Petr Čech

From BR Bullpen

Petr Čech

Bats Left, Throws Right
Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.

Born October 13, 1987 in Ostrava Czech Republic

Petr Čech is the first position player raised in the Czech Republic who has played in the minor leagues in the USA. Pavel Budský and Jakub Toufar had pitched previously in the minors; Jakub Hajtmar had signed a professional contract before Čech but had not played in a minor league game.

In the 2004 Extraliga, Petr hit .252/.341/.315 as one of two 17-year-olds on the Arrows Ostrava. Čech was the primary Czech catcher among three used in the 2005 Baseball World Cup, going 1 for 8 with 3 walks, 3 strikeouts and a double; he made no errors. In the 2005 season, the teenager batted .336/.397/.454 for Arrows Ostrava and was among the league leaders in hits (40, tied for 8th), total bases (54, 9th), RBI (26, 8th) and runs (33, 5th).

He signed with the Cincinnati Reds in 2006. In the Extraliga that year, he batted .285/.328/.338; he tied for fifth in hits (39) and tied for fifth in runs (26). The next season, he was 2 for 10 with two walks for the Arrows, spending much of the year in the USA. He also was with the Czech national team in the 2007 European Championship; he hit .154/.154/.154 and fielded just .864 with two passed balls and failed to throw out any of the seven attempted base-stealers. The Czech team was later stripped of its wins because Čech, Toufar and Hajtmar were ineligible.

Čech made his US debut with the 2007 GCL Reds and hit .308/.333/.423, though he struck out in 7 of 26 at-bats. He played four games at catcher and four at DH. In the qualifiers for the 2009 European Championship, Petr helped the Czechs advance by batting .286/.333/.357 as their starting catcher; he threw out the only player who tried to steal. Čech went 1 for 15 for the host Czechs in the 2008 World University Championship. For the 2008 GCL Reds, Petr batted .235/.316/.265 in 14 games.