Max Pentecost

Max Pentecost
Toronto Blue Jays
Catcher
Born: (1993-03-10) March 10, 1993
Winder, Georgia
Bats: Right Throws: Right

Maxwell Glen Pentecost (born March 10, 1993) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Prior to playing professionally, Pentecost attended Kennesaw State University, where he played college baseball for the Kennesaw State Owls baseball team. He was selected in the first round of the 2014 Major League Baseball Draft by the Blue Jays. He is ranked 14th on Major League Baseball's Top 30 Blue Jays prospects list.[1]

Career

Pentecost attended Winder-Barrow High School in Winder, Georgia. He suffered an arm injury during his senior year, which required surgery.[2] The Texas Rangers selected Pentecost in the seventh round, with the 234th overall selection, of the 2011 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft.[3][4] He opted not to sign with Texas, instead enrolling at Kennesaw State University, where he played college baseball for the Kennesaw State Owls in the Atlantic Sun Conference. After his sophomore year at Kennesaw State, he participated in the Cape Cod Baseball League, a collegiate summer baseball league, where he was named the most valuable player.[2][5] He was also named Perfect Game's College Summer Player of the Year.[6] As a junior, Pentecost won the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Award and Johnny Bench Award.[7] He was also a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy.[8]

Pentecost was seen by Jim Callis of MLB.com as a likely first round pick in the upcoming 2014 MLB Draft, and the best pure catcher in the draft.[2] The Toronto Blue Jays selected Pentecost in the first round, with the 11th overall selection, of the draft.[9] Pentecost signed with the Blue Jays on July 2, for the full bonus slot value of $2.9 million.[10][11] He was assigned to the Gulf Coast Blue Jays of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League because he did not have his passport at the time. Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos had intended to assign Pentecost to the Vancouver Canadians of the Class A-Short Season Northwest League.[12] In his second professional game on July 8, he went 5-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and two runs batted in (RBIs).[13] Pentecost was promoted to Vancouver on July 15.[14] He played until August 7, when a wrist injury ended his season. In 25 total games, Pentecost batted .324 with 12 RBIs.[15] On October 1, Pentecost was named eighth-best prospect in the Northwest League by Baseball America.[16]

In January 2015, Pentecost was named by MLB as the 10th best catching prospect in baseball.[17] He underwent shoulder surgery in February 2015,[18] and missed the entire 2015 season while rehabbing.[19] Prior to the start of the 2016 minor league season, Pentecost was ranked 9th on MLB's top 10 catching prospects list.[20] He opened the 2016 minor league season on the disabled list with the Lansing Lugnuts of the Class-A Midwest League.[21] On May 12, Pentecost appeared in his first game in over 16 months, and hit the first home run of his professional career in a 5–0 win for the Lugnuts.[22] As he was not cleared to catch, Pentecost continued to play as a designated hitter.[23] After hitting .314 with seven home runs and 34 RBI the Lugnuts in 62 games, Pentecost was promoted to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays. He played 12 games with Dunedin in 2016, and hit .245 with three home runs and seven RBI.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "MLB 2016 Prospect Watch". MLB.com. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Callis, Jim (April 18, 2014). "Pentecost best true catcher in 2014 Draft class". MLB.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  3. ↑ Cochran, Jeff (June 8, 2011). "Bulldoggs' Pentecost taken in 7th round". onlineathens.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ Bridges, Chris (June 8, 2011). "BASEBALL: Rangers select Pentecost in seventh round". mainstreetnewssports.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, Brendan (July 2, 2014). "Blue Jays sign first-round picks Jeff Hoffman, Max Pentecost". thestar.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Pentecost earns summer league honor". gwinnettdailypost.com. August 22, 2013. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  7. ↑ Lutz, Jeffrey (June 26, 2014). "Kennesaw State's Max Pentecost wins Johnny Bench Award". Kansas.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  8. ↑ Scardigli, Brandon (June 5, 2014). "BSB: Pentecost Named Finalist for Dick Howser Award". ksuowls.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  9. ↑ Nicholson-Smith, Ben (June 5, 2014). "Jays draft RHP Hoffman, C Pentecost in first round". Sportsnet. Retrieved June 5, 2014.
  10. ↑ Ross, Jaime (July 2, 2014). "Blue Jays sign first rounders Hoffman, Pentecost". MLB.com. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  11. ↑ Dakers, Tom (July 2, 2014). "Blue Jays sign their first round draft picks". bluebirdbanter.com. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  12. ↑ Cahill, Teddy (July 7, 2014). "Blue Jays first-rounder makes pro debut". MLB.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  13. ↑ Cahill, Teddy (July 8, 2014). "Toronto's No.2 prospect returns from TJ surgery". MLB.com. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  14. ↑ Mueller, Ryan (July 15, 2014). "Max Pentecost to Make Vancouver Début". jaysjournal.com. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
  15. 1 2 "Max Pentecost Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved September 19, 2014.
  16. ↑ Dakers, Tom (October 1, 2014). "Five Blue Jays on Baseball America's Top 20 Northwest League Prospects List". bluebirdbanter.com. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  17. ↑ Callis, Jim (January 22, 2015). "2015 Prospect Watch: Top 10 catchers". MLB.com. Retrieved January 22, 2015.
  18. ↑ Nicholson-Smith, Ben (February 20, 2015). "Blue Jays 1st rounder Pentecost undergoes surgery". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved February 27, 2015.
  19. ↑ Moore, Jeff (September 20, 2015). "Takeaways from Blue Jays' 2015 minor-league season". Sportsnet. Retrieved September 20, 2015.
  20. ↑ Rosenbaum, -Mike (January 21, 2016). "2016 Prospect Watch: Top 10 catchers". MLB.com. Retrieved January 22, 2016.
  21. ↑ Rosenbaum, Mike (April 7, 2016). "Where the Blue Jays' Top 30 prospects are starting the season". MLB.com. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  22. ↑ Goldberg-Strassler, Jesse (May 12, 2016). "Pentecost debuts with a smash as Lugs shut out Cubs". MiLB.com. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
  23. ↑ Davidi, Shi. "Playing Catch-Up". Sportsnet. Retrieved September 6, 2016.

External links

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