 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI with Salt Lake. On August 2, Calhoun hit his first major league home run, a two-run, go-ahead shot off of

Steve Delabar Steven Edward Delabar (born July 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. A native of Kentucky, Delabar attended Central Hardin High School and Volunteer State Community College. He was selected late in the 2003 MLB draft b ...

in the bottom of the 8th inning, part of a 4-hit night for Calhoun. Because Pujols went down,

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from 2007 to 2015, most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers teams ...

received the most time at designated hitter, leaving right field up for grabs. By the time September rolled around, Calhoun won the job, starting the last 21 games of the season there. In 58 games with the Angels in 2013, Calhoun hit .282 with 8 home runs and 32 RBI. Calhoun was the starting right-fielder entering 2014. However, after just 14 games, Calhoun was placed on the disabled list with a sprained right ankle. By the time he returned on May 21,

Collin Cowgill Collin Brannen Cowgill (born May 22, 1986) is an American former professional baseball outfielder and current major league coach. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Oakland Athletics, New York Mets, Los Angele ...

was playing well as the right-fielder, and Calhoun shared some of his starts with Cowgill. For the season, he scored 90 runs, 9th in the AL. Calhoun played in 159 games for the Angels in 2015, hitting .256 with a career high 26 home runs and 83 RBI, with 164 strikeouts (3rd in the AL). He also played stellar defense in right field, posting a .989 fielding percentage and six defensive runs saved and leading the league in putouts as a right fielder (342) en route to winning his first

Rawlings Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

. Despite a slight drop-off in terms of home runs and runs batted in from 2015, Calhoun lowered his strikeout rate and walked more in the 2016 season. Altogether, Calhoun finished batting .271/.348/.438 with 5 triples (10th in the AL), 18 home runs and 75 RBIs in 157 games played. For the third consecutive season, Calhoun played in over 150 games in 2017. He finished the season batting .244/.333/.392 with 19 home runs, 71 RBIs, and scored 77 runs. For the first half of the 2018 season, Calhoun struggled offensively despite being tied in outfield assists in MLB with 7. He was placed on the disabled list on June 3 with an oblique injury. In the second half, he hit .231 with 10 home runs. Overall, he finished the season hitting a career-low .208/.283/.369 with 19 home runs and 57 RBIs. His four double plays led AL outfielders. Calhoun began slowly in 2019, but picked it up in the second half of the season, finishing the season with a career high 33 home runs in 152 games. On September 28, Calhoun was

Justin Verlander Justin Brooks Verlander ( ; born February 20, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, and New York M ...

's 3,000th career strikeout, however he reached base on an

uncaught third strike In baseball and softball, an uncaught third strike (sometimes referred to as dropped third strike or non-caught third strike) occurs when the catcher fails to cleanly catch a pitch for the third strike of a plate appearance. In Major League Base ...

and then scored on

Andrelton Simmons Andrelton Alexander Simmons (born September 4, 1989) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball shortstop for the Dorados de Chihuahua of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles ...

's home run immediately thereafter.

Arizona Diamondbacks (2020–2021)

On December 30, 2019, Calhoun signed a two-year contract with the

with a club option for the 2022 season. On July 6, 2020, it was announced that Calhoun had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

. He was cleared to resume summer training on July 10. Calhoun finished his first season with Arizona leading the team in home runs (16), RBI (40) and runs scored (35). His home run and RBI totals ranked third and ninth in the National League respectively. On March 3, 2021, Calhoun underwent right knee surgery after suffering a torn meniscus. On April 30, Calhoun underwent another surgery, this time for a split hamstring tendon in his left leg. The injury would sideline him between 6–8 weeks. On May 15, Calhoun was placed on the 60-day injured list. He was activated off of the injured list on July 10. In 2021, he had the slowest sprint speed of all major league right fielders, at 24.7 feet/second.

Texas Rangers (2022)

On November 30, 2021, Calhoun signed a 1-year, $5.2 M contract with the Texas Rangers. On May 27, 2022, Calhoun would record his 1,000th hit against

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

pitcher,

Cole Irvin Cole RJ Irvin (born January 31, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Doosan Bears of the KBO League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Oakland Athletics, Baltimore Oriole ...

. He played in 125 games for Texas, slashing .196/.257/.330 with 12 home runs and 49 RBI. On November 8, the Rangers declined Calhoun's $5.5 million option for the 2023 season and he became a free agent.

Seattle Mariners (2023)

On February 23, 2023, Calhoun signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

organization. On March 26, Calhoun triggered the opt-out clause in his contract and elected free agency.

New York Yankees (2023)

On April 20, 2023, Calhoun signed a minor league contract with the

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

organization. Calhoun played in 23 games for the Triple-A

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 (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

, hitting .281/.391/.528 with 4 home runs and 18 RBI. On June 1, he exercised the opt-out clause in his contract, giving the Yankees 48 hours to add him to their

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 ...

or grant him his release. The Yankees declined to add Calhoun to their roster, and he was formally released on June 3.

Los Angeles Dodgers (2023)

On June 6, 2023, Calhoun signed a minor league contract with the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization and was assigned to the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

. In 35 games for the Triple–A

, he hit .308/.367/.532 with 5 home runs and 28 RBI.

Cleveland Guardians (2023)

On August 4, 2023, Calhoun was traded to the

and immediately added to the major league roster. In 43 games for Cleveland, he batted .217/.282/.376 with 6 home runs and 25 RBI. Calhoun became a free agent upon the conclusion of the 2023 season.

Retirement

On March 15, 2024, Calhoun announced his retirement from playing in an

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post.

Personal life

Calhoun and his wife, Jennifer, had a son in September 2016, and a daughter in May 2019. Calhoun grew up an Arizona Diamondbacks and Arizona Cardinals fan.

Notes

References

External links

*
Arizona State Sun Devils bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calhoun, Kole 1987 births Living people People from Buckeye, Arizona Baseball players from Maricopa County, Arizona Los Angeles Angels players Arizona Diamondbacks players Texas Rangers players Cleveland Guardians players Arizona State Sun Devils baseball players Yavapai Roughriders baseball players Orem Owlz players Inland Empire 66ers players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Salt Lake Bees players Round Rock Express players Leones del Escogido players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Major League Baseball right fielders Gold Glove Award winners Eau Claire Express players Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Oklahoma City Dodgers players