.jpg)
Bats' 1B/DH Kevin Barker has been wearing out triple-A pitchers since before
Y2K.
Over the course of his 13-year professional baseball career, Louisville Bats' 1B/DH Kevin Barker has been well traveled in his journey across America trying to crack the big leagues. Barker has spent the most time, however, right here in Derby City, as the journeyman has spent the majority of four seasons with the Louisville franchise. A career minor-leaguer, Barker is the only player to don the jersey of all three Louisville uniforms over the past 10 years, as he has been a member of the Redbirds (1998), Riverbats ('99) and Bats ('08-'09). Since Louisville has become a minor-league franchise, perhaps no player has been more productive with the club, as Barker owns a plethora of franchise batting records, including home runs (89), RBIs (325), and extra-base hits (197).
Barker was a 3rd round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 1996 draft, and first appeared in Louisville when the Redbirds/RiverBats were affiliated with the Brew Crew, playing in Cardinal Stadium. After cracking the majors and playing stints of two seasons with Milwaukee backing up Mark Loretta, Barker was shipped to the Padres, where he started a musical chairs-like tour around the league, making stops with the Tigers, Marlins, Phillies, and Blue Jays' organizations. Since his two shots with the Brewers, Barker has made two other brief appearances in the big leagues, once in 2002 with the Padres and then in '06 with Toronto.
Before the 2008 season, he was signed by the Reds, and has been the club's best triple-A player over the past two years that hasn't gotten a call-up. Although Barker turned 34 last month, he has shown no signs of stopping his destruction of triple-A pitching, as he currently ranks second in the league with 22 round trippers. His 65 RBIs and 52 walks also lead the team, and he was a beast during the entire month of July, batting .368 with 22 ribbys. Over the past few weeks, Barker has continued his torrid pace, as he blasted a grand salami in a win over Rochester, helping him win International League Player of the Week honors. Barker's big stick has helped lead Louisville to the league's best record (67-49) as the team enters the season's final month.
Barker, a former Virginia Tech Hokie, also earned co-MVP honors for the division champion Bats last season when he led the team with 21 big flies. The lefty's 247 career triple-A home runs rank third among active triple-A players, behind Toledo's Mike Hessman (304) and Lehigh Valley's Andy Tracy (249).
Comments