Cole Figueroa

Cole Figueroa
Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 24
Second baseman / Third baseman
Born: (1987-06-30) June 30, 1987 Tallahassee, Florida
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 16, 2014, for the Tampa Bay Rays
MLB statistics (through April 21, 2016)
Batting average	.200
Home runs	0
Runs batted in	6
Teams
Tampa Bay Rays (2014) New York Yankees (2015) Pittsburgh Pirates (2016–present)

Stephen Coleman Figueroa (born June 30, 1987) is an American professional baseball infielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was the starting shortstop for University of Florida during his college career, and was drafted by San Diego Padres in the sixth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft. He was also drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 9th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign.

Early career

Figueroa attended Lincoln High School in Tallahassee, Florida, where he helped take the school's baseball team to the District 4A Championship. Figueroa played college baseball at the University of Florida for the Florida Gators while majoring in Sports Management. Figueroa's college achievements included All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman Team the SEC all-academic team. Figueroa was also named freshman All-American by rivals.com, Louisville Slugger, and Baseball America. He was selected to the Dick Howser Trophy watch list.

In 2008, Figueroa was named to the All-SEC academic team. He was named a Golden Spikes Award finalist along with being named to the midseason watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award. Figueroa led the Gators that year in average, home runs, RBI, Slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Figueroa also played two season in the Prestiges Cape Cod League, 2007 (Harwich) where he was named an all star and 2008 (Orleans)

Professional career

Tampa Bay Rays

Figueroa was drafted in the 6th round in the 2008 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres. Figueroa received an over slot $400,000 signing bonus when he signed a contract with the Padres on July 5, 2008.

The Padres traded Figueroa to the Tampa Bay Rays along with Brandon Gomes, Cesar Ramos, and Adam Russell in exchange for Jason Bartlett on December 17, 2010. The Rays called up Figueroa to the major leagues on May 15, 2014 and he made his MLB debut two days later.

New York Yankees

Figueroa signed with the New York Yankees organization on a minor league contract in December 2014. He began the season with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Class AAA International League. The Yankees promoted Figueroa to the major leagues on July 9. He elected free agency on November 6, 2015.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On December 8, 2015, Figueroa signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On April 2, 2016, it was announced that Figueroa would make the Pirates Opening Day roster as a reserve infielder, beating out offseason acquisition Jason Rogers and incumbent Pedro Florimón for the job. He hit .260/.321/.340 in 57 plate appearances in Spring Training.

Figueroa made his Pirates debut on April 8, fouling out to 3rd in a pinch hit appearance.

Personal life

Figueroa is the son of Cindy and Bien Figueroa. His father played in the major leagues for the St. Louis Cardinals.

See also

• List of second-generation Major League Baseball players

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Cole Figueroa on Twitter