Kyle Alexander Lewis (born July 13, 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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to catch ...

who is a free agent. 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

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Prior to his MLB debut, 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, ...

for the

Mercer Bears The Mercer Bears are the college athletics, athletic teams of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, United States. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia with an NCAA Division I athletic program and fields teams in eight men's and nine wom ...

. For his 2016 performance at Mercer, Lewis was named an All-American, Baseball America's 2016 College Player of the Year, and won the 2016 Golden Spikes Award. He was selected in the first round of the

2016 Major League Baseball 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 ...

by the Seattle Mariners. Lewis made his major league debut in September 2019, and was unanimously selected as the 2020 American League Rookie of the Year.

Amateur career

Lewis attended Shiloh High School in

Snellville, Georgia Snellville is a city in Gwinnett County, Georgia, Gwinnett County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, east of Atlanta. Its population was 20,573 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a developed suburb of Atlanta and ...

. He played both baseball and basketball in high school. He chose baseball over basketball and attended

Mercer University Mercer University is a Private university, private Research university, research university in Macon, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the s ...

, where he played college baseball for the

Bears Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout most o ...

. As a freshman in 2014, he appeared in 42 games with 17 starts and hit .281/.340/.382 with two

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 17

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 ...

(RBI) over 89 at-bats. After his freshman 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 ...

in 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 ...

(CCBL) for 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 ...

. As a sophomore in 2015, he played in 54 games, hitting .367/.423/.677 with 17 home runs and 56 RBI. He was the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Year and was the co-winner of the Gregg Olson Award, bestowed upon college baseball's breakout player of the year. After the season, Lewis returned to the CCBL to play for the

Orleans Firebirds The Orleans Firebirds, formerly the Orleans Cardinals, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Orleans, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Firebirds play ...

and was named a league all-star. As a junior at Mercer, he hit .395/.535/.731 with 20 home runs and 72 RBI, and was named an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

Louisville Slugger Louisville is the most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeast, and the 27th-most-populous city in the United States. By land area, it is the country's 24th-largest city; however, by populatio ...

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

, the

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest Amateur baseball in the United States, amateur baseball Manager (baseball), coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coach ...

, and

Collegiate Baseball ''Collegiate Baseball Newspaper'' (also known as ''Collegiate Baseball Magazine'' and ''Collegiate Baseball'') was an American publication based in Arizona that considered itself the "voice of amateur baseball" and was published for over 40 yea ...

. Following that season, Lewis received the 2016

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 ...

, which is awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. In addition, he was the Southern Conference Baseball Player of the Year for the second straight year and was named both ''

''s College Player of the Year and the American Baseball Coaches Association's Division I National Player of the Year.

Professional career

Minor Leagues

The

selected Lewis with the 11th overall pick in the

. He made his professional debut with the

Everett AquaSox The Everett AquaSox are a Minor League Baseball team in Everett, Washington. The team is a member of the Northwest League and is the High-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. The AquaSox play their home games at Funko Field, which has a seatin ...

. Lewis only played 30 games for the

due to a right ACL injury, batting .299 with three home runs and 26 RBIs. He spent 2017 with both the

AZL Mariners The Arizona Complex League Mariners are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Seattle Mariners, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona. The team is com ...

and the

Modesto Nuts The Modesto Nuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Modesto, California, and are named for the several types of nuts grown in the Central Valley. They ...

, posting a combined .257 average with seven home runs and 31 RBIs in 49 games between both clubs, and 2018 with Modesto and the

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and play in the Texas League. Hi ...

, batting .244 with nine home runs and 52 RBIs in 86 games with the two teams. Lewis returned to Arkansas for the 2019 season, hitting .263/.343/.398/.741 with 11 home runs and 62 RBI over 122 games.

Seattle Mariners

The Mariners selected Lewis' contract and promoted him to the major leagues on September 10, 2019. Lewis hit a home run off

Trevor Bauer Trevor Andrew Bauer (born January 17, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Yokohama DeNA BayStars of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondback ...

in his major league debut that night versus 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 ...

. He hit home runs in each of his next two games as well, becoming the second player in history, after Trevor Story, to homer in each of his first three major league games. He finished the 2019 season with a .268/.293/.592 slash line along with 6 home runs and 13 RBIs in 71 at bats. In 2020, Lewis became the first Mariners player to be selected for the American League Rookie of the Year award since 2001, finishing the abbreviated season with a .262/.364/.437 slash line, 11 home runs, and 28 RBIs across 206 at bats. He was awarded the title of American League Rookie of the Year by numerous other publications, including

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

. On June 1, 2021, Lewis was placed on the injured list after suffering a right meniscus tear. He was placed on the 60-day injured list on June 18 and subsequently missed the rest of the season. Lewis went into MLB's

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

protocol after having been hit by a pitch on May 29, 2022. He returned to the active roster on July 22. After continuing to struggle at the plate, and still dealing with issues related to his knee, Lewis was demoted to the Triple-A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

, where he ended the 2022 season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On November 17, 2022, the Mariners traded Lewis to the

for Cooper Hummel. On January 13, 2023, Lewis agreed to a one-year, $1.61 million contract with the Diamondbacks, avoiding salary arbitration. He was non-tendered and became a free agent on November 17.

References

External links

Mercer Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Kyle 1995 births Living people African-American baseball players All-American college baseball players Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Mariners players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Gwinnett County, Georgia Cotuit Kettleers players Everett AquaSox players Major League Baseball Rookie of the Year Award winners Major League Baseball outfielders Mercer Bears baseball players Modesto Nuts players Orleans Firebirds players Peoria Javelinas players Reno Aces players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Snellville, Georgia Tacoma Rainiers players 21st-century African-American sportsmen