Michael Jeffrey Gerber (born July 8, 1992) 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 ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

who is currently a free agent. He previously 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 Detroit Tigers and

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 Y ...

and in

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB) for the

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

Career

Gerber was drafted by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

in the 40th round of the

2010 Major League Baseball Draft The 2010 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held on June 7–9, 2010 at the MLB Network Studios in Secaucus, New Jersey. First-round selections The draft order was determined based on the 2009 MLB standings, with the worst team pi ...

out of

Neuqua Valley High School Neuqua Valley High School (NVHS) is a public four-year high school located near the corner of Illinois Route 59 and 95th Street in Naperville, Illinois, a western suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Neuqua Valley is the counterpar ...

Naperville, Illinois Naperville ( ) is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is in the Chicago metro area, west of the city. Naperville was founded in 1831 by Joseph Naper. The city was ...

. He did not sign and attended

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

to play

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 ...

Detroit Tigers

Gerber was then drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 15th round of the

2014 MLB 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 ...

. He made his professional debut with the

Connecticut Tigers The Norwich Sea Unicorns are a baseball team located in Norwich, Connecticut. From 2010 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play th ...

and also played with the

West Michigan Whitecaps The West Michigan Whitecaps are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Comstock Park, Michigan, a suburb of Grand Rapids, and play their home games at LMCU Ballpa ...

. Gerber spent 2015 with West Michigan and played in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

after the season. He spent most of the 2017 season with the AA Erie SeaWolves. The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season. On April 20, 2018, the Tigers added Gerber to the 25-man roster ahead of a doubleheader as the 26th man. He made his major league debut in the second game when he pinch-ran for

Miguel Cabrera José Miguel Cabrera Torres (born April 18, 1983), nicknamed "Miggy", is a Venezuelan professional baseball first baseman and designated hitter for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Since his debut in 2003 he has been a two-t ...

. Although he was sent back down after the doubleheader, Gerber was again called up three days later. After being returned to the minors, Gerber was recalled on July 31, 2018, following the deadline trade of Tigers outfielder

Leonys Martín Leonys Martín Tápanes (born March 6, 1988), nicknamed "Ikadi", is a Cuban-American professional baseball center fielder who is currently a free agent. Born in Cuba, he played locally for Villa Clara of the Cuban National Series, and for the ...

. That night, Gerber recorded his first career major league hit and first RBI. Batting in the bottom of the eighth inning against the Cincinnati Reds, he hit a line drive down the third base line for a double, scoring José Iglesias from first base. This turned out to be the game-winning RBI in a 2–1 Tigers victory.

San Francisco Giants

On December 10, 2018, Gerber was claimed off waivers by the

from the Tigers. He had his contract purchased on May 3, 2019. He tied for the minor leagues lead in 2019 with 41 doubles, and batted .308/.368/.569. He was designated for assignment on November 5. Gerber elected free agency on November 12.

Colorado Rockies

On December 18, 2019, the Colorado Rockies signed Gerber to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Gerber 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 identi ...

. He became a free agent on November 2, 2020.

Chunichi Dragons

On December 2, 2020, it was reported that Gerber had reached a deal with the

in the

Nippon Professional Baseball League or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. On April 28, 2021, Gerber made his NPB debut. Gerber hit .156/.174/.178 in 12 games with the Dragons. On October 20, 2021, the Dragons announced that Gerber would not return to the team in 2022.

References

External links

Creighton Blue Jays bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerber, Mike 1992 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan Chunichi Dragons players Connecticut Tigers players Detroit Tigers players Erie SeaWolves players Lakeland Flying Tigers players Major League Baseball outfielders Sacramento River Cats players San Francisco Giants players Scottsdale Scorpions players Sportspeople from Naperville, Illinois Baseball players from DuPage County, Illinois Baseball players from Nashville, Tennessee Toledo Mud Hens players West Michigan Whitecaps players Madison Mallards players Wisconsin Woodchucks players