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| Wil Myers | |
|---|---|
| Name | Wil Myers |
| Position | Outfielder / First baseman |
| Birth date | 10 March 1990 |
| Birth place | Hendersonville, Tennessee |
| Bats | Right |
| Throws | Right |
| Debutleague | MLB |
| Debutdate | April 2 |
| Debutyear | 2013 |
| Debutteam | Tampa Bay Rays |
| Teams | * Tampa Bay Rays (2013–2014) * San Diego Padres (2014–2019) * Tampa Bay Rays (2020–2023) * Kansas City Royals (2024–) |
Wil Myers
Wil Myers (born March 10, 1990) is an American professional baseball outfielder and first baseman in Major League Baseball. A former top prospect, he has played for the Tampa Bay Rays, San Diego Padres, and Kansas City Royals and was the 2013 American League Rookie of the Year. Myers is known for his power, plate discipline, and defensive versatility.
Myers was born in Hendersonville, Tennessee and raised in a family with strong ties to Nashville, Tennessee area athletics. He attended Beech High School, where he played varsity baseball and football, drawing scouting attention from Major League Baseball, USA Baseball programs, and collegiate recruiters including Vanderbilt University and University of Tennessee. As a high school standout, Myers participated in showcase events tied to Perfect Game and the Rochester Red Wings-affiliated scouting circuits, elevating his status on Baseball America and MLB Pipeline prospect lists. Drafted in the first round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft by the Kansas City Royals, he instead signed with the Tampa Bay Rays after being selected with the 12th overall pick in the 2010 MLB draft; his amateur career included stops in the Rookie-level and Class A minor leagues with affiliates such as the Hudson Valley Renegades and Charlotte Stone Crabs.
Myers advanced through the Minor League Baseball system with assignments to teams including the Montgomery Biscuits and the Durham Bulls. He made his Major League debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in April 2013 and finished the season with honors from the Associated Press and the Baseball Writers' Association of America as the 2013 American League Rookie of the Year. In 2014 he was a central figure in a high-profile trade that sent him to the San Diego Padres in exchange for James Shields and Wélmer Font; with the Padres he served as a middle-of-the-order bat, playing first base and outfield while appearing in MLB All-Star conversations.
During his tenure with the Padres, Myers posted seasons marked by power numbers and intermittent injuries, including time on the disabled list for wrist and hand issues and a stint with thumb surgery that limited his availability. In December 2019 he returned to the Tampa Bay Rays via a trade that involved several prospects and minor league players from the Padres and Rays organizations. With the Rays, he contributed in postseason rosters during Major League Baseball postseason runs and served in platoon roles against left-handed pitchers while also providing veteran leadership. In the 2024 season Myers signed with the Kansas City Royals, returning to the organization that originally drafted him in 2009; he continued to be deployed at corner positions including first base, right field, and designated hitter assignments.
Myers combines power hitting with selective plate discipline, generating extra-base hits against a range of pitchers from Justin Verlander-type power arms to finesse pitchers like Cliff Lee. He profiles as a corner bat, with home run power and gap-to-gap doubles, drawing strikeout-to-walk ratios assessed by analytics outlets such as FanGraphs and Baseball-Reference. Defensively, Myers has experience at first base, right field, and left field, with metrics tracked by Statcast and traditional scouts noting his arm strength, route efficiency, and ability to handle plays at the wall. Advanced scouting reports from MLB.com highlighted his approach adjustments, including improved launch angle and swing plane modifications influenced by hitting coaches from the Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres organizations. Myers’ baserunning projects as average, with situational aggression and occasional stolen-base attempts that were charted during spring training and regular-season play.
Myers is married and has family ties in the Tennessee region; he has maintained off-season residence patterns that include homes near Nashville, Tennessee and team cities such as St. Petersburg, Florida during his time with the Rays. He has participated in community outreach initiatives coordinated by Major League Baseball Players Association and team charitable arms like the Padres Foundation and the Rays Baseball Foundation, engaging in youth baseball clinics, hospital visits, and fundraising events. Myers’ off-field interests include golf and fitness regimens developed with team strength and conditioning staffs connected to organizations such as EXOS and private trainers formerly associated with USA Baseball.
Myers’ accolades include the 2013 American League Rookie of the Year award, selections to prospect rankings by Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus, and recognition on various Top 100 prospect lists during his minor league ascendancy. He has been named Player of the Week in both American League and National League contexts, earned monthly honors at the Triple-A level, and received team-based awards for leadership and clubhouse contributions with the San Diego Padres and Tampa Bay Rays. Statcast and sabermetric milestones across seasons include top-percentile single-season metrics in isolated power and hard-hit rate, as reported by Statcast and analyzed by Fangraphs.
Category:Major League Baseball outfielders Category:Major League Baseball first basemen Category:American League Rookie of the Year winners