Jonah Nathan Heim (born June 27, 1995), nicknamed "The Buffalo Bomber", 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

for the Texas Rangers of

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). He made his MLB debut in 2020 for the Oakland Athletics.

Early life

Heim attended

Kenmore East High School Kenmore East High School (nicknamed Ken-East; also Kenmore East Senior High School) is a high school in the Town of Tonawanda, New York. Its name refers to the Village of Kenmore in New York. The school's mascot is a bulldog. The school was foun ...

Tonawanda, New York Tonawanda (formally ''City of Tonawanda'') is a city in Erie County, New York, United States. The population was 15,130 at the 2010 census. It is at the northern edge of Erie County, south across the Erie Canal ( Tonawanda Creek) from North To ...

, and

Amherst Central High School Amherst Central High School (ACHS) is a public High school (North America), high school in Snyder, New York, Snyder, New York (state), New York, United States, a Hamlet (New York), hamlet within the town of Amherst, New York, Amherst, which is wit ...

Snyder, New York Snyder (originally Snyderville) is a hamlet within the town of Amherst in Erie County, New York, that is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The hamlet was established in 1837. It was named for Michael Snyder, its first postmas ...

. In 2013, he signed a

letter of intent A letter of intent (LOI or LoI, or Letter of Intent) is a document outlining the understanding between two or more parties which they intend to formalize in a contract, legally binding agreement. The concept is similar to a Heads of agreement ( ...

to attend

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

on a

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 ...

scholarship to play for the

Michigan State Spartans The Michigan State Spartans are the athletic teams that represent Michigan State University. The school's athletic program includes 23 varsity sports teams. Their mascot is a Spartan warrior named Sparty, and the school colors are green and wh ...

Career

Baltimore Orioles

The

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) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

selected Heim in the fourth round, with the 129th overall selection, of the 2013 MLB draft. He signed with Baltimore, receiving a $389,700

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

, rather than enroll at Michigan State. He made his professional debut that season the GCL Orioles and spent all of 2013 there, slashing .185/.275/.247 in 27 games. In 2014, he played for the GCL Orioles and the

Aberdeen IronBirds The Aberdeen IronBirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in the city of Aberdeen in Harford County, Maryland. They are the High-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and compete in the South Atlantic League. They were previously members of the ...

where he batted .196 with one home run and seven RBIs in 46 games, and in 2015, he played for the

Delmarva Shorebirds The Delmarva Shorebirds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Salisbury, Maryland. They are members of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. Their home games are played at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium. The Shor ...

where he compiled a .248 batting average with one home runs and 16 RBIs in 43 games. He began 2016 with the

Frederick Keys The Frederick Keys are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. The Keys are based in Frederick, Maryland. The franchise is named for "Star-Spangled Banner" writer Francis Scott Key, a native of Frederick County. A new team masco ...

Tampa Bay Rays

On August 1, 2016, the Orioles traded Heim to the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

in exchange for Steve Pearce. Tampa Bay assigned him to the

Charlotte Stone Crabs The Charlotte Stone Crabs were a Minor League Baseball team located in Port Charlotte, Florida, from 2009 to 2020. They competed in the Florida State League (FSL) as the Class A-Advanced affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays Major League Baseball (MLB) ...

and he finished the season there. In 102 total games between Frederick and Charlotte, he collected a .217 batting average with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. He spent 2017 with both Charlotte and the

Bowling Green Hot Rods The Bowling Green Hot Rods are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and play their home games at Bowling Green Ballpark, which open ...

, slashing .260/.317/.402 with nine home runs, 61 RBIs, and a .718 OPS in 93 games.

Oakland Athletics

Heim was traded to the Oakland Athletics on December 19, 2017, as the

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

to complete a trade for Joey Wendle. He spent 2018 with both the

Stockton Ports The Stockton Ports are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Stockton, California, and are named for the city's seaport. The team plays its home games at Ba ...

and the

Midland RockHounds The Midland RockHounds are a Minor League Baseball team based in Midland, Texas. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics major league club. The RockHounds play in Momentum Bank Ballpark, w ...

, batting .258 with eight home runs and sixty RBIs in 119 total games between both teams. He split the 2019 season between Midland and the

Las Vegas Aviators The Las Vegas Aviators, formerly known as the Las Vegas 51s and Las Vegas Stars, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics. They are located in Summerlin South, Nevada ...

, hitting a combined .310/.385/.477/.862 with 9 home runs and 53 RBI. On November 1, 2019, Heim was added to the Athletics 40–man roster. On August 24, 2020, Heim was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Heim made his major league debut the next day against the Texas Rangers as the starting catcher. Heim hit .211 with 5 RBI over 13 games for Oakland in 2020.

Texas Rangers

On February 6, 2021, Heim,

Khris Davis Khristopher Adrian Davis (born December 21, 1987), nicknamed “Khrush”, is an American professional baseball left fielder and designated hitter who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Bre ...

, and Dane Acker were traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for

Elvis Andrus Elvis Augusto Andrus Torres (born August 26, 1988) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Oakland Athletics and Chicago White Sox. Ente ...

and

Aramis Garcia Aramis Michael Garcia (born January 12, 1993) is an American professional baseball catcher in the Philadelphia Phillies organization. The San Francisco Giants selected Garcia in the second round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He made h ...

. Heim hit his first major league home run on April 6, 2021, off

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

pitcher

Tommy Milone Tomaso Anthony Milone ( ; born February 16, 1987) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Seattle Mariners organization. He has previously played in MLB for the Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics, Minnesota Twins, Milwaukee Brewe ...

. On July 31, Heim hit home runs from each side of the plate, including his first career walk-off home run, off

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

pitcher Diego Castillo. On August 1, he hit another walk-off home run versus Seattle to become the first player in Texas Rangers history, and the first rookie in MLB history, to record walk-off home runs in two straight games. Over 82 games in 2021, Heim hit .196/.239/.358/.598 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI. Heim hit his first major league grand slam on April 14, 2022, off

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 ha ...

pitcher

Shohei Ohtani , nicknamed "Shotime", is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher, designated hitter and outfielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional ...

in a 10-5 Rangers win; it was the first grand slam Ohtani had given up in his major league career. Heim appeared in 127 games for Texas in 2022, in which he hit .227/.298/.399/.697 with 16 home runs and 48 RBI.

Personal life

Heim and his wife, Kenzie, have a son and a daughter together.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Heim, Jonah 1995 births Living people People from Buffalo, New York Baseball players from New York (state) Major League Baseball catchers Oakland Athletics players Texas Rangers players Gulf Coast Orioles players Aberdeen IronBirds players Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Stockton Ports players Midland RockHounds players Las Vegas Aviators players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Amherst Central High School Alumni