Kyle Andrew Kubitza (born July 15, 1990) 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 ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

. 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

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 ...

Career

Kubitza attended

Colleyville Heritage High School Colleyville Heritage High School (CHHS) is a public secondary school in Colleyville, Texas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The school is a part of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District and serves freshmen through senior students i ...

Colleyville, Texas Colleyville is a city in northeastern Tarrant County, Texas, United States, centrally located in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. A wealthy suburb of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, Colleyville was originally a small farm town in the 19th century. Th ...

. 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 ...

Texas State University Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

for the

Texas State Bobcats The Texas State Bobcats are the sports teams that represent Texas State University. Currently, they compete in the Sun Belt Conference in NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for football). The Bobcat has been the mascot of Texas State Univ ...

. He hit .328 with 27 home runs during his career.

Atlanta Braves

The

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

selected Kubitza in the third round of the

2011 Major League Baseball Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the firs ...

. He signed with the Braves and made his professional debut that season with the

Danville Braves The Danville Braves were a Minor League Baseball team in Danville, Virginia. They were an Advanced Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League and were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have played home games at American Legion Post 3 ...

. Kubitza played 2012 with the

Rome Braves The Rome Braves are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They are located in Rome, Georgia, and play their home games at AdventHealth Stadium. From 2003 to 2020, the team serve ...

, 2013 with the

Lynchburg Hillcats The Lynchburg Hillcats are a Minor League Baseball team in Lynchburg, Virginia that plays in the Carolina League and is the Single-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They were a farm team of the Atlanta Braves from 2011 to 2014, the Cincinna ...

and 2014 with the

Mississippi Braves The Mississippi Braves, or M-Braves as they are referred to locally, are a Minor League Baseball team based in Pearl, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson. The team is the Double-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves and plays in the Southern League. ...

. The Braves added Kubitza to the team's

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

on November 19, 2014.

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On January 8, 2015, the Braves traded Kubitza and Nate Hyatt 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 Ricardo Sánchez. He started the season with the Triple-A

Salt Lake Bees The Salt Lake Bees are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. They are located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and play their home games at Smith's Ballpark. The ballpark o ...

. The Angels promoted Kubitza to the major leagues on June 10, 2015. He made his major league debut that day in place of

David Freese David Richard Freese (born April 28, 1983) is an American former professional baseball Infielder, infielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). He began his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was a key player during the 2011 Major Leag ...

, who had been injured. Kubitza was optioned to the minors on June 28, having hit .214 in eleven games for the Angels. Freese was placed on the disabled list on July 23, clearing a roster spot for Kubitza's return. Five days later, Kubitza was sent to Salt Lake as the Angels sought to promote a backup outfielder to replace Mike Trout. Kubitza began to play other positions during this minor league stint, and was recalled on September 8.

Texas Rangers

On June 21, 2016, Kubitza was traded to the Texas Rangers for cash considerations after being

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on June 13, 2016.

Return to Atlanta

On August 12, 2016, Kubitza was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

Sugar Land Skeeters

Kubitza signed with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball in early 2018. Kubitza announced his retirement on July 3, 2018.

Personal life

His brother, Austin Kubitza, played Minor League Baseball in the Detroit Tigers and

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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

organizations as well as

independent baseball Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independen ...

References

External links

Texas State Bobcats bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kubitza, Kyle 1990 births Living people Baseball players from Arlington, Texas Colleyville Heritage High School alumni Danville Braves players Gwinnett Braves players Los Angeles Angels players Lynchburg Hillcats players Major League Baseball third basemen Mississippi Braves players Rome Braves players Round Rock Express players Salt Lake Bees players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sugar Land Skeeters players Texas State Bobcats baseball players Tigres del Licey players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic