Samuel Nicholas Huff (born January 14, 1998) 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

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

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 Texas Rangers. He made his MLB debut in 2020.

Amateur career

Huff attended Arcadia High School in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the seventh round, with the 219th overall selection, 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 ...

. He signed with the Rangers for a $225,000

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 ...

, forgoing a commitment to

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

Professional career

Texas Rangers

Huff spent his first two professional seasons with the Arizona League Rangers of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it fo ...

, hitting .330/.436/.485 with one home run and 17 RBI in 2016, and .249/.329/.452 with nine home runs and 31 RBI in 2017. He played the 2018 season with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

of the Single–A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, hitting .241/.292/.439 with 18 home runs and 55 RBI. Huff opened 2019 back with Hickory, hitting .333/.368/.796 with 15 home runs and 29 RBI over 30 games. He was promoted to the

Down East Wood Ducks The Down East Wood Ducks were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They were located in Kinston, North Carolina, and are named for the wood duck, a colorful local waterfowl. Establi ...

of the High–A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

on May 9. Huff was named to the 2019

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

. Huff hit a two-run home run off of Ben Bowden in the seventh inning to tie the game, and was awarded the 2019 Futures Game

Larry Doby Lawrence Eugene Doby (December 13, 1923 – June 18, 2003) was an American professional baseball player in the Negro league baseball, Negro leagues and Major League Baseball (MLB) who was the second black player to break baseball color line, bas ...

Most Valuable Player award. Huff has named a 2019

Year-End All-Star. Huff produced a .262/.326/.425 slash line with 13 home runs and 43 RBI for Down East. On September 10, 2020, the Rangers selected Huff's contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut the next day against the

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 ...

. In 10 games for Texas in 2020, Huff hit .355/.394/.742 with three home runs and four RBI. On April 23, 2021, it was announced that Huff would undergo surgery on April 28 to remove a "loose body" from his right knee, requiring eight weeks of recovery. On May 4, Huff was placed on the 60-day injured list as he recovered from the surgery. On July 17, Huff was activated off of the injured list. Huff played 46 games in Double-A with the Frisco RoughRiders prior to being promoted to Triple-A Round Rock on September 23, 2021. In Frisco he hit an average of .237 with 10 home runs and 23 runs batted in. Following the 2021 season, Huff played for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Roya ...

of the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

. Huff split the 2022 season between Texas and Round Rock. With Texas, he hit 240/.303/.372 with four home runs and 10 RBI over 44 games; with Round Rock, Huff hit .260/.336/.533 with 21 home runs and 50 RBI over 63 games played. Huff was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock to begin the 2023 season. He played in 21 games for Texas. batting .256/.289/.512 with 3 home runs and 6 RBI. Huff was again optioned to Triple–A Round Rock to begin the 2024 season. He appeared in only 3 games for Texas in 2024, going 0–for–3 with 1 walk. Huff 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 Rangers on December 23, 2024.

San Francisco Giants

On January 8, 2025, Huff was claimed off waivers by the

. In 20 appearances for San Francisco, he batted .208/.259/.340 with two home runs and four RBI. Huff was designated for assignment by the Giants on June 4. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland ...

on June 7.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huff, Sam 1998 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Arizona Complex League Rangers players Arizona League Rangers players Baseball players from Phoenix, Arizona Down East Wood Ducks players Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Leones del Escogido players Major League Baseball catchers Round Rock Express players San Francisco Giants players Surprise Saguaros players Texas Rangers players