Casper Wells

Casper Wells
Wells with the Seattle Mariners
Outfielder
Born: (1984-11-23) November 23, 1984 (age 39)
Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 15, 2010, for the Detroit Tigers
Last MLB appearance
September 28, 2013, for the Philadelphia Phillies
MLB statistics
Batting average.230
Home runs25
Runs batted in81
Teams

Casper Charles Wells V (born November 23, 1984) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played in Major League Baseball for the Detroit Tigers, Seattle Mariners, Oakland Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Philadelphia Phillies from 2010 to 2013.

Early life

Wells attended Schenectady High School in Schenectady, New York and Towson University, where he played college baseball for the Towson Tigers baseball team in the Colonial Athletic Association.[1] He is the fifth member of his family to carry the name Casper.

Professional career

Detroit Tigers

Wells at bat in Dodger Stadium

The Detroit Tigers selected Wells in the 14th round, with the 420th overall selection, of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. The Tigers promoted Wells to the major leagues on May 14, 2010, in place of pitcher Alfredo Figaro.[2] Wells returned to Toledo on May 21[3] but was recalled to Detroit on August 23 in place of Enrique González.[4]

Seattle Mariners

On July 30, 2011, Wells was traded to the Seattle Mariners along with LHP Charlie Furbush, prospect Francisco Martínez and a player to be named later (Chance Ruffin) for Doug Fister and David Pauley.[5]

Wells had early success at Seattle. He was able to put together a continuous streak of 4 games where he had a home run in each from August 13 through 16, 2011. The streak was halted when he was hit by a pitch in the nose by Brandon Morrow.[6]

Wells was designated for assignment by the Mariners on March 31, 2013, and was claimed on waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays on April 10, 2013.[7] Wells was activated on April 12, but was designated for assignment on April 15 without appearing in a game to make room on the 40-man roster for Ramón Ortiz.[8]

Oakland Athletics

Wells was traded to the Oakland Athletics on April 22, 2013, for cash. He was added to the 40-man and 25-man rosters when second baseman Scott Sizemore re-tore his ACL.[9] Wells was designated for assignment on April 28 when Yoenis Céspedes returned from the disabled list.[10] Wells had started a mere two games for the Athletics, one in left field and one as the designated hitter.[11]

Chicago White Sox

The Oakland A's traded Wells to the White Sox for cash on April 29, 2013.[12]

Philadelphia Phillies

On August 8, 2013, the Philadelphia Phillies claimed Wells off of waivers from the Chicago White Sox for a player to be named later.

On August 24, after starting the night in right field, Wells pitched in the 18th inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, making him a position player to have pitched in both leagues in the same year.[13] He became the losing pitcher, and was tabbed with a 27.08 ERA after giving up 5 runs to the Diamondbacks. Wells was also 0-for-7 batting that night.[14]

Wells appeared as a pinch runner the following day, but on August 27, he was placed on the disabled list with dry eye syndrome as a result of lasik surgery on his eyes.[15] Wells returned to action for one at-bat as a pinch hitter in late September, in what was to be his final major league appearance.

Wells was outrighted off the roster on October 16.

Wells playing for the Bridgeport Bluefish

Chicago Cubs

Wells signed a minor league deal with the Chicago Cubs on November 20, 2013. On May 19, 2014, Wells joined the team's AAA-level Iowa Cubs farm team from extended spring training.[16] On June 25, 2014, Iowa released Wells.[16]

Bridgeport Bluefish

Wells signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the Atlantic League to finish out the 2014 season.

Return to Detroit

On February 21, 2015, the Detroit Tigers signed Wells to a minor league contract.[17] Wells was released on May 1, 2015.[18]

References

  1. ^ Miller, Mike. "Former Towson star returns to Baltimore with Detroit," The Baltimore Sun, Saturday, October 2, 2010.
  2. ^ Iott, Chris (May 15, 2010). "Casper Wells to make major-league debut for Tigers tonight against Boston". Mlive.com. Retrieved July 1, 2011.
  3. ^ Henning, Lynn (May 22, 2010). "Casper Wells sent down, Tigers recall Ryan Raburn". Detroit News. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
  4. ^ Jahnke, James (August 23, 2010). "Tigers call up Casper Wells; demote Enrique Gonzalez". Retrieved August 23, 2010.[dead link]
  5. ^ "Doug Fister, David Pauley Traded to Tigers for Casper Wells, Charlie Furbush, Other Stuff Too". July 30, 2011.
  6. ^ "Schenectady's Casper Wells Gets Hit in Face by Pitch".
  7. ^ Griffin, Richard (April 10, 2013). "Blue Jays claim outfielder Casper Wells from Mariners". TheStar.com. Archived from the original on June 23, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2013.
  8. ^ "Casper Wells Designated For Assignment Without Appearing in a Game, Ramon Ortiz Joins Blue Jays". BlueBirdBanter.com. April 15, 2013. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  9. ^ "A's acquire OF Casper Wells". April 22, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
  10. ^ "A's Yoenis Cespedes back from disabled list". April 28, 2013. Retrieved April 28, 2013.
  11. ^ "Casper Wells Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  12. ^ http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130429&content_id=46162504&vkey=news_cws&c_id=cws[permanent dead link] White Sox acquire Wells
  13. ^ http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2013/08/25/sports/doc521a985bd566d724983514.txt[dead link]
  14. ^ "MLB: Strange but True 2013". December 29, 2013.
  15. ^ Iseman, Chris (August 26, 2013). "Vision issue lands Phils' Wells on disabled list". MLB. Retrieved August 26, 2013.
  16. ^ a b "Ramirez to join Iowa on Thursday". Chicago Tribune.
  17. ^ Beck, Jason (February 21, 2015). "Tigers bring Wells back on Minor League deal". MLB. Archived from the original on February 22, 2015. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
  18. ^ Schmehl, James (May 1, 2015). "Detroit Tigers release outfielder Casper Wells, reliever Omar Duran from minor league system". MLive. Retrieved May 1, 2015.

External links