Andrew Joseph Reed (born May 10, 1993) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

and the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. He was drafted by the Astros in the second round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

Early years

Reed attended

Terre Haute South Vigo High School Terre Haute South Vigo High School is a public high school located in Terre Haute, Indiana. As the name implies, the school's district covers the southern portion of Terre Haute, as well as most of southern Vigo County, the county in which Terre ...

Terre Haute, Indiana Terre Haute ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Vigo County, Indiana, United States, about 5 miles east of the state's western border with Illinois. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 60,785 and its metropolitan area had a ...

. During his career he hit .425 with 41

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 i ...

and 150

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI) as a batter and was 26–10 record with a 1.88

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA), and 390

strikeouts In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

in 260 innings as a pitcher. Reed was drafted by the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in the 25th round of the

2011 Major League Baseball Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

, but did not sign and attended the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...

College career

While at Kentucky he was considered one of the best two-way players in college baseball. As a freshman in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

at the Kentucky he became the first consensus first-team freshman All-American in Kentucky's baseball history. He played in 55 games with 51 starts, hitting .300 with four home runs and 43

as a batter. As a pitcher he went 5–3 with a 2.52 ERA and 51 strikeouts over 16 games (five starts). As a sophomore in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

he started all 55 games and started 14 games as a pitcher. As a batter he hit .280 with 13 home runs and 52 runs batted in. As a pitcher he was 2–8 with a 4.04 ERA and 52 strikeouts. In 2012 and 2013, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. As a junior in

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, Reed hit .336/.476/.735 and led the nation in home runs with 23. As a pitcher he was 12–2 with a 2.09 ERA and 71 strikeouts. He was the winner of the

Golden Spikes Award The Golden Spikes Award is bestowed annually to the best amateur baseball player in the United States. The award, created by USA Baseball and sponsored by the Major League Baseball Players Association, was first presented in 1978. It is given to ...

and the

Dick Howser Trophy The Dick Howser Trophy is bestowed annually to the national college baseball player of the year. The award is named after former collegiate and Major League Baseball (MLB) player and manager Dick Howser, who died of brain cancer in 1987 at the age ...

. He also won numerous other awards, including the

John Olerud Award The John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award (known colloquially as the John Olerud Award) is a college baseball award given to the best two-way player of the season. The award is named after former Washington State Cougars All-American pitch ...

SEC Player of the Year Southeastern Conference Player of the Year refers to the most outstanding player for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in a given sport for a given season. For lists of individual sport SEC Players of the Year by year: *Southeastern Conference Bas ...

, National Player of the Year from ''Collegiate Baseball'' and

American Baseball Coaches Association The American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) is the world's largest amateur baseball coaching organization. It was founded in 1945 as the American Association of College Baseball Coaches. Now, the ABCA is composed of over 13,000 baseball coac ...

, as well as Baseball America College Player Of The Year. He was also the SEC Male Athlete of the Year for all sports.

Professional career

Houston Astros

Reed was drafted by the

in the second round of the

2014 Major League Baseball Draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He signed on June 11. Reed hit 34 home runs for the

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

and

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned by ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in the 2015 season, winning the

Joe Bauman Home Run Award The Joe Bauman Home Run Award, formerly known as the Round-Tripper-Award, is given to the Minor League Baseball player who hit the most regular season home runs that year. The award, first given in 2002, is named after Joe Bauman, who set a the ...

. Reed began the 2016 season with the

Fresno Grizzlies The Fresno Grizzlies are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They are located in Fresno, California, and play their home games at Chukchansi Park, which was opened in 2002 in do ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

. He was called up and made his major league debut on June 25, 2016. On July 1, 2016 he recorded his first Major League hit with a single against

. Next day he hit his first Major League home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher David Robertson. On March 21, 2017, he was optioned back to the

of the

. Reed appeared in only 2 games for the Astros in 2017 without recording a stat in 6 at-bats. Reed earned his first World Series Championship ring. On June 28, 2018, Reed was recalled to the Astros when

Yuli Gurriel Yulieski Gourriel Castillo (born June 9, 1984), commonly known as Yuli Gurriel and nicknamed "La Piña", is a Cuban professional baseball first baseman who is a free agent. He previously played for Sancti Spiritus in the Cuban National Serie ...

was on a 3-day

paternity leave Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" and "paternity l ...

. He was optioned back to the Grizzlies on July 3. During Reed's

cup of coffee A "cup of coffee" is a North American sports idiom for a short time spent by a minor league player at the major league level. The idea behind the term is that the player was only in the big leagues long enough to have a cup of coffee before bei ...

, he appeared in one game, with three at bats and no hits. On July 2, 2019, Reed 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 Astros.

Chicago White Sox

On July 8, 2019, the

claimed Reed off waivers. On August 16, Reed was outrighted off the 40-man roster. In 2019, he had the slowest sprint speed of all major league designated hitters, at 23.2 feet/second. On March 4, 2020, Reed announced his retirement at the age of 26.

Personal life

Reed is married to Shelbie Scamihorn, his high school sweetheart. Scamihorn played college softball at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. They have two pet cockapoos, Moose and Buck.

References

External links

Kentucky Wildcats bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, A. J. 1993 births Living people All-American college baseball players Sportspeople from Terre Haute, Indiana Baseball players from Indiana Houston Astros players Chicago White Sox players Kentucky Wildcats baseball players Harwich Mariners players Tri-City ValleyCats players Quad Cities River Bandits players Lancaster JetHawks players Corpus Christi Hooks players Fresno Grizzlies players Round Rock Express players Charlotte Knights players