Kai Gronauer

Kai Gronauer
Catcher
Born: November 28, 1986 in Solingen , Germany
Strikes: Right	Throws: Right
MiLB statistics (up to the end of the 2014 season)
Games	317
Batting average	, 257
Home runs	19th
Runs	114
Teams
GCL Mets (2008) Savannah Sand Gnats (2009-2010) St. Lucie Mets (2010-2011) Binghamton Mets (2011-2013) Las Vegas 51s (2013-2014) Buchbinder Legionnaires Regensburg (since 2014)
Awards
South Atlantic League All-Star Game 2010 Homerun Award EM Netherlands 2012

Kai Achim Gronauer (born November 28, 1986 in Solingen ) is a German national baseball player in the catcher position. In April 2008 he was signed by the New York Mets . In September 2014 he came back to Germany and played for the Regensburg Legionnaires and at the same time held the position of hitting coach. From 2016 to 2018 he took on the role of head coach of the legionaries.

Life

Training and the first few years in Germany

Gronauer attended the August-Dicke-School in Solingen. He began his career with the Solingen Alligators , where he played the position of catcher. In 2006 he won the championship with the Alligators and became Germany's youngest national player . After the European Championships in Barcelona , several US teams became aware of him. In January 2008, the Minnesota Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates wanted to commit him. However, he declined on the grounds that he was currently not interested in going to the USA, but wanted to do an apprenticeship in Germany.

2008-2010

When the New York Mets inquired in April 2008 and sent a scout to Germany, he changed his mind. He signed a two-year contract and played from 2008 in 16 games for the Gulf Coast League Mets in the Gulf Coast League , a rookie league within the minor leagues . With the beginning of the 2009 season he was appointed to the Savannah Sand Gnats in the South Atlantic League (single A).

Gronauer was invited in early 2010 as a non-roster invitee for the season preparation, the spring training , of the New York Mets. There he was used in the Grapefruit League against the Florida Marlins and had a hit in two at-bats. On March 9, 2010, he was transferred from the Major League Camp to the Minor League Camp and began the 2010 season again in Savannah . On June 7, 2010, he was called up with five other players from the Sand Gnats to the Allstar team of the South Atlantic League. This makes Gronauer the first German to be nominated as an All-Star in a US professional baseball league . At the beginning of the second half of the season, Gronauer was transferred from the Sand Gnats to the St. Lucie Mets in the Class A Advanced Florida State League . In his first games for the Mets, he showed strong offensively - he beat the batting order in fifth place - and quickly secured a place in the regular nine.

2011-2014

In 2011 he was reappointed as a non-roster invitee to the New York Mets' spring training camp. There he was used in three games for the Mets and hit a home run , but was transferred to the minor league camp when the raster was first downsized, as in the previous year. At the beginning of the season he was used as the second catcher next to Jean Luc Blaquiere in the Double-A team Binghamton Mets .

After surviving an injury in the summer, he showed increasing performance towards the end of the season. After the end of the season, Gronauer represented the German national team at the World Cup in Panama , where the Mets then used him for a few games at a local club in order to give him additional match practice after his injury break.

In spring 2012 Gronauer was invited to the Mets STEP Camp, where he is preparing for the upcoming season.

In autumn 2012 Gronauer took part with the German national team at the European Championship in the Netherlands . Here he was awarded the tournament's home run award. After finishing fourth at the European Championship, Gronauer and the national team made it into the deciding game for the starting place in the 2013 World Baseball Classic at the Wold Baseball Classic Qualifier in Regensburg . There they had to admit defeat to the opponent from Canada.

The 2013 season began Gronauer in the Triple-A team of the New York Mets, the Las Vegas 51s. He is the first German baseball player to have made it to this level. However, the first German in the MLB was Donald Lutz of the Cincinnati Reds .

In September 2014, Gronauer ended his professional career in the USA and switched to the baseball Bundesliga as a player and co-trainer for the Buchbinder Legionaries Regensburg.

2016

On June 26, 2016, Gronauer took over the post of head coach of the Buchbinder legionaries.

Quotes

In an interview with Thomas Rademacher, Gronauer said: “I believe that I can get into the Major League at some point. Ultimately, I don't want to go to the USA with the intention of playing Double-A or Triple-A. "

“As a catcher, he's advanced. It's a pleasure to see him call games, the way he leads pitchers and picks up things to help them out. " Tony Bernazard, NY Mets Head of player development

"He's a guy that makes contact, doesn't strike out a lot, has the potential for some power and is going to be an outstanding defensive catcher and leader.", Lionel Chattelle, Scout NY Mets

"Best Defensive Catcher" Mets System, Baseball America

"The defensive tools are there with enough stick that should carry him to New York.", Jon Star, Scout.com

Kai Gronauer: "I want to be an ambassador for baseball, especially in Germany."

Web links

• Player information and statistics from MLB  or  The Baseball Cube  or  Baseball Reference (Minor League) (English)
• Portrait at mlb.com (English)
• Minor League Look Kai Gronauer (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Christian Swoboda: Ivan Rodriguez takes the helm at the Buchbinder Legionaries - Mets professional Kai Gronauer supports the Regensburg baseball players as a player and hitting coach . Homepage Buchbinder Legionnaires Regensburg. September 26, 2014. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
2. ↑ Marcel Friederic: A German on the way to the MLB ( English ) ZDF - sport.zdf.de. April 5, 2010. Retrieved June 30, 2010.
3. ^ New York Mets Game Notes . mlb.com. March 12, 2010. Archived from the original on October 6, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 9, 2010. 
4. ↑ Six Sand Gnats Named SAL All Stars ( English ) Minor League Baseball. June 7, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
5. ↑ Martin Auer: Alligators: The home run champion . ST Online. September 20, 2012. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
6. ↑ Matthias Ondracek: Canada destroyed German dream . Worldbaseballclassic.de. September 24, 2012. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 23, 2013. 
7. ↑ Thomas Rademacher: Kai Gronauer makes it to Las Vegas . RP Online. April 2, 2013. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
8. ^ Donald Lutz celebrates historic debut , Süddeutsche Zeitung
9. ^ With the 23 in the history books , DBV website
10. ↑ Armin Zimmermann: Interview with Armin Zimmermann on the dismissal of Ivan Rodriguez. June 26, 2016. Retrieved June 26, 2016 . 
11. ↑ Thomas Rademacher: Baseball: The next Dirk Nowitzki? . RP Online. April 18, 2008. Accessed on June 9, 2010.  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.