Danny Espinosa

Danny Espinosa
Washington Nationals — No. 8
Second baseman
Born: April 25, 1987 (1987-04-25) (age 24) Santa Ana, California
Bats: Switch	Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 2010 for the Washington Nationals
Career statistics (through August 29, 2011)
Batting average	.233
Home runs	27
Runs batted in	79
Teams
Washington Nationals (2010-present)

Medal record
Men's Baseball
Competitor for  United States
Pan American Games
Silver	2007 Rio de Janeiro	Team

Daniel Richard "Danny" Espinosa (born April 25, 1987 in Santa Ana, California) is a Major League Baseball Second baseman for the Washington Nationals.

College career

Espinosa played college baseball at California State University, Long Beach. He played shortstop and hit .303 with 11 home runs and 98 RBIs in his three year career.^[1] As a freshman, he was the Big West Conference Freshman of the Year.^[2] He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the third round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Espinosa spent the rest of the 2008 summer with the Vermont Lake Monsters, where he batted .328. The following year he was promoted to high-A Potomac and hit .264 with a .375 on-base percentage while hitting 18 home runs with 72 RBIs and 29 steals, and was a High-A and Carolina League All Star.^[1][2] He began 2010 in AA Harrisburg, hitting .262 with 18 home runs, before being promoted to AAA in Syracuse. In AAA, he hit .295 with four home runs and was just the second player in all of organized baseball year to reach 20 homers and 20 steals in 2010.^[1][4] At Syracuse, Espinosa, who had played shortstop for his college and minor league career, was shifted to second base, since Ian Desmond was already playing shortstop for the Nationals.

Washington Nationals

When the major league rosters expanded on September 1, 2010, Espinosa was called up to the majors for the first time.^[5] He appeared in his first game that night. In his first at bat, he hit a ground ball to second base that took an odd hop and went into right field, allowing Espinosa to turn it into an RBI double when he saw that the right fielder hadn't charged the ball.^[6] On September 6, 2010 against the New York Mets, in his first game at Nationals Park, Espinosa went 4 for 5, with two home runs (the second and third of his career) including a grand slam and six RBI.^[7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Keisser, Bob (September 1, 2010). "Former Dirtbag Espinosa makes his way to the bigs; BASEBALL: Former LSBU alum becomes 37th alum to reach majors". Long Beach Press-Telegram. http://www.presstelegram.com/sports/ci_15969220. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "Danny Espinosa Awards". The Baseball Cube. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/Awards/E/Danny-Espinosa.shtml. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
3. ^ Zuckerman, Mark (September 1, 2010). "Zuckerman: Nats Promote Espinosa, Ramos". CSNwashington.com. http://www.csnwashington.com/09/01/10/Zuckerman-Nats-Promote-Espinosa-Ramos/landing_v3.html?blockID=302397&feedID=6458. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
4. ^ Boswell, Thomas (September 1, 2010). "For Washington Nationals' real fans, September call-ups hold much promise". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/31/AR2010083105704.html. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
5. ^ Kilgore, Adam (September 1, 2010). "Danny Espinosa, Wilson Ramos and Collin Balester to be called up". Nationals Journal (The Washington Post). http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/09/danny_espinosa_wilson_ramos_an.html. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
6. ^ Kilgore, Adam (September 2, 2010). "Hello, Danny Espinosa. Goodbye, Scott Olsen?". Nationals Journal (The Washington Post). http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/09/hello_danny_espinosa_goodbye_s.html. Retrieved September 2, 2010. 
7. ^ Kilgore, Adam (September 6, 2010). "Danny Espinosa hits 2 homers, drives in 6 in Nats' win over Mets". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/06/AR2010090602312.html. Retrieved September 6, 2010. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Espinosa, Danny
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 25, 1987
Place of birth	Santa Ana, California
Date of death
Place of death