Timothy John Kruger (born October 26, 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

who is a free agent. He has 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 Los Angeles Angels.

Amateur career

Kruger attended Oaks Christian School in

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County on its western border with Ventura County. The City of Westlake Village incorporated in 1981 becoming the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks Westlake Vill ...

. In 2013, as a senior, he batted .343 with seven home runs and 37 RBIs. Undrafted out of high school in the

2013 MLB 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 ...

, he enrolled at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

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 Oregon Ducks. In 2014, as a freshman at Oregon, Kruger appeared in 28 games in which he hit .208 with one home runs and six RBIs. After the year, he transferred to

Orange Coast College Orange Coast College (OCC) is a public community college in Costa Mesa in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides Associate of Art and Associate of Science degrees, cert ...

where he spent his sophomore season in which he batted .310 with 23 RBIs in 46 games. Following his breakout sophomore season, he enrolled at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Unive ...

. At Mississippi State, Kruger slashed .344/.435/.550 with eight home runs and forty RBIs in 56 games and was named to the All-SEC First Team.

Professional career

Los Angeles Angels

After Kruger's junior year, he was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 20th 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 signed for $395,000 and was assigned to the

Arizona League Angels The Arizona Complex League Angels are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Tempe Diablo Stadium in Temp ...

. After playing three games for the AZL Angels, he was promoted to the

Orem Owlz The Orem Owlz were a Minor League Baseball team located in Orem, Utah, United States, from 2001 to 2020. The team competed in the Pioneer League as a Rookie League affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The Owlz played their home games at Home o ...

, where he finished the year. In thirty games between the two clubs, he hit .310/.354/.388 with 14 RBIs. In 2017, he began the season with the Burlington Bees before being promoted to the Inland Empire 66ers, batting a combined .240 with five home runs and 39 RBIs in 104 games. Kruger returned to the 66ers to begin 2018, with whom 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 ...

All-Star. He was promoted to the Mobile BayBears in June and finished the year there. In 97 games between the two teams, he slashed .299/.357/.413 with seven home runs, forty RBIs, and 13 stolen bases. He returned to Mobile to begin 2019, hitting .240 with three home runs and 34 RBIs over 92 games. 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 identif ...

. To begin the 2021 season, Kruger was assigned to the Salt Lake Bees. On May 6, 2021, Kruger was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day as a defensive replacement for Kurt Suzuki but did not register a plate appearance. On May 7, Kruger was designated for assignment following the acquisition of Drew Butera.

Texas Rangers

On May 9, 2021, Kruger was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers. On May 15, Kruger was designated for assignment without having made an appearance for the team. On May 17, Kruger was outrighted to the

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 ...

. Over 46 games with Round Rock, he batted .267 with three home runs and 16 RBIs.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruger, Jack 1994 births Living people Arizona League Angels players Baseball players from Los Angeles Burlington Bees players Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball catchers Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Mobile BayBears players Oregon Ducks baseball players Orem Owlz players Round Rock Express players