Ryan Lavarnway, Catcher, Miami Marlins

Date of Birth: 8/7/1987
Birthplace: Burbank, California
College: Yale University

Ryan Lavarnway, catcher for the Miami Marlins, became a catcher while he was playing in little league games. However, when he started at Yale University, he was a right fielder. In his second year at Yale, he was moved to the catcher position. He was a top player at Yale and he led the NCAA in batting average in 2007 with .467. At the end of his college career, he had a .384 batting average, 33 home runs, and 122 RBIs in 120 games.

Lavarnway was first drafted by the Boston Red Sox in 2008. He played in Boston's minor league system from 2008 through most of 2014. During that time, he had 595 hits, 133 doubles, 382 RBIs, and 476 strikeouts to 285 walks in 570 games. As a catcher, he made 233 assists, 2,387 putouts, and 19 errors in 329 games. He caught players trying to steal 30% of the time.

Lavarnway first joined the Red Sox in 2011 for 17 games. The next season, he played in a career high 46 games. During that time, he had 24 hits and a .157 batting average. He spent most of 2013 and 2014 in the minors, joining the Red Sox for just 25 games in 2013 and 9 games in 2014. He was designated for assignment on November 25, 2014.

The Los Angeles Dodgers claimed Lavarnway off waivers on December 5, 2014. He stayed with the team for only 14 days before being claimed off waivers by the Chicago Cubs. His stay with the Cubs was even shorter - the Baltimore Orioles claimed him off waivers on December 23, 2014, just four days after he joined the Cubs.

Lavarnway was granted free agency by the Orioles on May 29, 2015, and a day later he signed with the Atlanta Braves. He played in just 37 games in the major leagues in 2015, joining the Orioles for 10 games and the Braves for 27 games.

Lavarnway signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays on May 27, 2016. He spent the entire 2016 season in the minors.

Lavarnway became a free agent on November 7, 2016. He signed a minor league contract with the Oakland Athletics on November 21, 2016. He spent most of the 2017 season in the minors, playing in just 6 games with the Athletics.

During Spring Training 2017, Lavarnway was the starting catcher for Team Israel in the World Baseball classic. He was named the Pool A MVP after batting .556.

Lavarnway elected free agency on October 13, 2017. He signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 22, 2018. He spent most of the 2018 season in the minors, playing in just 6 games with the Pirates.

Lavarnway became a free agent on November 2, 2018. He signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees on November 7th. He was released by the Yankees on July 18, 2019. That same day, he signed with the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds released him on August 29th, and a day later, he signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. He spent most of the 2019 season in the minors, playing in just 5 games with the Reds.

Lavarnway became a free agent on November 4, 2019. He signed a minor league contract with the Marlins on December 18th. He played in just five games with the Marlins in 2020.

Lavarnway became a free agent again on October 15, 2020. He signed a minor league contract with Cleveland on February 19, 2021. He spent most of the 2021 season in the minors, playing in just 9 games with Cleveland. He also played in the Olympics for Team Israel.

Lavarnway was again a free agent on October 6, 2021. He signed a minor league contract with the Detroit Tigers on March 14, 2022. He was traded to the Marlins on June 23rd.

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Ryan Lavarnway
ESPN - Ryan Lavarnway
Baseball Reference - Ryan Lavarnway