Johnny Arthur Giavotella (born July 10, 1987) is an American former 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 t ...

second baseman. 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 Kansas City Royals,

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

, and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Early life

Giavotella was born in

Harahan, Louisiana Harahan is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana and suburb of New Orleans. The city of Harahan is located in Jefferson Parish; its population was 9,116 at the 2020 census. Etymology Harahan was named in honor of James Theodore Harahan, pres ...

, to Johnny Sr. and Cindy Giavotella. His family is

Italian-American Italian Americans ( it, italoamericani or ''italo-americani'', ) are Americans who have full or partial Italian ancestry. The largest concentrations of Italian Americans are in the urban Northeast and industrial Midwestern metropolitan areas, ...

. Giavotella attended St. Matthew the Apostle School in River Ridge, Jesuit High School in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, and the

University of New Orleans The University of New Orleans (UNO) is a public research university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is a member of the University of Louisiana System and the Urban 13 association. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High rese ...

, where he played

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 p ...

for the

New Orleans Privateers New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

. In 2006 and 2007, he played collegiate summer baseball with the

Harwich Mariners The Harwich Mariners are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Harwich, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Mariners play their home games at Whitehouse Fiel ...

of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Career

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals drafted Giavotella in the second round of the

2008 Major League Baseball Draft The 2008 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft continued Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players, and was held on June 5 and 6, 2008. First round selections ;Key Supplemental first ro ...

. He played in Class-A in the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

in 2008 and 2009, advanced to Double-A in 2010, and played in the Pacific Coast League and Triple-A Omaha in 2011. Giavotella was called up to the majors for the first time on August 5, 2011. On August 7, 2011, Giavotella hit his first major league career home run off the Detroit Tigers'

Max Scherzer Maxwell Martin Scherzer (born July 27, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals, and L ...

. Giavotella would finish the 2011 season with 2 home runs and 21 RBI's in 46 games. In 2012, Giavotella split time between the majors and in AAA with the Royals. The Royals recalled Giavotella on June 29, 2013 after

Jeff Francoeur Jeffrey Braden Francoeur (; born January 8, 1984), nicknamed "Frenchy", is an American former professional baseball right fielder, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royal ...

was designated for assignment. Giavotella was designated for assignment on December 18, 2014. Giavotella's 2014 season was marred with inconsistency as he was called up to the Royals roster for just 12 games, hitting .216 while not displaying improvement since his rookie year.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim / Los Angeles Angels

On December 19, 2014, Giavotella was traded to the

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

in exchange for Brian Broderick. The Angels faced a stiff competition in spring training for the 2nd base position, as he battled against fellow infielders

Josh Rutledge Joshua Alan Rutledge (born April 21, 1989) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies and Boston Red Sox between 2012 and 2017. Amateur career Rutledge attended C ...

and

Grant Green Grant Green (June 6, 1935 – January 31, 1979) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. Recording prolifically for Blue Note Records as both leader and sideman, Green performed in the hard bop, soul jazz, bebop, and Latin-tinged idioms ...

. After besting the competition, Giavotella cracked the opening day roster for the first time in his career. The 2015 season saw Giavotella manning second base for the majority of the season, setting career highs in every offensive category. In 2016, while he improved his defense dramatically from the prior season, Giavotella was designated for assignment towards the end of the month of August and was not called up when rosters expanded in September. Giavotella would finish his 2016 season with a career high 6 home runs and a .260 AVG in 99 games.

Baltimore Orioles

On February 1, 2017, Giavotella signed a minor league contract with the

. In July, the Orioles selected his contract and added him to the active roster. With an injury to starting shortstop J. J. Hardy, and a 5-game losing streak heading into the All-Star break, the team's looking for help in the field and at the plate. The 29-year-old infielder had been hitting .306/.368/.441 with 22 doubles, four triples, five homers and 45 RBIs in 83 games for Norfolk. His .306 average ranked him fourth in the International League. Orioles manager

Buck Showalter William Nathaniel "Buck" Showalter III (born May 23, 1956) is an American professional baseball manager for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as manager of the New York Yankees ( 1992–1995), Arizona Diamon ...

said of him: “There’s no one who plays the game harder than Johnny . . orfolk manager Ron Johnsonsaid he was their best hitter, so we’ll bring him up here, see if there’s a need for what he brings.” On August 1, Giavotella was designated for assignment.

Miami Marlins

On December 1, 2017, Giavotella signed a minor league deal with the Miami Marlins. He was released from the organization on May 2, 2018.

Chicago White Sox

On May 12, 2018, Giavotella signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

. He was released on June 21, 2018. Giavotella announced his retirement on August 11.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Giavotella, Johnny 1987 births Living people American people of Italian descent Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from New Orleans Birmingham Barons players Burlington Bees players Harwich Mariners players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball second basemen New Orleans Baby Cakes players New Orleans Privateers baseball players Norfolk Tides players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players People from Harahan, Louisiana Salt Lake Bees players Surprise Rafters players Tiburones de La Guaira players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Wilmington Blue Rocks players Jesuit High School (New Orleans) alumni