Drew Elliott Robinson (born April 20, 1992) is an American former

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 ...

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

. He 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 Texas Rangers and

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 ...

Career

Texas Rangers

Robinson was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fourth round, 136th overall, of the

2010 Major League Baseball draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pic ...

. He made his professional debut with the

Arizona League Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

that year. With the AZL Rangers, Robinson batted .286 with a .406

on-base percentage In baseball statistics, on-base percentage (OBP) measures how frequently a batter reaches base. An official Major League Baseball (MLB) statistic since 1984, it is sometimes referred to as on-base average (OBA), as it is rarely presented as a ...

in 44 games. He split 2011 between the

AZL Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is composed ...

and the Low-A

Spokane Indians The Spokane Indians are a Minor League Baseball team located in Spokane Valley, the city immediately east of Spokane, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest. The Indians are members of the High-A Northwest League (NWL) as an affiliate of the Color ...

, hitting a combined .200 with four home runs and 30

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 bat ...

(RBI) in 51 games. For the Single-A

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened i ...

in 2012, Robinson batted .273 with a .409 on-base mark, hitting 13 home runs with 67 RBI, 10 steals, and 86 walks in 123 games. He won his first Player of the Week honor that year. In 2013, Robinson batted .257 with eight home runs, 70 RBI and 10

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which they are not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or ...

s in 122 games for the High-A

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 ...

, earning another Player of the Week honor. With the Double-A

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

and Triple-A

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

in 2014, Robinson batted .198 with 12 home runs and 45 RBI in 96 games; in his first taste of Triple-A, he slashed .304/.467/.522 with one home run and five RBI in eight games. Robinson played for the RoughRiders and Express again in 2015, batting .235 with 21 home runs, 66 RBI, 16 stolen bases, and 87 walks between them; again he performed well at Triple-A, batting .304 in 23 at-bats. He led the

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

in home runs that year. He was a MiLB.com Organization All-Star in 2015 and earned another Player of the Week. In the offseason, he played for the Indios de Mayaguez in Puerto Rico. Going into 2016, ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' named him the #30 prospect in the Rangers system. He returned to Round Rock in 2016, for whom he batted .257/.350/.480 with 17 stolen bases. Robinson made the Rangers'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster in 2017. He made his major league debut on April 5 as a replacement for

Delino DeShields Jr. Delino Diaab DeShields (born August 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball center fielder who is a free agent. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers from 2015 through 2019, the Cleveland Indians in 2020, and t ...

at designated hitter in a game against the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

, and went 0-for-2. On June 25, Robinson collected his first major league hit, a home run, off of

Michael Pineda Michael Francisco Pineda Paulino (born January 18, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has previously played in MLB for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins and Detroit Tigers. ...

in a 7–6 Rangers victory over the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

Yankee Stadium Yankee Stadium is a baseball stadium located in the Bronx, New York City. It is the home field of the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball, and New York City FC of Major League Soccer. Opened in April 2009, the stadium replaced the origi ...

. He finished his rookie season with a .224/.314/.439 with 6 home runs and 13 RBI in 48 games. With Texas in 2018, Robinson slashed .183/.288/.294 with 3 home runs and 9 RBI in 109

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s, while with Round Rock he slashed .303/.379/.569 in 211 at-bats with 10 home runs.

St. Louis Cardinals

On December 11, 2018, the Rangers traded Robinson to the

in exchange for

Patrick Wisdom Patrick Ian Wisdom (born August 27, 1991) is an American professional baseball third baseman and first baseman for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played college baseball for the Saint Mary's Gaels. He was drafted by the St. L ...

. Robinson made St. Louis' 25-man roster to begin the 2019 season, but was optioned to the Triple-A

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

and recalled twice during the season, totaling seven at-bats with St. Louis for the year. With Memphis, he slashed .265/.385/.423 with six home runs and 10 stolen bases in 189 at-bats. In June, while with Memphis, Robinson was placed on the

injured 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 ...

, and subsequently underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

on his left elbow, ending his season. On August 28, 2019, Robinson was released by St. Louis.

San Francisco Giants

On October 10, 2019, Robinson signed a minor league contract with 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. Robinson did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of 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 ...

. Robinson re-signed with the Giants on a new minor-league deal on November 2, 2020. Robinson opened the 2021 season with the Triple-A

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

, and batted .115/.225/.240 with 3 home runs and 8 RBI in 38 games with the team. On July 16, 2021, Robinson announced that he would transition into a role as a mental health advocate in the Giants' organization, retiring as a player following the team's weekend series against the

. Overall in the major leagues, Robinson played 28 games in center field, 24 games in left field, 23 games at third base, 15 games at second base, 7 games at shortstop, and 2 games in right field.

Personal life

Robinson was born in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

, and attended Silverado High School. His older brother, Chad, was drafted by the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

in 2006 as a pitcher, and played professionally for eight seasons. On April 16, 2020, Robinson survived a suicide attempt with a handgun, resulting in the loss of his sense of smell and taste, and his right eye. His story was shared on

ESPN+ ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

titled "Alive: The Drew Robinson Story". Afterward, he began using his platform and experiences to speak out about the importance of mental health.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Drew 1992 births Living people Baseball players from Las Vegas American shooting survivors Major League Baseball infielders Texas Rangers players St. Louis Cardinals players Arizona League Rangers players Spokane Indians players Hickory Crawdads players Myrtle Beach Pelicans players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players Memphis Redbirds players Indios de Mayagüez players Gigantes del Cibao players Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Sacramento River Cats players