Charles Robinson III (born December 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

Amateur career

Robinson grew up in Danville, Illinois and attended Danville High School. Robinson played college baseball for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles for three seasons. He was the team's backup catcher during his first two seasons with the team. After his sophomore season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Ocean State Waves The Ocean State Waves are a collegiate summer baseball team based in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, United States. The team, a member of the New England Collegiate Baseball League The New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL) is a 13-team ...

of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. As a junior, Robinson batted .288 with seven home runs and 44 runs batted in (RBIs) and was named first team All-

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

Professional career

Houston Astros

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 ...

selected Robinson in the 21st round of the

2016 Major League Baseball draft The 2016 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 9, 2016, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2015 MLB season standings. In addition, compensation picks will be d ...

. After signing with the team, he was assigned to the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York–Penn League. Robinson spent the 2017 season with the Single–A Quad Cities River Bandits. He played for the Buies Creek Astros of the High–A Carolina League and batted .239 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs. Robinson spent the 2019 season with the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks and hit .217 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs in 103 games played. After the season, he played winter league baseball for the Canberra Cavalry of the Australian Baseball League. Robinson did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 10, 2020, the

selected Robinson in the minor league phase of the 2020 Rule 5 draft. He spent the 2021 season with the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts and batted .248 with eight home runs and 24 RBI in 66 games played. Robinson was assigned to Chattanooga at the beginning of the 2022 season before being promoted to the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

. Robinson was promoted to the Reds' major league roster on August 11, 2022. He made his Major League debut on August 24, starting at catcher and going 1–2 with one run scored in a 7–5 loss to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. Robinson's debut was the first time that an African-American player had started at catcher since Bruce Maxwell had in 2018. On August 29, Robinson hit his first career home run, a two–run shot off of St. Louis Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas. On October 15, Robinson was removed from the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

and sent outright to Triple–A Louisville. He elected free agency following the season on November 10. On December 5, 2022, Robinson re–signed with the Reds on a minor league contract that included an invitation to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. He spent the 2023 season with Triple–A Louisville, playing in 101 games and batting .290/.356/.450 with 13 home runs, 74 RBI, and 7 stolen bases. Robinson elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2023.

Chicago White Sox

On December 7, 2023, Robinson signed a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox. On June 16, 2024, the White Sox added Robinson to their 40–man roster and subsequently optioned him back to the Triple–A Charlotte Knights. The transaction was performed to prevent him from opting out of his minor league contract.

Personal life

Robinson's father, Charles Robinson Jr., played catcher in the minor leagues in the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

organizations. His grandfather, Charles Robinson Sr., was also a minor league catcher in the Chicago White Sox organization.

References

External links

Southern Miss Golden Eagles bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Chuckie 1994 births Living people African-American baseball players American expatriate baseball players in Australia American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Baseball players from Vermilion County, Illinois Buies Creek Astros players Canberra Cavalry players Charlotte Knights players Chattanooga Lookouts players Chicago White Sox players Cincinnati Reds players Corpus Christi Hooks players Gigantes del Cibao players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball catchers Quad Cities River Bandits players Southern Miss Golden Eagles baseball players Sportspeople from Danville, Illinois Tri-City ValleyCats players