Braden Adam Bishop (born August 22, 1993) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners. He was drafted by the Mariners in the 3rd round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft.

Braden Bishop
Bishop with the Seattle Mariners in 2019
Outfielder
Born: (1993-08-22) August 22, 1993 (age 31)
Woodland, California, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
March 21, 2019, for the Seattle Mariners
Last MLB appearance
April 19, 2021, for the Seattle Mariners
MLB statistics
Batting average.133
Home runs0
Runs batted in8
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Early life

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Bishop was born in Woodland, California.[1] His hometown is San Carlos, California.[2] His parents are Randy (who owns a private investigation company) and Suzy Bishop (who ran track at UCLA and has been a movie producer and head of the Vancouver Film School in Canada).

Bishop attended St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California.[1][3]

College career

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Bishop attended the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, where he played baseball for the Washington Huskies.[1][4] In 2014, he batted .304/.394/.359 with 21 steals (leading the Pac-12 Conference) in 24 attempts.[5] After the 2014 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League.[6] In his senior year in college he was All-Pac-12, and selected to the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team.[4]

Professional career

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Drafts and minor leagues

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Bishop was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the 36th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft out of high school, and by the Seattle Mariners in the 3rd round of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft out of college.[1]

Bishop signed with the Mariners and played in 2015 for the Everett AquaSox of the Class A- Northwest League, batting .320 (second in the league)/.367/.393 with 13 steals in 16 attempts, and led the league with 12 HBP and 11 sacrifice hits.[1][7] In August 2015 MLBPipeline.com ranked Bishop as the Mariners' #14 prospect.[4] He was named Northwest League Player of the Week on August 24, 2015, a Northwest League Post-Season All Star, and an MILB.com organization All Star.[8]

In 2016, Bishop played for the Clinton LumberKings of the Class A Midwest League, and the Bakersfield Blaze of the Class A+ California League, batted a combined .273/.338/.326 with 8 steals in 9 attempts, and was named a California League All Star.[1][8][9] MLBpipeline.com ranked him the #9 Mariners prospect.[10]

In February 2017 MLB.com ranked him the #6 Mariners prospect, the best defensive player in the organization, and tied for the best runner in the organization.[11] Bishop began 2017 with the Modesto Nuts of the California League, batted .296/.385/.400 with 16 steals in 20 attempts and was the MVP in the mid-season California League All Star Game, and was promoted to the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League.[1][8][12] In July 2017 Baseball America ranked him the #7 2017 mid-season prospect of the Mariners.[13] With Arkansas, he batted .336/.417/.448. In 2017 MLBpipeline.com ranked him the #5 Mariners prospect.[14] The Seattle Times named Bishop the Mariners' 2017 Player of the Year, and he was named the Jewish Baseball News Minor League MVP.[15][16] He played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League in the fall of 2017, and was an AFL All Star.[17]

In 2018 MLBpipeline.com ranked him the #5 Mariners prospect.[18] Playing for the Arkansas Travelers of the Class AA Texas League, he batted .284/.361/.412 with 70 runs (tied for 10th in the league), 8 home runs, and 33 runs batted in over 345 at bats.[19]

After the 2018 season, the Mariners added Bishop to their 40-man roster.[20]

Seattle Mariners (2019–2021)

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On March 19, 2019, the Mariners announced that Bishop was included on their Opening Day active roster.[21] Bishop made his MLB debut on March 21 as a defensive replacement in the 8th inning, replacing Ichiro Suzuki in right field during Ichiro's final game. Bishop struck out in his first big league at bat.[22] On March 23, he was optioned to the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. In 2020, Bishop slashed .167/.242/.233 with 5 hits, 4 runs batted in, and 1 stolen base across 12 games.[23]

After notching only 1 hit in 5 plate appearances in 8 games, Bishop was designated for assignment on May 13, 2021.[24]

San Francisco Giants

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On May 17, 2021, Bishop was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants.[25] On May 22, Bishop was designated for assignment by San Francisco.[26] He was outrighted to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats on May 26.[27] In 288 at bats for the River Cats, he batted .326/.388/.549 with 58 runs and 12 home runs. He became a free agent following the season.

Arizona Diamondbacks

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On January 13, 2022, Bishop signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.[28] He began the season playing for the Triple-A Reno Aces. On June 7, 2022, Bishop was released.

Minnesota Twins

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On June 18, 2022, Bishop signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins.[29] He elected free agency on November 10, 2022.

Retirement

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On March 3, 2023, Bishop formally announced his retirement from professional baseball on his Instagram account.[30]

Personal life

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His younger brother Hunter is an outfielder for the San Francisco Giants organization.[31][32][33][34] Spurred by his mother Suzy's struggle with early onset Alzheimer's disease starting at age 54, he has started a charity to spread awareness of the affliction known as “4Mom.”[4][35][36][37] His mother died at age 59 in October 2019.[38] The brothers are creating the "Suzy Bishop Memorial Grant" in their mother's honor, which will be gifted once a year to a family affected by Alzheimer's.[38]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Braden Bishop Minor Leagues Statistics & History," Baseball-Reference.com.
  2. ^ "Braden Bishop - Player Profile," Perfect Game USA.
  3. ^ "The Continuous Education of Braden Bishop," Lookout Landing.
  4. ^ a b c d "You Should Root For Mariners Prospect Braden Bishop," Baseball Essential.
  5. ^ "Braden Bishop - The Baseball Cube". www.thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  6. ^ "#4 Bradon Bishop - Profile". pointstreak.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  7. ^ "Top 2015 System Debuts for the Mariners," Scout.
  8. ^ a b c "Braden Bishop Stats, Highlights, Bio," MiLB.com.
  9. ^ "Seattle Mariners' Braden Bishop makes career-changing swing adjustment," Archived March 21, 2019, at the Wayback Machine BaseballCensus.
  10. ^ "Mariners' preseason Top 10 prospects". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  11. ^ "2017 Prospect Watch," mlb.com.
  12. ^ "Braden Bishop Steals The Show In California League All-Star Game," Baseball America.
  13. ^ "2017 Seattle Mariners Midseason Top 10 Prospects," Baseball America.
  14. ^ "MLB.com 2017 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  15. ^ "Mariners minor league report: Naming the player and pitcher of the year". The Seattle Times. August 26, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  16. ^ Steve Wulf (November 9, 2017). "What a week for Bregman, Pederson, Kapler and Koufax," ESPN.
  17. ^ Preusser, Kate (November 5, 2017). "Mariners prospects make impression in absence in Fall Stars game". Lookout Landing. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  18. ^ "MLB.com 2018 Prospect Watch". Major League Baseball. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  19. ^ "Braden Bishop College, Amateur, Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference.com.
  20. ^ "Mariners add Braden Bishop to 40-man roster". MLB.com. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  21. ^ Johns, Greg (March 19, 2019). "Mariners set 25-man Opening Day roster". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  22. ^ "Mariners Box Score 3/21/2019". mlb.com. March 21, 2019. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  23. ^ Leary, Adrianne (January 29, 2021). "40 in 40: Braden Bishop". Lookout Landing.
  24. ^ "Mariners Officially Promote Jarred Kelenic, Logan Gilbert". MLB Trade Rumors.
  25. ^ "Giants Claim Braden Bishop". MLB Trade Rumors.
  26. ^ "Giants Select Scott Kazmir, Designate Braden Bishop". MLB Trade Rumors.
  27. ^ "Giants Outright Braden Bishop, Trevor Hildenberger". MLB Trade Rumors.
  28. ^ "D-Backs Sign Braden Bishop, Keynan Middleton To Minor League Deals". MLB Trade Rumors. January 13, 2022.
  29. ^ "Twins Sign Braden Bishop To Minor League Deal". MLB Trade Rumors. June 18, 2022.
  30. ^ "I'm officially retiring from playing professional baseball". www.instagram.com. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  31. ^ "UW baseball player Braden Bishop leads his mother’s fight against early-onset Alzheimer’s," Seattle Times.
  32. ^ "Sunday's Washington-Arizona baseball game was all 4MOM," ESPN.
  33. ^ "Bishop Plays ‘4MOM’ With Alzheimer’s," Baseball America.
  34. ^ "Leading Off 4Mom," milb.com.
  35. ^ "Braden Bishop gets to stay in Seattle, drafted by Mariners," USA Today.
  36. ^ Lewis, Adam (June 10, 2015). "Seattle Mariners see 'good makeup' in Washington's Braden Bishop". Pac-12. Archived from the original on June 11, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2018.
  37. ^ "Home," 4MOM.
  38. ^ a b Johnson, Dalton (October 9, 2019). "Bruce Bochy sends Hunter Bishop heartfelt tweet after mother's death | NBCS Bay Area". Nbcsports.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
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