User:FranDoe16/sandbox/Jeremy Hairston Jr.

Jeremy Hairston Jr. (born January 21, 1991) is a American professional baseball outfielder for Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Amateur career
Hairston Jr. attended Irondequoit High School in Irondequoit, New York, a suburb of Rochester. In his senior year at Irondequoit, he hit 9 home runs and batted .515, while driving in 39 runs.

Minor leagues
Hairston Jr. was selected by the Philadelphia Phillies with their first-round pick, 32nd overall, in the 2010 MLB Draft. While he had already committed to play college baseball for the University of Maryland, he passed on his commitment and instead signed a contract reportedly worth $954,000 with the Phillies.

Hairston Jr. made his professional debut for the Gulf Coast Phillies that year. He played in 52 games and hit .264/.329/.477 with six home runs. In 2011, he played for the Williamsport Crosscutters. He played in 71 games, hitting .260/.302/.375 with five home runs. Hairston Jr. spent the entire 2012 season with the Lakewood BlueClaws where he hit .300/.387/.470 with 12 home runs in 116 games.

Hairston Jr. started the 2013 season with the High-A Clearwater Threshers. He was promoted to the Double-A Reading Fightin Phils in June. He hit .325/.352/.582 with 13 home runs in 72 games with the Fightin Phils.

2013 season
On August 24, 2013, Hairston Jr. was called up to the major leagues (skipping the Triple-A level entirely). He made his Major League debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on August 25, at Citizens Bank Park as the starting left fielder against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was called up to help with the team's outfield situation, with Ben Revere and Delmon Young on the disabled list (DL) and César Hernández optioned to the minor leagues for more playing time. He recorded his first major league hit in his debut, a single off J.J. Putz. Hairston Jr. hit his first home run on September 4 off the Nationals' Jordan Zimmermann. During the week of September 8th, Hairston Jr. hit three home runs during the span of six games and was named National League Rookie of the Week. He finished the season hitting .288/.360/.523 with five home runs in 33 games with the Phillies.

2014 season
Prior to the 2014 season, Hairston Jr. was ranked by MLB.com and Baseball America as one of the top 100 prospects in baseball. The Phillies invited him to spring training where he competed with Tony Gwynn Jr. and John Mayberry for the starting left fielder job. At the end of spring training, it was announced that Hairston Jr. had made the 25-man roster and was the Phillies' Opening Day starter in left field against the Colorado Rockies. He hit a home run in his second at bat, becoming the third youngest player to hit a home run on Opening Day in Phillies franchise history. On May 6, Hairston Jr. hit his first career grand slam against Mets pitcher Dillon Gee in a Phillies victory at Citi Field. He hit six homers during the month of July and was named MLB Player of the Week on July 13. On August 1, Hairston Jr. was named MLB Rookie of the Month for his performance in July. He was again named Rookie of the Week on August 3 and August 24.