Corey Donte Ray (born September 22, 1994) is an American
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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...
who is a free agent. He previously 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
Milwaukee Brewers.
Career
Amateur
Ray attended
Simeon Career Academy
Neal F. Simeon Career Academy (formerly known as Westcott Vocational High School, Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School, Neal F. Simeon Career Technical Academy), locally known simply as Simeon, is a public four-year vocational high school locat ...
in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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. In the summer prior to his senior year, he played in the 2012
Under Armour All-American Game
The Under Armour High School All-America Game is a high school football all-star game typically held in early January in the U.S. state of Florida created to spotlight the nation’s top high school seniors. The game was first played on January ...
. He was drafted by the
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...
in the 33rd round of the
2013 Major League Baseball Draft
The 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey.
Each team received one selection per round, going in ...
but did not sign and attended the
University of Louisville
The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one o ...
to play college baseball for the
Louisville Cardinals
The Louisville Cardinals (also known as the Cards) are the NCAA athletic teams representing the University of Louisville. The Cardinals teams play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning in the 2014 season. While playing in the Big East Co ...
.
Ray appeared in 43 games and made 19 starts as a freshman at Louisville in 2014. He hit .325/.416/.481 with one
home run
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 17
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 ba ...
(RBI). After the 2014 season, he played
collegiate summer baseball with the
Wareham Gatemen
The Wareham Gatemen are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Gatemen play their home games at Clem Spillane Fie ...
of the
Cape Cod Baseball League. As a sophomore in 2015, he started all 65 games and hit .325/.389/.543 with 11 home runs, 56 RBI and 34
stolen bases. Against
Wake Forest, Ray stole home in the bottom of the ninth inning, to give Louisville the win. After the season, he played for the
United States collegiate national team during the summer.
Professional
In 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 di ...
, the
Milwaukee Brewers selected Ray with the fifth overall selection. He signed and spent his first professional season with both the
Brevard County Manatees
The Brevard County Manatees were a minor league baseball team of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League from 1994 to 2016. They were based in Viera, Florida, and played their home games at Space Coast Stadium. The team left Brevard County af ...
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 ...
Florida State League and the
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are na ...
of the
Class A Midwest League
The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...
, batting .239 with five home runs, 17 RBI, and ten stolen bases in 60 games between both teams. Ray spent 2017 with the
Carolina Mudcats
The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...
of the Class A-Advanced
Carolina League
The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...
, where he posted a .238 batting average with seven home runs, 48 RBI, and 24 stolen bases in 112 games. He played the 2018 season with the
Biloxi Shuckers
The Biloxi Shuckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Biloxi, Mississippi, and are named in reference to the city's oyster industry and seafood heri ...
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 ...
Southern League. After batting .239 with 27 home runs, 74 RBI and 37 stolen bases, he was awarded the
Southern League Most Valuable Player Award
The Southern League Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual award given to the best player in Minor League Baseball's Southern League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. League broadcasters, Minor Leag ...
. Ray began 2019 with the
San Antonio Missions 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, but missed time during the season due to injury. Over 53 games with San Antonio, he batted .188 with seven home runs and 21 RBIs.
Ray was added to the Brewers 40-man roster following the 2019 season. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
.
On April 24, 2021, Ray was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.
He made his MLB debut that day as a pinch hitter for
Freddy Peralta, recording a walk, scoring a run, and moving to right field later in the game. He was outrighted to Triple-A on June 17, 2022. He became a free agent after the season.
References
External links
Louisville Cardinals bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Corey
1994 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
Baseball players from Chicago
Major League Baseball outfielders
Milwaukee Brewers players
Louisville Cardinals baseball players
Wareham Gatemen players
Arizona League Brewers players
Brevard County Manatees players
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players
Carolina Mudcats players
Salt River Rafters players
Biloxi Shuckers players
San Antonio Missions players
Nashville Sounds players
21st-century African-American sportspeople