Xavier Ladel Scruggs (born September 23, 1987) 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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Modern professional ...
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 ...
. He 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
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
and
Miami Marlins, and in the
KBO League
The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...
for the
NC Dinos
The NC Dinos ( ko, NC 다이노스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Changwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Since 2019, their home stadium is Changwon NC Park. NC Dinos are owned by video game developer NCSoft Corp ...
.
Professional career
St. Louis Cardinals
Scruggs was drafted by 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) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...
in the 50th round of the
2005 Major League Baseball Draft out of
Poway High School in
Poway, California, but did not sign and attended the
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes th ...
(UNLV) 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 ...
for the
UNLV Rebels
The UNLV Rebels are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Rebels compete in the NCAA Division I (Football Bowl Subdivision for college football) as a member of the Mountain West Confe ...
. During his three years at UNLV he hit .328/.427/.652 with 34
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 and 112
runs 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 ba ...
. After his junior year, Scruggs was drafted by the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
in the 19th round of the
2008 Draft and signed with the Cardinals.
Scruggs called up to the majors for the first time on September 4, 2014. He made his major league debut that day, but his major league action in 2014 was brief. He started the next season at Memphis. After batting .274 with five home runs and 16 RBI in 17 games in April, he was named the Cardinals' organizations Player of the Month. The Cardinals recalled him from Memphis on June 19,
2015. Four days later against the
Miami Marlins, he provided three hits and two RBI, including a game-tying double, in an eventual 4–3 win. Another three-hit, two-RBI effort followed on June 27 in an 8–1 win over the
Chicago Cubs.
Miami Marlins
On November 30, 2015, Scruggs signed a minor league deal with the
Miami Marlins. He was called up from Triple-A to play first base for the Marlins on August 19, 2016, and hit his first career homer, a 2-run shot off Pirates pitcher
Chad Kuhl, in a 3-1 Marlins win on August 20. On October 24, he was outrighted off of the team’s 40-man roster.
NC Dinos
Scruggs signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the
NC Dinos
The NC Dinos ( ko, NC 다이노스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Changwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Since 2019, their home stadium is Changwon NC Park. NC Dinos are owned by video game developer NCSoft Corp ...
of the
KBO League
The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...
on December 26, 2016. He became a free agent following the 2018 season. In two years with the Dinos in the KBO, Scruggs hit 61 home runs and drove in 208 runs.
Leones de Yucatán
On June 17, 2019, Scruggs signed with the
Leones de Yucatán
The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team play its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in , , , ...
of the
Mexican League
The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country.
The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...
. He was released on December 5, 2019.
Post-baseball career
In April 2021, Scruggs joined the
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...
baseball operations team as the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Consultant.
Xavier Scruggs has covered MLB for
ESPN
ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). Th ...
since 2021. In April 2022, Scruggs was hired as an inaugural panelist for the
MLB Network
The MLB Network is an American television sports channel dedicated to baseball. It is primarily owned by Major League Baseball, with Warner Bros. Discovery through its sports unit, Comcast's NBC Sports Group, Charter Communications, and Cox C ...
show ''
Off Base''.
References
External links
*
*
UNLV Rebels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Scruggs, Xavier
1987 births
Living people
African-American baseball players
Sportspeople from Diamond Bar, California
Baseball players from Los Angeles County, California
Major League Baseball first basemen
ESPN people
St. Louis Cardinals players
Miami Marlins players
NC Dinos players
UNLV Rebels baseball players
Batavia Muckdogs players
Quad Cities River Bandits players
Palm Beach Cardinals players
Springfield Cardinals players
Memphis Redbirds players
Gigantes del Cibao players
American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic
New Orleans Zephyrs players
Leones de Yucatán players
Águilas de Mexicali players
American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
American expatriate baseball players in South Korea
KBO League infielders
21st-century African-American sportspeople
Major League Baseball broadcasters
20th-century African-American people