Anthony John Wolters (born June 9, 1992) is an American 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 tea ...

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 ...

for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

organization. He has 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

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

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 ...

and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Career

Cleveland Indians

Wolters was drafted by 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 the third 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 pic ...

out of

Rancho Buena Vista High School Rancho Buena Vista High School or "RBV" is a California Distinguished School and International Baccalaureate Organization World School, located in Vista, California. In the 1990–1991 and 1994–1995 school years Rancho Buena Vista High School ...

Vista, California Vista (; Spanish for "view") is a city in San Diego County, California. Vista is a medium-sized city within the San Diego-Carlsbad, CA Metropolitan Area and has a population of 101,638. Vista's sphere of influence also includes portions of un ...

. He signed with Cleveland, forgoing his commitment 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 pl ...

at the

University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...

. Prior to the 2013 season he was moved from an

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

. After the 2014 season, the Indians added Wolters to their

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 ...

. The Indians designated him for assignment before the 2016 season.

Colorado Rockies

The

claimed Wolters off of waivers. He made his major league debut on April 5, 2016, as a defensive replacement for

Nick Hundley Nicholas John Hundley (born September 8, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher and current front office executive. He is currently a special assistant to the general manager for the Texas Rangers. He played in Major League Ba ...

. In his first major league at bat, Wolters grounded out off of Jake Barrett. During his first major league start on April 10, 2016, Wolters got his first career hit when he singled against James Shields. In the same game Wolters walked and scored a run for the first time in the big leagues. Wolters hit his first career home run on June 25, 2016, against

Shelby Miller Shelby Charles Miller (born October 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondb ...

of the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

in the bottom of the 6th inning, scoring

Brandon Barnes Brandon Barnes (born October 10, 1978) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the punk rock band Rise Against. Barnes is also a strict vegetarian, an animal rights advocate and actively promotes PETA with his band. Biography ...

. For the season he hit .259 with 3 home runs and 30 RBI's and 4 stolen bases. On April 3, 2017, Wolters was the starting catcher on Opening Day against the

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 ...

. He went 2–4, scoring the two final runs to take the lead, one in the seventh off an error, and one in the ninth of a double from

Alexi Amarista Alexi Jose Amarista (born April 6, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player for El Águila de Veracruz of the Mexican League. Amarista was signed by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as an amateur free agent in 2007. He has pl ...

. He struggled offensively throughout the season, ultimately being the backup catcher to

Jonathan Lucroy Jonathan Charles Lucroy (born June 13, 1986) is a former American professional baseball catcher. Between 2010 and 2021, he spent 12 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Oakl ...

after July. He ended the season hitting .240 in 83 games with no home runs and 16 RBIs. In 2018, Wolters played in 74 games for the Rockies. In the 2018 NL Wild Card Game, he hit a go-ahead single in the 13th inning of a game the Rockies would win, 2–1 and advance to National League Division Series to face the

. Wolters established career highs offensively in batting average (.262), games played (121) and RBIs (42) in 2019. Wolters slashed .230/.280/.270 in 42 games in 2020. On December 2, Wolters was nontendered by the Rockies.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On February 11, 2021, Wolters signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

organization that included an invitation to Spring Training. On March 30, 2021, Wolters opted out of his minor league contract and became a free agent.

Chicago Cubs

On March 31, 2021, Wolters signed a one-year, major league contract with the

. On April 14, 2021, Wolters was designated for assignment after

Austin Romine Austin Allen Romine (born November 22, 1988) is an American professional baseball catcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the New York Yankees, Detroit Tigers, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, St. Louis Ca ...

was activated off of the injured list. In 3 games for Chicago, Wolters mustered only 5 plate appearances, going hitless with a walk. He was outrighted to the alternate training site on April 17. On April 26, Wolters was again selected to the active roster when Romine was placed on the injured list with a left wrist sprain. After posting a .125/.276/.125 batting line in 30 plate appearances, Wolters was again designated for assignment on May 19. He was outrighted to the Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. The ...

on May 22. He was released on August 3, 2021.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On August 7, 2021, Wolters signed a minor league contract with the

. He appeared in 26 games for the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Dodgers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their home games at Chickasaw Bricktown Bal ...

and had a .215 batting average. He remained with Oklahoma City to begin 2022 and was called up to the Majors on August 12. He appeared in two games for the Dodgers, striking out in three of his four at-bats. Wolters was designated for assignment on August 15 and released a few days later. He was quickly re-signed to a new minor league contract. For the 2022 season at Oklahoma City, he played in 61 games with a .230 average. He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

Minnesota Twins

On January 5, 2023, Wolters signed a minor league contract with the

Personal

Wolters grew up a

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

fan, with

Tony Gwynn Anthony Keith Gwynn Sr. (May 9, 1960 – June 16, 2014), nicknamed "Mr. Padre", was an American professional baseball right fielder, who played 20 seasons (1982–2001) in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres. The left-handed hit ...

being his favorite player.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wolters, Tony 1992 births Living people People from Vista, California Baseball players from California Major League Baseball catchers Colorado Rockies players Chicago Cubs players Los Angeles Dodgers players Arizona League Indians players Mahoning Valley Scrappers players Carolina Mudcats players Surprise Saguaros players Akron RubberDucks players Peoria Javelinas players Oklahoma City Dodgers players