Michael John Papierski (born February 26, 1996) 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 ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

in the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

organization. He has also played for 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 ...

and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. Papierski 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 pl ...

for the LSU Tigers and was selected in the ninth round in the

2017 MLB draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

by the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. He made his MLB debut in May 2022 with the Giants.

Early life and amateur career

Papierski grew up in Lemont, Illinois, and attended

Lemont High School Lemont High School, or LHS, is a public four-year high school located in Lemont, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is the only school of Lemont Township High School District 210, which serves the Village of ...

. He was selected in the 16th round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 5 through June 7, 2014, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first two rounds were conducted on June 5, followed by rounds three through ten on June ...

by the

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 ...

, but opted not to sign in favor of attending

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

(LSU). Papierski played

for the LSU Tigers for three seasons. He spent the majority of his freshman season as the backup to starting catcher Kade Scivicque. In 2015, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. Papierski started 40 games at catcher and hit .242/.358/.387 in his sophomore season. As a junior, Papierski hit .256/.401/.477 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs in 65 games, and was named to the SEC All-Defensive team after throwing out 23 baserunners.

Professional career

Houston Astros

The

selected Papierski in the ninth round of the

2017 Major League Baseball draft The 2017 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft began on June 12, 2017. The draft assigned amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The first 36 picks, including the first round and compensatory picks, were broadcast on MLB Network on J ...

. After signing with the team he was assigned to the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York–Penn League. Papierski spent the 2018 season with the Class A

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, one ...

. He was assigned to the

Fayetteville Woodpeckers The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to 201 ...

of the Class A-Advanced

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

in 2019, where he batted .233/.351/.324 with seven home runs, 11 doubles, one triple, and 38 RBIs. After the 2020 minor league season was canceled due to 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 ...

, Papierski was added to the Astros' alternate training site roster for the Major League season. He spent the 2021 season with the Triple-A Sugar Land Skeeters, hitting .246/.379/.375 with 7 home runs and 46 RBIs. He opened the 2022 season back with Sugar Land.

San Francisco Giants

On May 14,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, the Astros traded Papierski to the

in exchange for

Mauricio Dubón Mauricio Andre Dubón ( born July 19, 1994) is a Honduran professional baseball utility player for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Selected during the 26th round of the 2013 MLB draft by the Boston Red Sox, Dubón made his ...

. He was assigned to the

Sacramento River Cats The Sacramento River Cats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and are the Triple-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Prior to 2015, the River Cats were the Triple-A affiliate of the Oakland Athletics for 15 yea ...

. Papierski was promoted to the Giants' major league roster on May 21, 2022. He made his major league debut later that day in 2-1 loss to the San Diego Padres. He went 0-for-9 in his first five major league games. Papierski was designated for assignment on June 18, 2022, after the Giants claimed

Yermín Mercedes Yermín Francisco Mercedes (born February 14, 1993), nicknamed "The Yermín-ator", is a Dominican professional baseball first baseman, catcher, and designated hitter who is a free agent. He signed as an international free agent with the Washingt ...

Cincinnati Reds

On June 25, 2022, Papierski was claimed off waivers by the

. He recorded his first major league hit on June 29, against the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

. On August 7, Papierski hit his first career home run, a solo shot off of

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

starter Corbin Burnes. He appeared in 34 games for Cincinnati, hitting .159/.242/.207 with one home run and 4 RBI.

Detroit Tigers

On October 14, 2022, he was claimed off waivers by the

. On November 15, Papierski was designated for assignment by the Tigers. On November 18, he was non–tendered and became a free agent. He re-signed with the Tigers on a minor league contract on November 29.https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2022/11/tigers-re-sign-four-players-to-minor-league-deals.html

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Papierski, Michael 1996 births Living people People from Palos Heights, Illinois Baseball players from Cook County, Illinois Major League Baseball catchers San Francisco Giants players Cincinnati Reds players LSU Tigers baseball players Tri-City ValleyCats players Quad Cities River Bandits players Fayetteville Woodpeckers players Sugar Land Skeeters players Sugar Land Space Cowboys players Sacramento River Cats players Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Eau Claire Express players