Steven James Lerud (born October 13, 1984) is an American former

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 is currently a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

in 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 ...

organization. During his playing days, he briefly 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

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

(–).

Early life

Steven Lerud was born in Reno, Nevada. Lerud attended to Galena High School, in

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

Career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Lerud was drafted by the

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Founded as part of the American Associati ...

in the third round of the 2003 MLB Draft. On November 9, 2009, he elected free agency.

Kansas City Royals

On December 7, 2009, he signed a minor league deal with the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Baltimore Orioles

Lerud was acquired 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 ...

on March 27, 2010. He elected free agency on November 6, 2010 and re-signed on a minor league deal on December 26, 2010. Lerud elected free agency again on November 2, 2011.

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 9, 2011, Lerud signed a minor league deal with the Phillies, who promoted him to the big leagues on August 24, 2012. He appeared in 3 MLB games in 2012, batting .200, in 10 at-bats. Lerud was subsequently dropped from the

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, and ...

after the end of that season, but signed a 2013 minor league contract with the Phillies' organization. He appeared in 6 major league games with the Phillies in 2013, going hitless in 5 at-bats. Lerud elected free agency on October 1, 2013.

Atlanta Braves

He signed a minor league deal with 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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

on November 11, 2013 and received a non-roster invitation to Major League spring training.

Washington Nationals

On January 12, 2015 Lerud signed a minor league deal with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

he was assigned to Triple–A

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

the same day. He elected free agency on November 7.

Seattle Mariners

On February 3, 2016, Lerud signed a minor league deal with the

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 ...

and received an invite to spring training. He was released by the Mariners on April 7.

San Francisco Giants

On April 27, 2016, Lerud 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. In 60 games for the Triple–A

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 ...

, he batted .229/.385/.288 with one home run and 19 RBI. Lerud elected free agency following the season on November 7.

Texas Rangers

On January 5, 2017, Lerud signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers that included an invitation to spring training. He did not appear in a game for the organization and elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Coaching career

On January 19, 2018, Lerud was named as manager of the Minor League Baseball (MiLB) Low–A

Eugene Emeralds The Eugene Emeralds (nicknamed the Ems) are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, based in Eugene, Oregon. The Emeralds are members of the Northwest League and are affiliated with the San Francisco Giants. Eugene plays their ...

, a

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

affiliate of the

. In 2019, Lerud was named as manager for the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

, the High–A affiliate for the Cubs.

References

External links

Steve Lerud
at Baseball Gauge {{DEFAULTSORT:Lerud, Steve 1984 births Living people Major League Baseball catchers Baseball players from Nevada Eugene Emeralds managers Philadelphia Phillies players Gulf Coast Pirates players Williamsport Crosscutters players Hickory Crawdads players Lynchburg Hillcats players Altoona Curve players Norfolk Tides players Bowie Baysox players Reading Phillies players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Gwinnett Braves players Honolulu Sharks players Scottsdale Scorpions players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Syracuse Chiefs players Richmond Flying Squirrels players