Zach Daeges (born November 16, 1983) is an American former 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 ...

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 cat ...

formerly in the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

organization. Daeges was drafted by Red Sox in the 6th round of the 2006 MLB Draft. He last played with the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

of the AAA International League in 2009, but missed most of 2009 and 2010 with a severe ankle injury.Zach Daeges
SoxProspects.com In 2006, while playing baseball for the Creighton University Bluejays, Daeges was named a second team All-American at

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

High school and college

Daeges was born in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

and moved as a teenager with his family to

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

He attended Harlan Community High School in

Harlan, Iowa Harlan is a city in Shelby County, Iowa, along the West Nishnabotna River. The population was 4,893 at the time of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Shelby County. History Harlan was platted in 1858. It was named for one of Iowa's early ...

before choosing to attend

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 ...

, where he studied accounting. Prior to the 2005 season, Daeges had

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, which forced him out of the field the following season. In 2005 as a

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. The position is authorized by Major League Baseball Rule 5.11. It was adopted by the American League in 1973 and later by th ...

, Daeges was named to the third team Academic All-American team as well as to the first-team All

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

squad. As a senior in 2006, he was named a second team All American as a third baseman and first team All Missouri Valley Conference after hitting .350 in 180 at-bats with 13

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 49

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 bat ...

.Baseball's Daeges Named Second-Team All-American
GoCreighton.com

Professional

Daeges was drafted with the 150th overall pick in the 2006 MLB amateur draft by the

. In , he joined the

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major League ...

, the short-Season A level affiliate of the Red Sox in the New York – Penn League (NYPL). With the Spinners, he drove in 32 runs while hitting .288 with 57 hits in 55 games, for which he was named a NYPL all-star. In , with the class A advanced

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

, Daeges hit .330 with 21 home runs, 113 runs batted in and 170 hits in 127 games. He was named by MiLB.com as the class A advanced Offensive Player of the Year after the season and set the

California League The California League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in California. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following Major Leag ...

record for doubles in a season with 25 games remaining. The following year with the AA

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

, Daeges hit .308 with 6 home runs, 63 runs batted in and 121 hits in 108 games. He was also the Sea Dogs player of the year and an Eastern League all-star. During the off-season, Daeges traveled to

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

to play for the

Leones del Caracas The Caracas Base Ball Club C.A. or better known by its commercial name as the ''Leones del Caracas'', is a professional baseball team of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. In its creation, its headquarters are the University Stadium of C ...

in the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

, with whom he batted .208 with 6 hits in 8 games. Prior to the season, he was a SoxProspects.com all-star selection and the 24th-best minor-league prospect in the Red Sox organization. With the

, Daeges injured his ankle in

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

and missed all but 9 games of the 2009 season due to the severe injury.Zach Daeges looks to resume promising career following ankle surgery
Providence Journal, October 23, 2009 Following the season, Daeges had surgery to remove the

Os Trigonum An accessory bone or supernumerary bone is a bone that is not normally present in the body, but can be found as a variant in a significant number of people. It poses a risk of being misdiagnosed as bone fractures on radiography. Wrist and hand ...

bone; it was discovered that he is one of the rare people with an extra bone in his ankle. Despite the injury, Red Sox officials were not concerned that it would affect his development. Prior to the season, Daeges was invited to the

spring training.2010 Red Sox Spring Training: Non-Roster Outfielder Invitees
March 8, 2010 However, Daeges missed all of the 2010 season due to injury as well. After playing 2 games and going 0-6 with the

in , Daeges was released by the Red Sox organization.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Daeges, Zach 1983 births Living people Creighton Bluejays baseball players Lowell Spinners players Lancaster JetHawks players Portland Sea Dogs players Pawtucket Red Sox players Sportspeople from Omaha, Nebraska People from Harlan, Iowa Baseball players from Iowa Baseball players from Nebraska Baseball outfielders Baseball designated hitters Baseball third basemen