Steven Phillip Baron (born December 7, 1990) 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 ...

. He was drafted by 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 ...

in the first round, 33rd pick overall, of the

2009 Major League Baseball draft The 2009 Major League Baseball draft was held June 9 to June 11 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. The drafting order is as follows: First-round selections Key Supplemental first-round selections From Baseball Americ ...

and made his

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) debut in 2015. He attended Ferguson High School and has also played in MLB for the

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

and

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 ...

Career

Amateur career

Baron attended John A. Ferguson Senior High School in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

. He was considered the best defensive catcher in the '09 draft and was awarded the 2009 Rawlings Gold Glove award. Baseball America ranked him #77 amongst the top 100 prospects in the 2009 draft. He committed to play

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, ...

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, but was selected by the

with the 33rd overall selection of the

Seattle Mariners

In his first professional season, 2009, Baron played for the Rookie-Level

Pulaski Mariners Pulaski may refer to: Places * Pulaski Heights, a section of the city of Little Rock, Arkansas * Pulaski Shoal, an underwater landform west of the Florida Keys * Pulaski, Georgia, a town * Pulaski Square, one of the "Squares of Savannah" in t ...

of the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

. He batted .179 with 19

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

, six doubles, two

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run ...

and 13 RBI in 30 games. In his first full season, he led all of minor league baseball in catcher caught stealing with 46%. Baron made his MLB debut in 2015. He is one of three catchers in Major League history to catch a one-hit major league shutout in his first ever start. He 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 Mariners on November 2, 2016. On November 10, he was released. On November 18, 2016, Baron re–signed with the Mariners on a new minor league contract. He split the 2017 season between the Double–A

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 ...

and 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, ...

, hitting .242/.325/.316 with three home runs and 22 RBI across 70 RBI. Baron elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2017.

St. Louis Cardinals

On December 22, 2017, Baron signed a minor league contract with the

organization. He played with the team's Triple–A affiliate, the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

in 2018, until being recalled on May 17 due to

Carson Kelly Carson Franklin Kelly (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, and Texas ...

being placed on the disabled list. His first major league hit, a single, came on May 19, 2018, off of Luis García of 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 ...

. Baron went 1–for–5 (.200) in two games for St. Louis. On June 5, he was designated for assignment by the Cardinals; he was outrighted to Memphis after clearing waivers on June 7. In 41 games for Memphis, Baron batted .213/.262/.250 with no home runs and 7 RBI. He elected free agency following the season on November 2.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 18, 2018, Baron signed a minor league contract with the

. He began the year with the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

, playing in 45 games and hitting .181/.264/.248 with two home runs and eight RBI. On September 3, 2019, the Pirates selected Baron's contract, adding him to their active roster. In 7 games for Pittsburgh, he went 2-for-10 (.200) with 1 RBI. On October 25, Baron was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to Indianapolis. He elected free agency on October 31.

Cleveland Indians

On July 3, 2020, Baron signed a minor league contract with the

Cleveland Indians 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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Baron was released by the Indians organization on September 20.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baron, Steve 1990 births Living people Baseball players from Miami Major League Baseball catchers Seattle Mariners players St. Louis Cardinals players Pittsburgh Pirates players Pulaski Mariners players Clinton LumberKings players Everett AquaSox players High Desert Mavericks players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Tacoma Rainiers players Arkansas Travelers players Memphis Redbirds players Indianapolis Indians players