Cooper Michael Kinney (born January 27, 2003) is an American professional baseball second baseman in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.
| Cooper Kinney | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tampa Bay Rays | |||||||||||||||
| Second baseman | |||||||||||||||
| Born: January 27, 2003 Kennesaw, Georgia | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Amateur career
editKinney attended Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he played baseball under his father, Mike.[1][2] In 2019, as a sophomore, he batted .396 with five home runs.[3] As a senior in 2021, he hit .480 with ten home runs and fifty RBIs and was named the Tennessee Gatorade Player of the Year.[4] He committed to play college baseball at the University of South Carolina.[5]
Professional career
editKinney was selected by the Tampa Bay Rays in the first competitive balance round with the 34th overall selection of the 2021 Major League Baseball draft.[6] He signed with the Rays for a $2.1 million signing bonus.[7] He made his professional debut with the Florida Complex League Rays, slashing .286/.468/.371 with five RBIs over 35 at-bats.[8] He missed all of the 2022 season due to undergoing shoulder surgery.[9][10] Kinney returned to play in 2023 with the Charleston RiverDogs and batted .274 with ten home runs and 61 RBIs over 121 games.[11]
References
edit- ^ "Cooper Kinney has notable offensive skills". Baseball Prospect Journal. April 6, 2021.
- ^ "Baylor School's Cooper Kinney could go from Mr. Tennessee Baseball to MLB Draft pick". June 7, 2021.
- ^ "Baylor baseball star Cooper Kinney drafted by Tampa Bay Rays". www.yahoo.com.
- ^ "Baylor's Cooper Kinney named state's top player by Gatorade". timesfreepress.com.
- ^ Cloninger, David. "USC, Clemson commitments taken during first night of Major League Baseball Draft". Post and Courier.
- ^ "Tampa Bay Rays Select Baylor's Cooper Kinney '21 In MLB Draft - Chattanoogan.com". www.chattanoogan.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-12.
- ^ Berry, Adam (July 19, 2021). "Rays ink Kinney, second Day 1 pick". MLB.com. Archived from the original on 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2021-07-20.
- ^ "Wiedmer: Baylor grad Cooper Kinney already giving back to Chattanooga, with much help from Gatorade".
- ^ "Here's where Rays Top 30 prospects are starting '22". MLB.com.
- ^ "Rays' Cooper Kinney: Shut down after shoulder surgery".
- ^ https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2023/jun/23/baylor-grad-cooper-kinney-others-from-chattanooga/
External links
edit- Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)