Jessee Winker, the outfielder for the Cincinnati Reds, is one of the league’s brightest stars in Major League baseball. Before he broke out, however, he had one hell of a journey.
As a junior in high school, he obtained a .059 batting average which got the attention of the University of Florida. Even though he committed to that school, he decided to enter the draft at a young age instead. It was then when the Cincinnati Reds decided to take a chance on him with the 49th overall pick in the 2012 MLB draft out of Olympia High School in Orlando, Florida. Baseball America ranked Jesse as the sixth-best prospect for the team at the time.
Jesse Winker Stats
Winker made his professional debut as a member of the Billings Mustangs in 2012. He played a total of 62 games where he hit .338/.433/.500, with a total of 228 at-bats and five home runs. That season, he ended up playing with the Dayton Dragons where he showcased his improvement as an overall player. He put up 417 at-bats and 16 home runs while hitting a respectable .281/.379/.463.
In 2014, Winker started off playing for the Bakersfield Blaze before being promoted to the Double-A Pensacola Blue Wahoos. Unfortunately, he suffered a partially torn tendon in his wrist in a bad car accident.
Nonetheless, managed to get back on the field the following season while playing for the Arizona Fall League. He put up an impressive .282 batting average with a total of 13 home runs and 55 RBIs.
In 2016, Winker finally got his chance in the major leagues when the Reds decided to promote him to the 40-man roster. He never got his chance to play however until the following year. He ended up batting .289 with seven home runs in 47 games.
In 2018 he finally became the Reds starting outfielder before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury in July. Before suffering the injury, he hit seven home runs, 53 RBIs, while hitting .299/.405/.431.
2019 is when Winker really started to break out. He hit an impressive .269/.357/.473 while hitting 16 home runs and 38 RBIs. Some of his career numbers to this point include a batting average of .293, 156 runs batted in, and a total of 59 home runs.
Against the St. Louis Cardinals last night, Winker was incredible hitting three home runs to complete the sweep. The Reds swept the Cardinals for the first time since 1990, making it a very memorable night for their fans.
The Reds have won six of their past seven games and are only one and a half games behind St. Louis to take third place in the National League Central.
Currently, Jesse Winker is one of the biggest rising stars in all of baseball and a top nominee for the 2021 MLB All–Star game, and rightfully so. Baseball fans around the world continue to generate excitement for him and are in awe of his great play.
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