Grayson Greiner


Grayson James Greiner is an American professional baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball.

Career

After graduating from Blythewood High School in Blythewood, South Carolina, Greiner played college baseball for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks from 2012 to 2014. He played in 179 games during his career, hitting.278/.358/.435 with 18 home runs.

Minor leagues

Greiner was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the third round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Tigers and made his professional debut with the West Michigan Whitecaps. He played in 26 games before a broken hamate bone in his left wrist ended his season. He hit.322/.394/.444 with two home runs. Greiner spent 2015 with the Lakeland Flying Tigers, where he struggled, batting only.183 in 89 games. However, Greiner improved greatly in 2016, where he split time between Lakeland, the Erie SeaWolves, and the Toledo Mud Hens, posting a combined.293 batting average with seven home runs and 42 RBIs between the three clubs. After the season, the Tigers assigned Greiner to the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League.
In 2017, he played for both Erie and Toledo, batting a combined.237 with 14 home runs and 44 RBIs in 103 total games between the two teams. The Tigers added him to their 40-man roster after the season.

Detroit Tigers

2018

On May 4, 2018, the Tigers called up Greiner. He made his major league debut two days later, and hit a single in his first-ever major league at-bat. Greiner was sent back down to Toledo on May 31. He was recalled by Detroit on June 12.

2019

The Tigers decided not to retain James McCann for the 2019 season which elevated Greiner to the starting catcher position after only playing in 30 games the previous season, his first season in the majors. On June 14, the Tigers placed Greiner on the 10-day Injured List due to a lower back strain. He was later moved to the 60-day IL. He was activated from the IL on August 24 and optioned to triple-A Toledo Mud Hens. Greiner was added to the major league roster as a September call-up. On the season, he hit.202 with 5 home runs and 19 RBI in 208 major league at-bats.