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Davis Wendzel
Wendzel with the Round Rock Express in 2022
Cincinnati Reds – No. 88
Infielder
Born: (1997-05-23) May 23, 1997 (age 27)
Irvine, California, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 9, 2024, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through June 27, 2024)
Batting average.146
Home runs1
Runs batted in2
Teams

Davis McKee Wendzel (born May 23, 1997) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Cincinnati Reds of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers. He played college baseball for the Baylor Bears and was selected in the first round of the 2019 MLB draft by the Rangers, for whom he made his MLB debut with in 2024.

Amateur career

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Wendzel attended JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano, California.[1] Unselected in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft, he enrolled at Baylor University to play college baseball for the Baylor Bears.

In 2017, Wendzel's freshman year at Baylor, he appeared in fifty games (47 being starts), hitting .301 with eight home runs and thirty RBIs, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.[2][3] As a sophomore in 2018, he started 58 games and batted .310 with eight home runs and 49 RBIs.[4] After the season, he was selected by the Boston Red Sox in the 37th round of the 2018 MLB draft, but did not sign.[5] He played in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks that summer.[6][7] In 2019, his junior season, he hit .367 with eight home runs, 42 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases in 46 games and was named the 2019 Big 12 Co-Player of the Year (along with Texas Tech's Josh Jung).[8][9]

Professional career

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Texas Rangers

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The Texas Rangers selected Wendzel in Competitive Balance Round A, with the 41st overall pick, of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.[10][11] On July 3, 2019, Wendzel signed with the Rangers for a $1.6 million signing bonus.[12] After signing, Wendzel sat out of game action while rehabbing a thumb injury that he suffered in June while playing for Baylor.[13] On August 22, he was assigned to the Arizona League Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League and made his professional debut.[14] On August 30, Wendzel and the AZL Rangers won the 2019 Arizona League championship.[15] Wendzel finished the 2019 season with the Spokane Indians of the Low–A Northwest League.[16] Over seven games between the two teams, he batted .316 with one home run.[17]

Wendzel did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[18] To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Central.[19] On May 27, he was placed the injured list with a hamate bone fracture, and was activated in mid-August.[20] After the end of Frisco's season in mid-September, he was promoted to the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A West.[21] Between 63 games played with Frisco, Round Rock, and Arizona Complex League Rangers, Wendzel hit a combined .238/.346/.399/.745 with eight home runs and 32 RBIs.[22] Wendzel spent the 2022 season back with Round Rock but missed a brief period due to injury.[23] Over 83 games, he slashed .212/.293/.407 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs.[24]

Wendzel began the 2023 season assigned to Round Rock. Over 124 games, he hit a combined .236/.361/.477/.838 with 74 RBIs and 30 home runs.[25] He led the Pacific Coast League for home runs with Jake Scheiner and Trey Cabbage.[26] On May 29, he was named Pacific Coast League player of the week[27] and on June 8, Pacific Coast League player of the month.[28] Wendzel is noted for his hitting against left-handed pitchers[29] as well as fielding capabilities, with an average fielding percentage of .958, including 60 double plays.[25] In 130 games for Round Rock, he batted .236/.361/.477 with 30 home runs and 74 RBI.

On April 9, 2024, Texas selected Wendzel’s contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time.[30] On April 25, against the Seattle Mariners; Wendzel collected his first major league hit, a single, after pinch hitting for Evan Carter against pitcher Gabe Speier. In 27 games for Texas, he batted .128/.163/.234 with one home run and two RBI. Wendzel was designated for assignment by the Rangers on July 29.[31]

Cincinnati Reds

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On July 30, 2024, Wendzel was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for cash considerations.[32]

References

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  1. ^ Dan Arritt (March 6, 2018). "Playing the next stage". Orange County Catholic. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  2. ^ Brice Cherry (March 21, 2019). "Texan-by-choice Wendzel making waves as Baylor's middle-of-order slugger". Waco Tribune-Herald. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  3. ^ Kevin Lyttle (May 23, 2017). "Texas Tech, TCU haul in Big 12 baseball top awards - Statesman U". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on June 5, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  4. ^ "Bradford, Langeliers, Wendzel named D1Baseball Preseason All-Americans". 25 ABC KXXV. January 22, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  5. ^ Zach Cavanagh (June 22, 2018). "Three Lions: Trio of JSerra Alums Selected in MLB Draft". The Capistrano Dispatch. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  6. ^ Blake Richardson (July 10, 2018). "Standouts from Cape Cod PDP event". MLB.com. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  7. ^ "#8 Davis Wendzel". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  8. ^ Dave Nichols (June 4, 2019). "MLB draft: Texas Rangers use top picks on college players who could end up with Spokane Indians". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  9. ^ Don Williams (May 21, 2019). "Big 12 coaches honor Jung as co-player of the year". Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. Retrieved June 4, 2019.
  10. ^ Steve Fryer (June 3, 2019). "Former JSerra players Davis Wendzel, Chase Strumpf selected in MLB Draft". Orange County Register. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  11. ^ Jeff Wilson (June 3, 2019). "The Rangers weren't done drafting Monday with Jung at No. 8. Here's who else they added". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  12. ^ T.R. Sullivan (July 2, 2019). "Jung, Wendzel reach agreements". MLB.com. Retrieved July 3, 2019.
  13. ^ Evan Grant (August 2, 2019). "Briefly: Wendzel injured his thumb while playing for Baylor". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  14. ^ Jordan Wolf (August 28, 2019). "Wendzel helps AZL Rangers reach semis". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  15. ^ Jordan Wolf (August 31, 2019). "Hernandez leads Rangers to AZL title". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  16. ^ Staff Report (September 6, 2019). "Spokane Indians season ends in Tri-Cities". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  17. ^ "Rangers' Davis Wendzel: Impacted by injury in 2019". April 2020.
  18. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  19. ^ "Where will Rangers' top prospects begin '21?". MLB.com.
  20. ^ "Rangers prospect Davis Wendzel out with hamate bone fracture". May 27, 2021.
  21. ^ "Rangers promote Cole Winn, Davis Wendzel and Sam Huff to Triple-A Round Rock". September 24, 2021.
  22. ^ Levi Weaver (March 7, 2022). "Rangers prospect Davis Wendzel is prepared to fill in wherever he's needed: 'Anywhere, I'm ready'". The Athletic. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  23. ^ "Preliminary 2022 Round Rock Express Roster Announced". MiLB.com. March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  24. ^ "Davis Wendzel Stats, Fantasy & News".
  25. ^ a b "Davis Wendzel Stats, Fantasy & News". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  26. ^ "2023 Pacific Coast League (PCL) Minor League Baseball Leaders on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  27. ^ "Express INF Davis Wendzel Named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  28. ^ "Express INF Davis Wendzel Named Rangers Minor League Player of the Month". MiLB.com. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  29. ^ "4 Texas Rangers minor leaguers who should be eligible for the postseason". Nolan Writin'. August 19, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  30. ^ "Rangers Select Davis Wendzel". MLB Trade Rumors. April 8, 2024. Retrieved April 8, 2024.
  31. ^ "Rangers Make 11 Roster Moves". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  32. ^ Rapien, James. "Cincinnati Reds Land Infielder Davis Wendzel Ahead of Trade Deadline in Deal With Texas Rangers". SI.com.
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