Jason Donald
From BR Bullpen
Jason Thomas Donald
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
- School University of Arizona
- High School Buchanan High School (Clovis, CA)
- Born September 4, 1984 in Modesto, CA USA
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[edit] Biographical Information
Shortstop Jason Donald was on the US roster for the 2008 Olympics when they won Bronze.
[edit] High School
Donald played high school baseball for his father, Tom. He set school records in hits, homers and runs. He was also a multi-position football player, earning All-City honors as a senior. He hit .468 as a junior. As a senior, he batted .534 with 52 runs and 11 home runs and was named a second-team All-American by Baseball America; Eric Duncan, Ian Stewart and Brandon Wood were the three infielders chosen as first-team above him. The Anaheim Angels chose him in the 20th round of the 2003 amateur draft; he fell that far due to his strong college commitment.
[edit] College
Going on to college, Jason hit .322/.381/.475 as a freshman for Arizona. Baseball America named him a second-team freshman All-American at SS, behind Chris Valaika. Collegiate Baseball picked him for their first-team freshman All-American squad. He set the Arizona Wildcat record for hits (84) by a freshman. Donald hit .333 with a home run in the 2004 College World Series as Arizona fell in 3 games. In the Cape Cod League, he hit .206/.281/.304 for the Cotuit Kettleers.
In 2005, the sophomore batted .288/.398/.473 and set a school record by being hit by pitch 19 times in a year. Returning to the Kettleers, he improved to .272/.352/.346.
As a junior, the shortstop hit .332/.401/.528 with 49 RBI in 54 games. The Philadelphia Phillies chose him in the third round of the 2006 amateur draft.
[edit] Minor Leagues
Donald debuted with the Batavia Muckdogs, producing at a .263/.347/.352 rate with 12 steals in 13 tries and a .959 fielding percentage at short. One negative was his .159 average against left-handers, but he hit .313 against right-handers in a reverse split. He led New York-Penn League shortstops in fielding percentage.
In 2007, Jason began with the Lakewood BlueClaws and hit .310/.409/.447 in 51 games (.395 against left-handers this time), earning mid-season South Atlantic League All-Star honors. He was promoted to the Clearwater Threshers and hit .300/.386/.491 there. Overall, he had 89 runs, 31 doubles, a .395 OBP and 109 strikeouts. He tied Quintin Berry for the best OBP i nthe Phillies chain.
Donald opened 2008 with the Reading Phillies. After 80 games, he is batting .303/.380/.510 with 14 home runs. He started at short and hit 9th for the US in the 2008 Futures Game. He made a throwing error on a potential double play grounder in the first inning, allowing Elvis Andrus to reach; Andrus would eventually score the winning run in a 3-0 World victory. In the third, Donald grounded back to pitcher Hector Rondon in his first at-bat. Facing Julio Pimentel in the 5th, he singled to left to put two men on with two out but was stranded. Valaika replaced him at short the next inning.
Donald was the USA's shortstop and top hitter when they won Bronze at the 2008 Olympics. He hit .381/.536/.571 and delivered a 2-run homer in the 8-4 Bronze Medal game win over Japan.
[edit] Sources
- University of Arizona Athletics
- 2004-2008 Baseball Almanacs
- 2008 Phillies Media Guide
- Cape Cod League website
- MILB.com
