User:GhostRiver/kratz

Toronto Blue Jays organization (2002–2008)
The Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball (MLB) selected Kratz in the 29th round, 866th overall, of the 2002 MLB Draft. He signed with the team and made his professional debut for the Medicine Hat Blue Jays, Toronto's Pioneer League affiliate. There, he batted .275 with four home runs in 44 games while serving as the team's primary catcher.


 * 2003
 * 2004
 * 2005
 * 2006
 * 2007
 * 2008

Pittsburgh Pirates (2009–2010)
In January 2009, the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Kratz to a minor league contract, and he was assigned to the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians to start the season.


 * 2009
 * 2010

Philadelphia Phillies (2011–2013)

 * 2011
 * 2012
 * 2013

Second stint with Toronto (2014)

 * 2014

Kansas City Royals (2014–2015)

 * 2014
 * 2015

Seattle Mariners organization (2015)

 * 2015

Second stint with Philadelphia (2015)

 * 2015

Houston Astros (2016)

 * 2016

Los Angeles Angels organization (2016)

 * 2016

Second stint with Pittsburgh (2016)

 * 2016

Third stint with Toronto (2016)

 * 2016

Cleveland Indians organization (2017)
On December 1, 2016, the Cleveland Indians signed Kratz and Michael Martínez to minor league contracts that included invitations to spring training. Cleveland carried Roberto Perez and Yan Gomes on the roster, so Kratz planned to serve as a mentor to players for the Triple-A Columbus Clippers while preparing for an opportunity to make the major league roster.


 * 2017

New York Yankees (2017–2018)

 * 2017
 * 2018

Milwaukee Brewers (2018)

 * 2018

San Francisco Giants (2019)
During 2019 spring training, Kratz lost his role as Yasmani Grandal's backup catcher to Manny Piña, and on March 24, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants in exchange for C.J. Hinojosa. Giants starting catcher Buster Posey was returning from hip surgery, and manager Bruce Bochy hoped that using Kratz and Aramis Garcia would allow Posey more time to rest. On April 17, Kratz caught all 18 innings of a game between the Giants and the Colorado Rockies that lasted five hours and 35 minutes. The Giants won the game on Kratz's walk-off fielder's choice RBI, making him the first catcher to field at least 18 innings and deliver the game-winning RBI since Bob Boone in 1982. Kratz struggled on both sides of the plate: in addition to batting .125 in 36 plate appearances, he made four errors in 11 games as the Giants' catcher and caught only two runners stealing in nine attempts. San Francisco designated Kratz for assignment on May 13.

Tampa Bay Rays (2019)

 * 2019

Second stint with New York (2019)

 * 2019

Post-playing career
After retiring from professional baseball, Kratz expressed interest in broadcasting and coaching, and he took a position as a middle school baseball coach at Dock Mennonite Academy in Pennsylvania. After two years coaching at the middle school level, he was promoted to coach of the high school varsity baseball team at Dock Mennonite.