Alex Avila | |||
---|---|---|---|
Avila with the Detroit Tigers
|
|||
Detroit Tigers – No. 31 | |||
Catcher | |||
Born: Hialeah, Florida |
January 29, 1987 |||
|
|||
MLB debut | |||
August 6, 2009, for the Detroit Tigers | |||
MLB statistics (through 2016 season) |
|||
Batting average | .240 | ||
Home runs | 73 | ||
Runs batted in | 293 | ||
Teams | |||
|
|||
Career highlights and awards | |||
|
Alexander Thomas "Alex" Avila (born January 29, 1987) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has also played for the Chicago White Sox. Avila is the son of Tigers GM Al Avila.
Avila was the Tigers' starting catcher for the team's four straight American League Central Division titles, which included catching Cy Young Award seasons for starting pitchers Justin Verlander in 2011 and Max Scherzer in 2013.
Nicknamed "The Titanium Catcher" for the perception among many baseball fans that he was unusually likely to be hit by foul tips, Avila has a history of concussions and concussion-like symptoms. He spent time on the disabled list for a concussion in 2013 and missed games on at least two occasions in 2014 for concussion-like symptoms after taking blows to the head. His most recent reported concussion occurred in the clinching Game 3 of the 2014 American League Division Series when a tipped foul ball hit him in the mask, knocking him out of the game and ending his season three innings early.
Avila played prep baseball at Archbishop McCarthy High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 34th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to attend the University of Alabama where he was an All-SEC selection. Following his junior year in which he hit .343 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI, he was then drafted by the Tigers in the fifth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.