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Josh Rutledge
From BR Bullpen
Joshua Alan Rutledge
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
- School University of Alabama
- High School Cullman High School
- Debut July 13, 2012
- Born April 21, 1989 in Cullman, AL USA
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[edit] Biographical Information
Shortstop Josh Rutledge debuted in the majors in 2012.
[edit] Amateur Career
Rutledge hit .436/.497/.602 as a high school junior. As a senior, he improved to .454 with 12 home runs and 69 RBI as his team won a state title and he won All-State honors. As a freshman in college, he batted .369/.429/.418 with 62 runs and 16 steals (caught 3 times) in 61 games. He became the second freshman to lead Alabama in average, following Dave Magadan (1981). Collegiate Baseball named him a Freshman All-American. He tied Rich Poythress for third in the Southeastern Conference with 99 hits. He spent the summer with the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox and produced at a .294/.365/.393 rate.
As a sophomore, Josh batted .305/.398/.444 with 64 runs in 57 contests. He was All-Southeastern Conference at shortstop (one of two players picked there). He fell to .250/.315/.268 in a second summer with Yarmouth-Dennis in the Cape Cod League. His junior year, Rutledge hit .360/.396/.529 with 65 runs and 69 RBI in 67 games. He broke Andy Phillips' school record for RBI by a shortstop and made first-team All-SEC. He led the SEC in hits (107) and tied Jason Esposito for 4th in total bases (157). He also tied for 6th in NCAA Division I in hits.
[edit] Minors
He was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the third round of the 2010 amateur draft and made his pro debut that summer with the Tri-City Dust Devils, going just 5 for 39 with 4 walks and 4 errors. With the Modesto Nuts the next year, he hit .348/.414/.517 with 33 doubles, 91 runs, 9 home runs and 71 RBIs. He fielded .943 at short. He was 10th in the California League in runs, but was second in average (behind Jedd Gyorko by .017), was third in OBP, ranked 7th in slugging, was 5th in OPS (between Angelo Songco and Gary Brown), tied for 3rd in triples (9, behind Brown and Mat Long), and was 5th in hits (160). He was named the league's All-Star shortstop. He set a record for average by a Rockies minor leaguer (breaking Brad Hawpe's 9-year-old mark by .001) and tied Seth Smith for second in hits by a Rockies minor leaguer (one behind Cory Sullivan) historically.
He began 2012 with the AA Tulsa Drillers, hitting .306/.338/.508 with 27 doubles and a 13 homers in 87 games while fielding .978 at short. He was called up to the majors when Todd Helton went on the DL. Unfortunately, his luggage was lost on the way to Colorado and he made due with equipment from new teammates Troy Tulowitzki, Jordan Pacheco and DJ LeMahieu.
[edit] Majors
Rutledge made his big league debut on July 13th, hitting 8th and starting at short against the Philadelphia Phillies. He would have a fine day. In his first at-bat, he doubled off Cliff Lee to score Michael Cuddyer. He later singled off Lee, had a sacrifice fly to score Tyler Colvin and drew a walk from Michael Schwimer then stole second base.
