David C. Bote ( , born April 7, 1993) 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

in the

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 ...

organization. He made his MLB debut in 2018.

Amateur career

Bote attended Erie High School in

Erie Erie (; ) is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. Erie is the fifth largest city in Pennsylvania and the largest city in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 a ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

as a freshman and later transferred to Faith Christian Academy in

Arvada, Colorado Arvada () is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson and Adams counties, Colorado, United States. The city population was 124,402 at the 2020 United States Census, with 121,510 residing in Jefferson County and 2,892 residing in Adams Coun ...

. As a senior in 2011, Bote led Faith Christian to the 3A Colorado state title in baseball. Bote enrolled at

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

to play

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 ...

as a walk-on, but after a semester, transferred to Neosho County Community College in Kansas. During his lone collegiate season, he hit .419.

Professional career

The

selected Bote in the 18th round, with the 554th overall selection, of the

2012 Major League Baseball draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

. After Bote signed with the Cubs for $100,000 plus college tuition, he was assigned to the

Arizona League Cubs The Arizona Complex League Cubs are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays it home games at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona. The team is composed mainly of player ...

where he batted .232 with one home run, 14 RBIs and seven doubles in 38 games. He spent 2013 with the

Daytona Cubs Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it. Daytona may also refer to: Locations * Daytona Beach Shores, Florida * South Daytona, Florida * The Daytona Beach metropolitan area * Halifax area, also known as Dayt ...

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are an independent professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their ho ...

, and

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city surround ...

, posting a combined .227 batting average with seven home runs and 38 RBIs in 90 total games between the three teams, and 2014 with Kane County, Boise, and the

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

, compiling a combined .235 batting average with four home runs and 40 RBIs in 99 games. In 2015, he played for the

South Bend Cubs The South Bend Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in South Bend, Indiana, and play their home games at Four Winds Field at Coveleski Stadium. The team was o ...

where he slashed .251/.328/384 with six home runs and 41 RBIs, and in 2016, he spent time with Iowa, the

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off Int ...

, and the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

, batting a combined .328 with seven home runs and 45 RBIs with an .892 OPS. In 2017, Bote played for the

where he was named a Southern League All-Star. After the season, he played in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

and was selected to play in the Fall Stars Game. The Cubs added him to their 40-man roster after the season. In the minor leagues, Bote had played at every position except

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

. Bote made his major league debut on April 21, 2018, taking the place of

Ben Zobrist Benjamin Thomas Zobrist (; born May 26, 1981), is an American former professional baseball second baseman and outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays/Rays, Oakland Athletics, Kansas City Royals, and Chi ...

who was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. Bote filled in for a week at third for an injured

Kris Bryant Kristopher Lee Bryant (born January 4, 1992), nicknamed "KB", is an American professional baseball third baseman and outfielder for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Chicago Cubs and San ...

. He had 19 at bats with five hits, five RBIs, one stolen base and a batting average of .263 before being sent back to the

. On July 26, 2018, Bote hit a game-tying, two-run home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning against

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

pitcher

Brad Boxberger Bradley George Boxberger (born May 27, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas ...

, which was immediately followed by a walk-off solo home run by teammate

Anthony Rizzo Anthony Vincent Rizzo (born August 8, 1989) is an American professional baseball first baseman for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs. He is a three-time ...

. On August 12, 2018, Bote hit a pinch hit, two-out, two-strike walk-off grand slam off

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

pitcher

Ryan Madson Ryan Michael Madson (born August 28, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, Washington Nationals, and Los Angeles D ...

to give his team a one-run victory, which had not been done since

Roger Freed Roger Vernon Freed (June 2, 1946 – January 9, 1996), was an American professional baseball outfielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Philadelphia Phillies, Cincinnati Reds, Montreal Expos, and St. Louis C ...

in 1979, giving the Cubs a 4–3 victory and a two-out-of-three series win, marking the second time 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), ...

history that a player hit a walk-off grand slam to win by a score of 4–3. On August 24, 2018, Bote hit his 2nd career walk-off home run off

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 ...

pitcher Raisel Iglesias. The Cubs won that game 3–2. On April 3, 2019, Bote signed a five-year, $15 million extension with the Cubs. He recorded his third walk-off hit, a single off of

pitcher

Archie Bradley Archie Bradley may refer to: * Archie Bradley (baseball) (born 1992), American baseball pitcher *Archie Bradley (boxer) Archie Bradley (4 January 1897 – 27 March 1969) was an Australian professional boxer of the 1920s. Also known as the ...

on April 21, 2019. On June 5, Bote had a four-hit, seven RBI game in a 9–8 win against 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 ...

. He finished the 2019 season slashing .257/.362/.422 with 11 home runs and 41 RBIs over 127 games. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Bote slashed .200/.303/.408 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs in 45 games. In 2021, Bote limped to a .199/.276/.330 batting line with eight home runs and 35 RBIs in 97 games. In November 2021, following the season, Bote underwent left shoulder surgery, with an expected recovery time of six months. Bote began the 2022 season on the 60-day injured list as he recovered from shoulder surgery, and was activated on June 24. The Cubs optioned Bote to Iowa on August 4. He was sent outright off the 40-man roster on November 10, 2022.

Personal life

Bote is married to Rachel Bote, his high school sweetheart. The married couple have three children. Bote is a

Born-again Born again, or to experience the new birth, is a phrase, particularly in evangelicalism, that refers to a "spiritual rebirth", or a regeneration of the human spirit. In contrast to one's physical birth, being "born again" is distinctly and sepa ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

. Bote initially wanted to become a pastor after high school. He grew up a Colorado Rockies fan.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bote, David 1993 births Living people People from Longmont, Colorado Baseball players from Colorado Major League Baseball infielders Chicago Cubs players Neosho County Panthers baseball players Arizona League Cubs players Boise Hawks players Kane County Cougars players Daytona Cubs players Iowa Cubs players South Bend Cubs players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Tennessee Smokies players Mesa Solar Sox players