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Isiah Kiner-Falefa

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Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Kiner-Falefa with the New York Yankees in 2022
Pittsburgh Pirates – No. 7
Utility player
Born: (1995-03-23) March 23, 1995 (age 29)
Waipahu, Hawaii, U.S.
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 10, 2018, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through 2024 season)
Batting average.262
Home runs34
Runs batted in246
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Isiah Kiner-Falefa (born March 23, 1995), often abbreviated as IKF, is an American professional baseball utility player for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, New York Yankees, and Toronto Blue Jays.

Kiner-Falefa was born and raised in Hawaii where he attended Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu. Out of high school, he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fourth round of the 2013 MLB draft. After spending five seasons in the Rangers farm system, Kiner-Falefa made his major league debut in April 2018. In 2020, he won the American League Gold Glove Award at third base. In 2020 and 2021, he led the Rangers in several statistical batting categories. Prior to the 2022 season, Kiner-Falefa was sent to the Minnesota Twins but was flipped to the Yankees the following day as part of a multi-player trade.

Professional career

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Minor leagues

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Kiner-Falefa attended Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the fourth round of the 2013 Major League Baseball Draft.[1]

He made his professional debut with the Arizona League Rangers and spent all of 2013 there, batting .322 with 11 RBIs and 12 stolen bases in 41 games. In 2014, he played for the AZL Rangers, Hickory Crawdads, and Spokane Indians where he batted .246 with 16 RBIs in 79 games, and in 2015, he played with Hickory and the High Desert Mavericks, where he batted .296 with 40 RBIs in 98 games. Kiner-Falefa spent 2016 with the Frisco RoughRiders where he compiled a .256 batting average with 27 RBIs in 108 games.

Kiner-Falefa played numerous positions in the Rangers organization, including shortstop, second base, third base and catcher.[2][3][4] He played in 2017 with Frisco where he batted .288 with five home runs and 48 RBIs in 129 games.[5] The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season.[6] He opened the 2018 season with the Round Rock Express, appearing in five games before being recalled to the major leagues for the rest of the season.

Texas Rangers

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Kiner-Falefa made his Major League debut against the Los Angeles Angels on April 10, 2018.[7] On April 14, against the Houston Astros, he hit his first career home run.[8] Kiner-Falefa appeared in 111 games during his rookie season of 2018, hitting .261/.325/.357/.682 with 4 home runs and 34 RBI, while playing games at catcher, third base, shortstop, and second base. He opened the 2019 season with Rangers in a catching tandem with veteran Jeff Mathis.[9] Kiner-Falefa was placed on the injured list on June 7, and recalled on August 2 in the role of utility infielder and third string catcher.[10] He finished 2019 hitting .238/.299/.322 with one home run and 21 RBI.

In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Kiner-Falefa hit .280/.329/.370 with 3 home runs and 10 RBI in 58 games. He was awarded the AL Gold Glove Award for third basemen.[11] Over 158 games in 2021, he hit .271/.312/.357/.670 with 8 home runs, 53 RBI, and 20 stolen bases.[12] He led the major leagues with 136 singles. Defensively, he moved to shortstop and led his position with 436 assists and 98 double plays.

New York Yankees

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On March 12, 2022, Texas traded Kiner-Falefa, along with pitcher Ronny Henríquez, to the Minnesota Twins for Mitch Garver.[13] One day later, Minnesota traded Kiner-Falefa, along with Ben Rortvedt and Josh Donaldson, to the New York Yankees for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela.[14][15] Kiner-Falefa finished the 2022 season batting .261 with four home runs and 48 RBIs in 142 games.[16]

During spring training in 2023, Kiner-Falefa competed with Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza to be the Yankees starting shortstop.[17] Volpe won the starting shortstop job,[18] as the Yankees turned Kiner-Falefa into a utility player.[19] On April 13, 2023, Kiner-Falefa made his pitching debut in the ninth inning during an 11-2 loss for the Yankees against the Minnesota Twins. His second pitch on the mound, 38 MPH eephus pitch, was the slowest tracked pitch in Yankees history.[20] On June 14, during the Subway Series against the New York Mets, Kiner-Falefa stole home off pitcher Brooks Raley. He became the first Yankee player since Didi Gregorius on August 27, 2016, to steal home.[21] On June 22, Kiner-Falefa was sent out for his third career pitching appearance in the top of the ninth inning of a 10–0 blowout loss against the Seattle Mariners. In the bottom of the ninth, he became the first Yankees position player to pitch three times in a season.[22] He pitched a scoreless inning, recording his first strikeout (Eugenio Suarez). He was called to bat as the pitcher in the lineup, which resulted in a 2-run home run against reliever Chris Flexen. Kiner-Falefa became the first Yankee to hit a home run as a pitcher since Lindy McDaniel did so on September 28, 1972, the last season before the American League's adoption of the designated hitter rule.[23] He batted .242/.306/.340 for the season.[24] He became a free agent following the season.

Toronto Blue Jays

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On December 29, 2023, Kiner-Falefa signed a two-year, $15 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.[25][26] In 82 games for Toronto in 2024, he batted .292/.338/.420 with seven home runs and 33 RBI.

Pittsburgh Pirates

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On July 30, 2024, the Blue Jays traded Kiner–Falefa to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Charles McAdoo.[27][28]

Personal life

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Kiner-Falefa is of Samoan, Hawaiian, Japanese and Caucasian descent.[29][30][31] He is the second cousin twice removed of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Ralph Kiner on his mother's side.[32] His grandmother was from Hiroshima, Japan.[31]

References

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  1. ^ Billy Hull (June 7, 2013). "Wong, Kiner-Falefa selected in fourth round of MLB draft". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  2. ^ "A Familiar Path For Isiah Kiner-Falefa". Baseball America. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  3. ^ Kate Morrison (June 8, 2017). "Rangers prospect Kiner-Falefa reimagined as utility catcher". WFAA. Archived from the original on November 10, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  4. ^ Stephen Hunt (May 15, 2016). "Kiner-Falefa embracing new position in Frisco". Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  5. ^ "Isiah Kiner-Falefa Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  6. ^ "Texas Rangers: Pitchers in forefront as Rangers add to 40-man major-league roster". The Dallas Morning News. November 20, 2017. Retrieved February 27, 2018.
  7. ^ T.R. Sullivan (April 11, 2018). "Rangers' Isiah Kiner-Falefa makes MLB debut". MLB.com. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
  8. ^ Sam Spangler (April 15, 2018). "Video: Garcia, Kiner-Falefa leave the yard in MLB". KHON. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  9. ^ T.R. Sullivan (March 15, 2019). "Chris Woodward sees a 50-50 split in playing time between Jeff Mathis and Isiah Kiner-Falefa". Twitter. Retrieved April 7, 2019.
  10. ^ Jeff Wilson (August 6, 2019). "Kiner-Falefa says catching wasn't waste of time. Is he OK being a Rangers infielder again?". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Retrieved August 11, 2019.
  11. ^ Grant, Evan (November 3, 2020). "Rangers' Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Joey Gallo win Gold Gloves after defensive switches this season". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
  12. ^ Levi Weaver (October 6, 2021). "Grading the 2021 Texas Rangers: Position players edition". The Athletic. Retrieved October 8, 2021.
  13. ^ "Rangers sending Kiner-Falefa to Twins". ESPN.com. March 12, 2022. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
  14. ^ "Sources: New York Yankees finalizing deal to acquire Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Minnesota Twins". ESPN.com. March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  15. ^ Hoch, Bryan (March 13, 2022). "Yankees get Donaldson, send Sánchez, Urshela to Twins". MLB.com. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  16. ^ "Isiah Kiner-Falefa Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  17. ^ "How Yankees will choose between Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza or Isiah Kiner-Falefa". nj.com. March 10, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  18. ^ "Top Yankees prospect Volpe wins starting SS job". ESPN.com. March 26, 2023.
  19. ^ "Yankees' Isiah Kiner-Falefa out of shortstop competition, vows to be super-utility whiz". nj.com. March 23, 2023. Retrieved July 26, 2023.
  20. ^ Nesbitt, Andy (April 14, 2023). "Yankees Utility Player Made Bad Team History With Hilariously Awful 38-MPH Eephus Pitch". Sports Illustrated.
  21. ^ "IKF makes daring dash for Yanks' first steal of home since '16". MLB.com. Retrieved June 15, 2023.
  22. ^ "New York Yankees Isiah Kiner-Falefa Makes Painful Team History on Thursday - Fastball". June 22, 2023.
  23. ^ "IKF's history-making 9th softens blow from lopsided loss". MLB.com. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  24. ^ "Isiah Kiner-Falefa Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More".
  25. ^ Matheson, Keegan (December 29, 2023). "Versatile Kiner-Falefa signs 2-year deal with Toronto". MLB.com. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  26. ^ "Blue Jays finalize 2-year, $15M deal with Isiah Kiner-Falefa". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  27. ^ "Blue Jays trade Isiah Kiner-Falefa to Pirates". Sportsnet.ca.
  28. ^ "Pirates acquire Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Blue Jays". ESPN.com. July 30, 2024. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  29. ^ Evan Grant (May 30, 2018). "How the Rangers found Isiah Kiner-Falefa and the prophetic words he told the scout who signed him". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  30. ^ Elman, Jake (April 9, 2022). "Yankees News: Isiah Kiner-Falefa Opens up on His Missing Relationship with Baseball Legend (And Distant Cousin) Ralph Kiner". Sportscasting.com.
  31. ^ a b 丹羽政善 (June 4, 2018). "イチローが選手登録を外れてから１カ月 来季を視野に、変わらず妥協なく". Sportsnavi (in Japanese). Yahoo Sports. Retrieved June 15, 2018.
  32. ^ Randy Miller (April 6, 2022). "The secret is out: Disrespected Yankees shortstop is related to a Hall of Fame slugger (and beloved Mets legend)". NJ Advance Media. Retrieved April 7, 2022.
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