Steven James Lerud (born October 13, 1984) 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 ...

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 ...

, who is currently a

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in the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

organization. During his playing days, he briefly played in

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(MLB) for 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 ...

(–).

Early life

Steven Lerud was born in Reno, Nevada. Lerud attended to Galena High School, in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

Playing career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Lerud was drafted by the

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

in the third round of the

2003 Major League Baseball draft The 2003 Major League Baseball draft, was held on June 3 and 4. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. ''Source:MLB.com 2003 Draft Tracker' First round selections Supplemental first r ...

. On November 9, 2009, he elected free agency.

Baltimore Orioles

On December 7, 2009, Lerud signed a minor league contract with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

. However, on March 27, 2010, Lerud was traded to the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. In 58 appearances split between the Double-A

Bowie Baysox The Chesapeake Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. From 1993 to 2024, th ...

and Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's loc ...

, he slashed a combined .190/.316/.351 with six home runs and 16 RBI. Lerud elected free agency following the season on November 6. Lerud re-signed with the Orioles organization on a new minor league contract on December 26, 2010. He spent the 2011 campaign with Double-A Bowie, batting .193/.269/.303 with five home runs and 30 RBI. Lerud elected free agency again on November 2, 2011.

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 9, 2011, Lerud signed a minor league contract with the

, who promoted him to the big leagues on August 24, 2012. He appeared in 3 MLB games during his rookie campaign, batting .200, in 10 at-bats. Lerud was subsequently dropped from the

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 ...

after the end of that season, but signed a 2013 minor league contract with the Phillies' organization. He appeared in 6 major league games with the Phillies in 2013, going hitless in 5 at-bats. Lerud elected free agency on October 1, 2013.

Atlanta Braves

He signed a minor league deal with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

on November 11, 2013 and received a non-roster invitation to Major League spring training.

Washington Nationals

On January 12, 2015 Lerud signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

he was assigned to Triple–A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

the same day. He elected free agency on November 7.

Seattle Mariners

On February 3, 2016, Lerud signed a minor league deal 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 ...

and received an invite to spring training. He was released by the Mariners on April 7.

San Francisco Giants

On April 27, 2016, Lerud signed a minor league contract with 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. In 60 games for 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 ...

, he batted .229/.385/.288 with one home run and 19 RBI. Lerud elected free agency following the season on November 7.

Texas Rangers

On January 5, 2017, Lerud signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers that included an invitation to spring training. He did not appear in a game for the organization and elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Coaching career

On January 19, 2018, Lerud was named as manager of the

Minor League Baseball 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 Le ...

(MiLB) Low–A

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays ...

, a

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseba ...

affiliate of the

. In 2019, Lerud was named as manager for the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs of the National League in Major League Baseball. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games a ...

, the High–A affiliate for the Cubs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lerud, Steve 1984 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Nevada Eugene Emeralds managers Philadelphia Phillies players Gulf Coast Pirates players Williamsport Crosscutters players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players Altoona Curve players Norfolk Tides players Bowie Baysox players Reading Phillies players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players 21st-century American sportsmen Gwinnett Braves players Honolulu Sharks players Scottsdale Scorpions players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Syracuse Chiefs players Richmond Flying Squirrels players