Brian James O'Keefe (born July 15, 1993) is an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

in 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

organization. He 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

in the 7th round of the

2014 MLB draft The 2014 Major League Baseball 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 6, and the last 30 round ...

. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

Career

Amateur career

O'Keefe attended South Colonie High School in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

and

Saint Joseph's University Saint Joseph's University (SJU or St. Joe's) is a Private university, private Jesuits, Jesuit university in Philadelphia, Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The university was founded by the Jesuits, Society of J ...

, where played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

for the Saint Joseph's Hawks. In 2014, his junior year at Saint Joseph's, he hit .350/.423/.519 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs over 50 games.

St. Louis Cardinals

After the season, he was drafted by the

in the seventh round of the

2014 Major League Baseball draft The 2014 Major League Baseball 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 6, and the last 30 round ...

. O'Keefe made his professional debut with the Low-A State College Spikes, batting .239 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 47 games. He split the 2015 season between State College and the Single-A Peoria Chiefs, accumulating a .241/.311/.397 slash in 47 games. In 2016, O'Keefe played for Peoria and the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals, clubbing 13 home runs and 64 RBI to go along with a .252/.361/.436 triple slash. O'Keefe split the 2017 campaign between Peoria, Palm Beach, and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, hitting .262/.320/.433 with a career-high 15 home runs and 48 RBI in 101 games between the three affiliates. He returned to Palm Beach for a third season in 2018, batting .243/.358/.412 with 6 home runs and 44 RBI in 73 contests. In 2019, O'Keefe spent the year with Springfield, slashing .229/.319/.389 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI in 88 games.

Seattle Mariners

On December 12, 2019, the

selected O'Keefe in the minor league phase of the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

after he had spent six years in the Cardinals' minor league system. O'Keefe 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He spent the 2021 campaign split between the Double-A

Arkansas Travelers The Arkansas Travelers, known informally as The Travs, are a Minor League Baseball team based in North Little Rock, Arkansas. The Travelers are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners and play in the Texas League. Hi ...

and the Triple-A

Tacoma Rainiers The Tacoma Rainiers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners. They are located in Tacoma, Washington, and play their home games at Cheney Stadium, ...

, logging a slash of .269/.349/.485 while posting career-highs in home runs (24) and RBI (70) in 105 combined games. He elected minor league free agency following the season on November 7, 2021. On December 3, 2021, O'Keefe re-signed with the Mariners organization on a minor league contract and received an invitation to Spring Training. He did not make the club out of spring and was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma to begin the 2022 season. The Mariners promoted O'Keefe to the major leagues on September 30. On September 30, 2022, O'Keefe was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. On October 1, 2022, O'Keefe hit his first Major League hit off

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

pitcher

JP Sears Jonathan Patrick Sears, known online as AwakenWithJP, is an American conservative YouTube comedian. Sears produces satirical YouTube videos where he parodies lifestyle gurus, wellness coaches, and government policies. Biography JP Sears was ...

. He appeared in 2 games for Seattle, going 1-for-3 (.333) with a walk. On November 18, 2022, O'Keefe was non-tendered and became a free agent. On December 27, O'Keefe re-signed with the Mariners on a minor league deal. He was assigned to Tacoma to begin the 2023 season, where he played in 86 games and batted .240/.325/.511 with 22 home runs and 65 RBI. On August 16, 2023, the Mariners selected O'Keefe's contract, adding him to the major league roster. In 8 games for Seattle, he went 2–for–19 (.105) with two walks and two RBI. On October 13, O'Keefe was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

following the waiver claim of

Kaleb Ort Kaleb James Ort (born February 5, 1992) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox. Listed at and , he throws and bats right-handed. ...

. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple–A Tacoma on October 17. O'Keefe elected free agency on November 6.

Kansas City Royals

On February 13, 2024, O'Keefe signed a minor league contract with 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) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

. He was released by the Twins organization on March 27. On April 1, 2024, O'Keefe signed a minor league contract with the

. On October 29, O'Keefe re-signed with the Royals on a minor league contract for the 2025 season.https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/minor-league-transactions-oct-1-29-2024/

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:OKeefe, Brian 1993 births Living people Arkansas Travelers players Baseball players from Albany, New York Major League Baseball catchers Omaha Storm Chasers players Palm Beach Cardinals players Peoria Chiefs players Saint Joseph's Hawks baseball players Saratoga Brigade players Seattle Mariners players Springfield Cardinals players State College Spikes players Tacoma Rainiers players