Martin Červenka (born 3 August 1992) is a Czech

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 plays for Tempo Praha of the Extraliga. He has played in Minor League Baseball for ten seasons and for the Czech Republic national baseball team in international competitions, such as the

2019 European Baseball Championship The 2019 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament organized by the Confederation of European Baseball. The 2019 Championship was held September 7–15, 2019, in Bonn and Solingen, Germany. The tournament contributed ...

and

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

Career

Cleveland Indians

Červenka played in Extraliga when he was 15 years old. He trained at the European Baseball Academy at age 16. He signed with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

in January 2009, and participated in

extended spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 2009 and 2010, while finishing high school. He made his professional debut in 2011 in for the Arizona Indians of the Rookie-level

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...

, batting .164/.233/.218 in 55

at bat In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...

s. The next season for the Arizona League team, Červenka batted .240/.352/.280 in 75 at bats. In 2013, playing for the Low–A

Mahoning Valley Scrappers The Mahoning Valley Scrappers are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Niles, Ohio, a city in the valley of the Mahoning River, and play their home games at Eastwood Field. From 1999 to 2020, they were a M ...

and Single–A

Lake County Captains The Lake County Captains are a Minor League Baseball team in Eastlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, that plays in the Midwest League as the High-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. The Captains joined the Class A Midwest League following t ...

, he batted .185/.271/.221 in 195 at bats. In 2014, playing with Mahoning Valley he batted .181/.250/217 in 83 at–bats. In 2015, playing in Lake County he batted .184/.233/.247 in 174 at–bats. In 2016, playing for two minor league teams he batted .272/.332/.383 in 342 at bats. In 2017, playing for the High–A

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 ...

, he batted .278/.343/.418 in 400 at–bats. He elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2017.

Baltimore Orioles

On 20 November 2017, Červenka signed a minor league contract with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

organization. On 14 December, he was selected by 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 ...

in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft. In 2018, he played in 97 games for the Double–A

Bowie Baysox The Bowie Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. History From 1989 to 1992, ...

, he batted .258/.317/.457 in 337 at bats, hitting a career-high 15

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 ...

s (tied for 8th in the Eastern League) and 60

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBIs). In 2019, he batted .233/.304/.324 in aggregate for the High–A

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 th ...

, Double–A Bowie, and the Triple–A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's location on the Chesapea ...

. His stint with Norfolk marked the first time he reached Triple–A. Červenka did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of 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 ...

. He became a free agent following the season on 2 November 2020.

New York Mets

On 22 March 2021, Červenka signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

organization. He played in 72 games for the Triple–A

Syracuse Mets The Syracuse Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Syracuse, New York, and play their home games at NBT Bank Stadium, which open ...

, batting .183/.280/.344 with 7 home runs and 19 RBI. On 7 November 2021, Červenka became a free agent.

Eagles Praha

On 9 February 2022, Červenka signed with the Eagles Praha of the

Czech Baseball Extraliga Czech Baseball Extraliga is a baseball league and the highest level of baseball in the Czech Republic. The league started in 1979, when Tempo Praha won the first championship. In 2020, the Extraliga was one of the first sports leagues in Europe, ...

International career

Červenka has played for the Czech Republic national baseball team at the

2012 European Baseball Championship The 2012 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament being held from September 7 to September 16, 2012. The Confederation of European Baseball selected the Netherlands to host the tournament. Qualification The follow ...

, 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualification,

2014 European Baseball Championship The 2014 European Baseball Championship was an international baseball tournament held in the Czech Republic and Germany. The defending champion Italy lost in the final to the Netherlands, who became champion for the 21st time. Qualification Th ...

, 2015 USA Tour, 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualification, and 2016 European Baseball Championship. He played for the team at the Africa/Europe 2020 Olympic Qualification tournament, in Italy in September 2019. In 2022, Červenka was selected to play the

2023 World Baseball Classic qualification The qualifying round of the 2023 World Baseball Classic will be held in September 2022. Teams which participated at the 2017 World Baseball Classic automatically qualified for the 2023 tournament. The qualifying round is to consist of two tourna ...

. He played for the national team in the

Personal life

Červenka's father, Filip, and older brother, Marek, also play baseball. Červenka completed an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher e ...

and expected to complete his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

in 2018.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cervenka, Martin 1992 births Living people Arizona League Indians players Baseball catchers Bowie Baysox players Czech expatriate baseball players in the United States Glendale Desert Dogs players Lake County Captains players Lynchburg Hillcats players Norfolk Tides players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Syracuse Mets players Sportspeople from Prague 2016 European Baseball Championship players 2019 European Baseball Championship players 2023 World Baseball Classic players Expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Toros del Este players Gigantes del Cibao players