Anthony John Wolters (born June 9, 1992) 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 ...

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. He played in

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(MLB) for 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 ...

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 ...

, and

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

Playing career

Cleveland Indians

Wolters was drafted by 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 ...

in the third round of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft out of Rancho Buena Vista High School in

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish language, Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. It is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad metropolitan statistical area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, V ...

. He signed with Cleveland, forgoing his commitment to play

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at the

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 ...

. Prior to the 2013 season he was moved from an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. After the 2014 season, the Indians added Wolters to their 40-man roster. The Indians designated him for assignment before the 2016 season.

Colorado Rockies

The

claimed Wolters off of waivers. He made his major league debut on April 5, 2016, as a defensive replacement for Nick Hundley. In his first major league at bat, Wolters grounded out off of Jake Barrett. During his first major league start on April 10, 2016, Wolters got his first career hit when he singled against James Shields. In the same game Wolters walked and scored a run for the first time in the big leagues. Wolters hit his first career home run on June 25, 2016, against Shelby Miller of the

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 ...

in the bottom of the 6th inning, scoring

Brandon Barnes Brandon Barnes (born October 10, 1978) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Rise Against. Biography Barnes received his first drum set when he was nine years old from his grandfather, who was a jazz musi ...

. For the season he hit .259 with 3 home runs and 30 RBI's and 4 stolen bases. On April 3, 2017, Wolters was the starting catcher on Opening Day against the

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

. He went 2–4, scoring the two final runs to take the lead, one in the seventh off an error, and one in the ninth of a double from Alexi Amarista. He struggled offensively throughout the season, ultimately being the backup catcher to Jonathan Lucroy after July. He ended the season hitting .240 in 83 games with no home runs and 16 RBIs. In 2018, Wolters played in 74 games for the Rockies. In the 2018 NL Wild Card Game, he hit a go-ahead single in the 13th inning of a game the Rockies would win, 2–1 and advance to National League Division Series to face the

. Wolters established career highs offensively in batting average (.262), games played (121) and RBIs (42) in 2019. He slashed .230/.280/.270 in 42 games in 2020. On December 2, Wolters was nontendered by the Rockies.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On February 11, 2021, Wolters signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

organization that included an invitation to Spring Training. On March 30, 2021, Wolters opted out of his minor league contract and became a free agent.

Chicago Cubs

On March 31, 2021, Wolters signed a one-year, major league contract with the

. On April 14, 2021, Wolters was designated for assignment after Austin Romine was activated off of the injured list. In 3 games for Chicago, Wolters mustered only 5 plate appearances, going hitless with a walk. He was outrighted to the alternate training site on April 17. On April 26, Wolters was again selected to the active roster when Romine was placed on the injured list with a left wrist sprain. After posting a .125/.276/.125 batting line in 30 plate appearances, Wolters was again designated for assignment on May 19. He was outrighted to the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

on May 22. He was released on August 3, 2021.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On August 7, 2021, Wolters signed a minor league contract with the

. He appeared in 26 games for the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

and had a .215 batting average. He remained with Oklahoma City to begin 2022 and was called up to the Majors on August 12. He appeared in two games for the Dodgers, striking out in three of his four at-bats. Wolters was designated for assignment on August 15 and released a few days later. He was quickly re-signed to a new minor league contract. For the 2022 season at Oklahoma City, he played in 61 games and slashed .230/.321/.284 with no home runs and 29 RBI. Wolters elected free agency following the season on November 10.

Minnesota Twins

On January 5, 2023, Wolters signed a minor league contract with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. In 57 games for the Triple–A St. Paul Saints, he batted .244/.386/.343 with 3 home runs and 21 RBI. Wolters elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Coaching career

On January 21, 2024, Wolters announced his retirement from playing in an

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post, while also announcing that he had accepted a coaching position with the Rockies as the bench coach for the rookie league ACL Rockies. He reprised the role for the 2025 season.

Personal

Wolters grew up a

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

fan.

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hi ...

was his favorite player.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolters, Tony 1992 births Living people Sportspeople from Vista, California Baseball players from San Diego County, California Major League Baseball catchers Colorado Rockies players Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Dodgers players Arizona League Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Carolina Mudcats players Surprise Saguaros players Akron RubberDucks players Peoria Javelinas players Oklahoma City Dodgers players