Grayson James Greiner (born October 11, 1992) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

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 ...

in 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 ...

organization. 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

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

and

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 ...

Career

Amateur career

Greiner graduated from

Blythewood High School Blythewood is a town in Richland and Fairfield counties, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. The 2020 United States census puts the population at 4,772, up from 2,034 in 2010. Since 2000, the population has ...

Blythewood, South Carolina Blythewood is a town in Richland and Fairfield counties, South Carolina, United States. It is a suburb of Columbia, South Carolina. The 2020 United States census puts the population at 4,772, up from 2,034 in 2010. Since 2000, the population has ...

. He enrolled at the University of South Carolina 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 ...

for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fighti ...

from 2012 to 2014. He played in 179 games during his Gamecocks career, hitting .278/.358/.435 with 18

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 ...

Minor leagues

The

selected Greiner in the third round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

. He signed with the Tigers and made his professional debut with the

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpark. ...

. He played in 26 games before a broken

hamate bone The hamate bone (from Latin hamatus, "hooked"), or unciform bone (from Latin ''uncus'', "hook"), Latin os hamatum and occasionally abbreviated as just hamatum, is a bone in the human wrist readily distinguishable by its wedge shape and a hook-l ...

in his left wrist ended his season. He hit .322/.394/.444 with two home runs. Greiner spent 2015 with the

Lakeland Flying Tigers The Lakeland Flying Tigers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Lakeland, Florida, and play their home games at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium. ...

, where he struggled, batting only .183 in 89 games. However, Greiner improved greatly in 2016, where he split time among Lakeland, the

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an United States, American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving ...

, and the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

, posting a combined .293 batting average with seven home runs and 42 RBIs between the three clubs. After the season, the Tigers assigned Greiner to the

Salt River Rafters The Salt River Rafters are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick near Scottsdale, Arizona. The ballpark is also the spring training facility o ...

of 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 ...

. In 2017, Greiner played for both Erie and Toledo, batting a combined .237 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs in 103 total games between the two teams. The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster after the season.

Detroit Tigers

On May 4, 2018, the Tigers called up Greiner. He made his major league debut two days later, and hit a single in his first-ever major league at-bat. Greiner was sent back down to Toledo on May 31. He was recalled by Detroit on June 12. The Tigers decided not to retain James McCann for the 2019 season which elevated Greiner to the starting catcher position after only playing in 30 games the previous season, his first season in the majors. On June 14, the Tigers placed Greiner on the 10-day Injured List due to a lower back strain. He was later moved to the 60-day IL. He was activated from the IL on August 24 and optioned to triple-A

. Greiner was added to the major league roster as a September call-up. On the season, he hit .202 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI in 208 major league at-bats. Overall with the 2020 Detroit Tigers, Greiner batted .118 with three home runs and 8 RBIs in 18 games. Greiner made the Tigers

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 out of 2021 spring training, and was expected to back up newly-acquired

Wilson Ramos Wilson Abraham Ramos Campos (born August 10, 1987), nicknamed "The Buffalo", is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Washington Nationals ...

. Greiner was placed on the 10-day injured list on May 12. He was optioned to Toledo after coming off the injured list due to the strong performance of his replacement, Eric Haase. Greiner was recalled to the major league club on July 19 following an injury to Jake Rogers. He played 31 games at the MLB level in 2021, hitting .236 with one home run and seven RBI. On November 29, 2021, Greiner was outrighted off the 40-man roster and elected free agency.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On March 15, 2022, Greiner signed a minor league contract with the

. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

to begin the year. On May 19, 2022, Greiner was selected to the active roster after José Herrera was placed on the injured list. He was returned to the minors on May 22, 2022. He elected free agency after the 2022 season on November 10.

Colorado Rockies

On January 13, 2023, Greiner signed a minor league deal with the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

. Greiner was released by the organization on March 24. On March 28, 2023, Greiner signed a minor league contract with the

organization and was assigned to 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 ...

Personal

Grenier and his wife, Madison, have two sons together.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greiner, Grayson 1992 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Baseball players from Columbia, South Carolina Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Lakeland Flying Tigers players Major League Baseball catchers Reno Aces players Salt River Rafters players South Carolina Gamecocks baseball players Toledo Mud Hens players West Michigan Whitecaps players