Justin Brent Butler (born February 11, 1978) is a retired

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), ...

utility infielder In baseball, a utility player is a player who typically does not have the offensive abilities to justify a regular starting role on the team but is capable of playing more than one defensive position. These players are able to give the various s ...

. Butler attended Scotland High School in

Laurinburg, North Carolina Laurinburg is a city in and the county seat of Scotland County, North Carolina, United States. Located in southern North Carolina near the South Carolina border, Laurinburg is southwest of Fayetteville and is home to St. Andrews University. ...

, graduating in 1996. He was drafted by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the 3rd round of the 1996

MLB 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), ...

amateur draft, and made his

debut with the Colorado Rockies on July 4, 2001. Butler appeared in his final game on June 19, 2003.Brent Butler Stats
''Baseball-Reference''. Retrieved December 24, 2021. During his first season at the Major League level, Butler compiled a .244

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

in limited playing time. The Rockies manager at the time,

Buddy Bell David Gus "Buddy" Bell (born August 27, 1951) is an American former third baseman and manager in Major League Baseball (MLB) currently serving as vice president and senior advisor to the general manager for the Cincinnati Reds. After an 18-year ...

, used Butler primarily off of the bench as

Todd Walker Todd Arthur Walker (born May 25, 1973) is a former professional baseball infielder who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1996 to 2007. Listed at and , he batted left-handed and threw right-handed. Walker played college baseball at Loui ...

served as the Rockies starting second baseman. After Walker's departure from the team at the end of the 2001 season, Butler saw his greatest amount of playing time. During the 2002 season, Butler served as the Rockies starting second baseman. However, after compiling only a .259

with a .287 OBP, the Rockies signed

Ronnie Belliard Ronald Belliard (born April 7, 1975) is an American former professional baseball second baseman. He played 13 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1998 to 2010 for the Milwaukee Brewers, Colorado Rockies, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Card ...

as their starting second baseman for the 2003 season, relegating Butler to a reserve role again. Once the 2003 season concluded, the Rockies released Butler. Although Butler continued competing at the minor league level for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

, and

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

, he never returned to the major leagues after his Rockies release.

References

External links

Baseball players from North Carolina 1978 births Living people Colorado Rockies players Major League Baseball infielders {{US-baseball-infielder-stub