David Bañuelos
Free agent
Catcher
Born: (1996-10-01) October 1, 1996
Ontario, California
Bats: Right
Throws: Right

David Clemente Bañuelos (born October 1, 1996) is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent.

Bañuelos attended Damien High School in La Verne, California, graduating in 2014.[1] As a senior, he batted .395 with four home runs and 24 RBIs.[2] Undrafted out of high school in the 2014 MLB draft, he enrolled at California State University, Long Beach, and played college baseball for the Long Beach State Dirtbags. He became the Dirtbags' starting catcher as a sophomore in 2016.[3] During the summer of 2016, he played collegiate summer baseball for the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast League.[4] In 2017, he batted .289 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs and was named a First-Team All-American by Baseball America[5] and one of three finalists for the Johnny Bench Award.[6]

The Seattle Mariners selected Bañuelos in the fifth round of the 2017 Major League Baseball draft.[1] He signed with the Mariners, receiving a $300,000 signing bonus,[7] and made his professional debut with the Everett AquaSox, where he spent his first professional season, posting a .236 batting average with four home runs and 26 RBIs in 36 games.[8]

On December 6, 2017, in an attempt to sign Shohei Ohtani during the 2017–18 offseason, the Mariners traded Bañuelos to the Minnesota Twins for $1 million in international signing bonus money.[9] He spent the 2018 season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, batting .220 with two home runs and 22 RBIs in 73 games.[10]

Bañuelos begin 2019 with Cedar Rapids[11] before being promoted to the Fort Myers Miracle in May. Over 63 games, he slashed .177/.232/.263 with two home runs and twenty RBIs. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 since the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He elected free agency on November 6, 2023.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Tolegian, Aram (June 13, 2017). "Former area standouts Scott Hurst, David Banuelos, taken in MLB Draft". Sgvtribune.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  2. ↑ Tolegian, Aram (June 13, 2017). "Former area standouts Scott Hurst, David Banuelos, taken in MLB Draft – San Gabriel Valley Tribune". Sgvtribune.com. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  3. ↑ JJ Fiddler (June 2016). "David Banuelos quarterbacking at catcher for Long Beach State Dirtbags". Presstelegram.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  4. ↑ "Former Bells catcher may be headed back to Washington after getting drafted by M's | 1170 KPUG-AM". Kpug1170.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  5. ↑ JJ Fiddler (June 8, 2017). "Notebook: David Banuelos an anchor for Long Beach State Dirtbags". Presstelegram.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  6. ↑ Bolch, Ben (June 7, 2017). "Long Beach State catcher David Banuelos is all in with his gritty plays for the Dirtbags". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  7. ↑ Johns, Greg. "Evan White, 25 other picks sign with Mariners | MLB.com". M.mlb.com. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
  8. ↑ "David Banuelos Stats, Highlights, Bio – MiLB.com Stats – The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  9. ↑ Johns, Greg (December 6, 2017). "Mariners acquire int'l slot money from Twins". MLB.com. Retrieved December 6, 2017.
  10. ↑ "David Banuelos Stats, Highlights, Bio – MiLB.com Stats – The Official Site of Minor League Baseball". MiLB.com. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  11. ↑ "Cedar Rapids Kernels' "veteran" position players vow to improve". The Gazette. Retrieved November 18, 2019.
  12. ↑ https://www.milb.com/transactions/2023-11-06
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.