Darwin Barney

From BR Bullpen

Darwin J. Barney

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 5' 10", Weight 175 lb.

School Oregon State University
High School Southridge High School (Beaverton, OR)

Born November 8, 1985 in Portland, OR USA

Shortstop Darwin Barney was a star of the 2007 College World Series.

Barney hit .611 as a high school senior with 19 steals in 19 tries. He went on to Oregon State University and batted .301/.380/.376 as a freshman. He was named the Pacific-10 Conference Freshman of the Year and Baseball America named him a second-team freshman All-American after Todd Frazier at shortstop. Collegiate Baseball named him a freshman All-American.

In his sophomore season, Barney batted .330/.430/.395 and led the Pac-10 with 261 at-bats. He was second with 43 walks and 4th with 16 steals. He was named to the All-Conference team as an infielder and started on a team that won the 2006 College World Series. He then joined Team USA, hitting .258 and slugging .355. He got the most at-bats of any of their shortstops, edging out Frazier and Zach Cozart.

Barney batted .302/.377/.442 as a junior with 53 runs (2nd on OSU), 56 RBI (third) and 14 steals. In the 2007 College World Series, he hit a key 2-run homer in the second inning of game two against the University of North Carolina to put OSU ahead for good. He was named to the College World Series All-Tournament Team.

Picked by the Chicago Cubs in the 4th round of the 2007 amateur draft, Barney began his professional career with the AZL Cubs. There, he was 8 for 18 with 3 doubles, 4 walks and six runs in five games. Promoted to the Peoria Chiefs, he hit .273/.323/.392 and fielded .957 at shortstop.