Colton Welker (born October 9, 1997) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

organization. Welker was drafted by the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in the fourth round of the

2016 MLB 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 ...

. He made his major league debut in 2021 with the Rockies.

Professional career

Colorado Rockies

Welker was drafted by the

in the fourth round of the

out of

Stoneman Douglas High School Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDH or MSD) is a public high school in Parkland, Florida, United States. It was established in 1990 and is part of the Broward County Public Schools district. It is named after the writer Marjory Stoneman ...

(where he played

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball or softball fielding position between second and third base, which is considered to be among the most demanding defensive positions. Historically the position was assigned to defensive specialists who ...

and batted over .500 as a senior) in

Parkland, Florida Parkland is a suburban city, 42 miles northwest of Miami, in northern Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Parkland was 34,670. Parkland is part of the Miami metropolitan area, which was home to 6,166 ...

. He signed with Colorado for $855,000, foregoing his commitment to the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, incl ...

. Welker spent the 2016 season playing

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

with the rookie league

Grand Junction Rockies The Grand Junction Jackalopes are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Grand Junction, Colorado, and play their home games ...

, where he was named both a Pioneer League mid-season All-Star and a Rockies organizational All-Star at the end of the season after batting .329/.366/.491 with five home runs and 36 runs batted in during 51 games. He spent 2017 with the Class A

Asheville Tourists The Asheville Tourists are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Asheville, North Carolina. Asheville teams have played under the Tourists moniker in differen ...

where batted .350 (second in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

)/.401(3rd)/.500(9th) with six home runs, 33 runs batted ins, and leading the league with three intentional walks in only 67 games due to injury. In 2018, he played with the Class A+

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 ...

where he slashed .333 (third in the league)/.383/.489 with 74 runs (7th in the league), 32 doubles (8th), 13 home runs, 82 runs batted in (4th), and two intentional walks (2nd), while grounding into 14 double plays (5th) and leading the league with 11 sacrifice flies in 114 games. He was named a

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 ...

mid-season All-Star along with earning a post-season All-Star selection. Welker spent 2019 with the Class AA

Hartford Yard Goats The Hartford Yard Goats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The Yard Goats, which play in the Eastern League, are the Double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The team was founded in 2016 when the New Britain R ...

, hitting .252/.313/.408 with 10 home runs, 53 runs batted in, and 6 sacrifice flies (2nd in the Eastern League over 98 games. He did not play a minor league game in 2020 since the season was cancelled due to 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 identif ...

. On November 20, 2020, Welker was added to 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 ...

. On May 6, 2021, Welker was suspended 80 games after testing positive for

chlorodehydromethyltestosterone Chlorodehydromethyltestosterone (CDMT; brand name Oral Turinabol), also known as 4-chloro-17β-hydroxy17α-methylandrosta-1,4-dien-3-one, is an anabolic–androgenic steroid (AAS). It is the 4-chloro-substituted derivative of metandienone (dehyd ...

. Playing for three minor league teams in 2021 he batted .258/.345/.483 in 120 at bats. On September 8, 2021, Welker made his major league debut against the

, flying out in his only at bat. He batted .189 for Rockies for the season in 37 at bats. In 2022, he began the season playing for the Triple-A

Albuquerque Isotopes The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an el ...

, batting .324/.422/.514 in 37 at bats. On June 3, 2022, it was announced that Welker would undergo season-ending surgery to treat a shoulder injury. He 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 ...

on July 6, 2022. In his career he had played primarily third base (299 games), with 54 games at

first base 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 ...

San Francisco Giants

Welker was claimed off waivers by the

on July 8, 2022. He resigned a minor league deal on November 28, 2022.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, Colton 1997 births Living people Albuquerque Isotopes players American sportspeople in doping cases Arizona Complex League Rockies players Asheville Tourists players Baseball players from Florida Colorado Rockies players Grand Junction Rockies players Hartford Yard Goats players Lancaster JetHawks players Major League Baseball third basemen Salt River Rafters players Spokane Indians players Sportspeople from Coral Springs, Florida