John Mayberry Jr.
John Claiborn Mayberry Jr., is an American former professional baseball outfielder, who played in the Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Mets.
Mayberry played high school baseball in Kansas City, and USA Today named him a first-team 2002 All-USA player. In the 2002 Major League Baseball draft, the Seattle Mariners drafted him out of high school in the first round. Mayberry chose not to sign, however, instead attending Stanford University, and also playing for the United States national baseball team at the World University Baseball Championship in 2004, winning a gold medal. After he played three years at Stanford, Mayberry was drafted again. The Texas Rangers selected him in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft.
In 2005, Mayberry was rated by Baseball America as the Best Athlete and Best Outfield Arm among all Texas Rangers minor leaguers. In 2006 he was rated by Baseball America as the Best Power Hitter, Best Athlete, and Best Outfield Arm among all Texas Rangers minor leaguers, and was named a Hawaii Winter Baseball league post-season All Star. In 2007, Mayberry hit 30 home runs, was named a California League mid-season All Star, and was named an Arizona Fall League Rising Star. On November 20, 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies traded for him. With the Phillies, Mayberry started in Triple-A, and was called up to the major league team in May. He hit a home run in his major league debut, but was sent back to the minors a few weeks later, and spent the majority of the 2009 and 2010 seasons there. Mayberry was named an MiLB.com 2010 Phillies Organization All Star. He returned to the major league squad in 2010 as a September callup, and remained there, with the exception of a short stint in Triple-A in 2011. In 2011, Mayberry played over 100 games, splitting time between outfield and first base, as well as pinch hitting. Statistically, 2011 was his best major league season. He remained with the big-league club in 2012, and played predominantly in left field early in the season, and subsequently as the team's everyday center fielder. In 2012 and 2013 Mayberry‘s batting average declined.
Mayberry was used predominantly as a starting outfielder, despite some suggesting he was better suited as a platoon player. He hit for power, but struck out frequently. Mayberry was a good athlete, with good speed, but seldom stole any bases. Defensively, he was adequate, and possessed a strong and accurate arm. Mayberry has a degree in political science from Stanford. His father, John Mayberry Sr., a first round draft pick, himself, played in MLB for over a decade, hitting over 20 home runs in eight separate seasons, and was a two-time American League All Star.
Early life
Mayberry was born in Kansas City to John Sr. and Janice Mayberry. His father, a two-time All-Star first baseman, played Major League Baseball for 15 seasons with the Houston Astros, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays, and New York Yankees.He attended Rockhurst High School in Kansas City, graduating in 2002. While there, Mayberry was named First Team All-State and First Team All-Metro in 2001, after he hit.480 with eight homers. USA Today named him a first-team 2002 All-USA player, the National High School Baseball Coaches Association named him a 2002 third-team All-American, he was named the 2002 Missouri Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year, he was ranked No. 40 on Baseball America's 2002 Top 100 High School Prospect List, and he was named 2002 All-Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association as he hit.432 with nine homers. He also played basketball, averaging 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds per game in his senior year as a forward.
Mayberry was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 2002 Major League Baseball draft but did not sign, choosing instead to attend Stanford University. He was the highest-drafted player from the 2002 draft who chose to attend a four-year college instead of signing a contract.
College
Mayberry played three years for the Stanford Cardinal baseball team, and formed the heart of Stanford's batting order along with fellow future major league infielder Jed Lowrie. As a freshman in 2003, he had a 16-game hitting streak, batted.299, and hit four home runs and six triples with 33 runs batted in. He earned Freshman All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball. Baseball America rated him as the best college athlete among its top 200 prospects, and the 3rd-best power hitter among them. During the summer of 2003, he also played for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League, batting.375.As a sophomore in 2004, he batted.333 with 16 home runs, 62 RBIs, and 9 stolen bases with a.625 slugging percentage. During his sophomore season, he was named a first-team All-Pac-10 selection and a midseason All-Star by Baseball America. In 2004, he played with Team USA at the FISU World University Baseball Championship in Taiwan, winning a gold medal.
Mayberry's junior year, which was his last at Stanford, he amassed 22 multi-hit games to lead the team. His batting average for the season was.303, and he had 63 RBIs and 18 doubles. His.996 fielding percentage was fourth in the Conference, as he had only 2 errors in 501 chances. He also had five hitting streaks of six games or more throughout the season. Upon finishing his college career, Mayberry was ranked second among active Stanford players behind Lowrie in multi-hit games, multi-RBI games, and home runs. After his junior season, he was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the first round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft. He ultimately graduated from Stanford in 2006 with a political science degree.
Professional career
Minor leagues
After being drafted, and signing for a signing bonus of $1.525 million, Mayberry was assigned by the Rangers to the Spokane Indians in the Northwest League, with whom he transitioned from first base to outfield. In the short 2005 season, he hit 11 home runs with a.253 batting average and 51 runs scored. Baseball America named him the 8th-best prospect in the Northwest League, and as having the 4th-best power among 2005 draftees. He was rated by Baseball America as the Best Athlete and Best Outfield Arm among all Texas Rangers minor leaguers.Image:MayberryMinors.jpg|thumb|left|John Mayberry Jr. with the Clinton LumberKings
In 2006, Mayberry was promoted to the A-level Clinton LumberKings of the Midwest League. On August 27 he was named Midwest League Player of the Week, and that month he was named Rangers Minor League Player of the Month. He batted.268 and hit 21 home runs with 77 RBIs, while scoring 77 runs, as his.479 slugging percentage was 7th in the league and he hit four triples and stole nine bases. He was rated by Baseball America as the Best Power Hitter, Best Athlete, and Best Outfield Arm among all Texas Rangers minor leaguers. He played for the West Oahu CaneFires of the Hawaii Winter Baseball league, on November 5 was named HWB Player of the Week, for the season batted.318 and led the league in slugging percentage and was second in doubles and RBIs, and was named an HWB post-season All Star.
He split 2007 between the high-A Bakersfield Blaze of the California League and double-A Frisco RoughRiders of the Texas League, where he hit 30 home runs between the two minor league levels, drove in 83 runs, and stole a career-high 16 bases between the two teams. He was named a California League mid-season All Star. For the season, Baseball America named him the fifth-best prospect in the Rangers' farm system, up from tenth in 2006. He played for the Surprise Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League, was second in the league with five home runs, and was named an AFL Rising Star.
With 20 home runs and 137 hits between Frisco and the Oklahoma RedHawks of the AAA Pacific Coast League in 2008, Mayberry continued to show major league potential. In his first 32 at bats at Triple-A, he had 16 hits, including a 5-hit performance in the fourth game after his call-up. In what Philadelphia Phillies general manager Rubén Amaro, Jr. called a "speed for power swap", Mayberry was traded to the Phillies on November 20, 2008, for outfielder Greg Golson.
Beginning the 2009 season with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs of the AAA International League, Mayberry opened the season hitting 8 home runs and 25 RBIs, with a.277 batting average. In need of an extra bat off the bench for interleague play, the Phillies promoted Mayberry to the major leagues on May 22. In 2009-10 with the Yaquis de Obregón of the Mexican Pacific Winter League he batted.313/.389/.493.
In 2010, back with the IronPigs he batted.267 with 15 home runs and 75 runs, while stealing a career-high 20 bases. On April 19, he was named International League Player of the Week. He was named an MiLB.com Phillies Organization All Star.