Kyle Patrick Holder (born May 25, 1994) 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

. He 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, ...

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...

. He was drafted 30th overall by 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 ...

in the first round of the

2015 MLB draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

Career

Holder graduated from University City High School in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 2012. After graduating, he enrolled at

Grossmont College Grossmont College is a public community college in El Cajon, California. Its name originated with the silent film actor and producer William J. Gross, who was enticed by Ed Fletcher to invest in the purchase of land, part of which was called Gro ...

where he played for their baseball team, posting a .405 batting average with sixty hits and 21 RBIs. After his freshman year at Grossmont, he then enrolled at the

where he played baseball for the Toreros. After the 2014 season, 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

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, Massachusetts, Barnstable. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League ...

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 ...

. As a junior, he led USD in batting average (.348) and RBIs (31). He was named WCC player of the year. After his junior year, he was drafted by the

in the first round of the

. Holder signed with the Yankees for $1.8 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

New York Yankees

After signing, the Yankees assigned Holder to the

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pl ...

, where he spent the whole season. Holder played for the

Charleston RiverDogs The Charleston RiverDogs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They are located in Charleston, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. The RiverDogs' home stadium is Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park. Char ...

in 2016, where he batted .290 with one home run and 18 RBIS, and the

Tampa Yankees Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the county seat of Hillsborough C ...

in 2017 where he batted .271 with four home runs and 44 RBIs. In 2017, Holder was named as the Best Defensive Shortstop in the minor leagues. Holder was invited to the Arizona Fall League in 2017 and hit .333 over 45 at bats. He was then a non-roster invitee for the New York Yankees spring training in 2018 and started the year with

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the D ...

. He also spent time during the season with the

and the

. Over 48 games between the two teams, he hit .257 with three home runs. The Yankees invited Holder to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

as a non-roster player in 2019. He spent the year with Trenton, slashing .265/.336/.405 with nine home runs and forty RBIs over 112 games. On December 10, 2020, Holder was selected by the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in the

Rule 5 Draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. On January 30, 2021, Holder was traded to the

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

in exchange for cash considerations. On March 30, 2021, Holder was returned to the Yankees.

Colorado Rockies

On December 16, 2021, Holder signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

. In 45 appearances for 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 ...

, he batted .197/.276/.276 with two home runs and 11 RBI. Holder was released by the Rockies organization on July 24, 2022.https://www.milb.com/transactions/2022-07-24

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holder, Kyle 1994 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players Baseball players from San Diego Baseball second basemen Baseball shortstops Baseball third basemen Charleston RiverDogs players Cotuit Kettleers players Grossmont Griffins baseball players San Diego Toreros baseball players Scottsdale Scorpions players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Staten Island Yankees players Tampa Tarpons players Tampa Yankees players Trenton Thunder players 21st-century American sportsmen