Jarrod Saltalamacchia

*Jarrod Scott Saltalamacchia’ was born on May 2, 1985 in West Palm Beach, Florida. He is a catcher and first baseman for the Texas Rangers. *Minor Leagues’ Jarrod was drafted out of high school in the first round of the June 2003 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves, and made his way through their farm system.

In the 2007 season, Jarrod started at catcher for the Class AA Mississippi Braves. In 22 games he hit 7 home runs and had a batting average of .373.

He was called up to the Braves on his 22nd birthday, to replace Brayan Peña.

Major Leagues On May 6, 2007, Jarrod had the first hit of his major league career in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers. In the seventh inning, with two outs and two men on base, he hit his first RBI, which also drove in the winning run for the Braves.

On May 27, 2007, Jarrod hit his first major league home run, a solo shot off of Cole Hamels of the Philadelphia Phillies.

On June 26, in a start at first base, he had his first multi-home run game. Both came batting right-handed off left-handed Washington Nationals pitcher Mike Bacsik.

Because the Braves had too many players at the catchers position, Jarrod was traded to the Texas Rangers on July 31, 2007, along with four prospects, for first baseman Mark Teixeira and reliever Ron Mahay.

Texas Rangers In 46 games with the Rangers in 2007, Jarrod batted .251, with 7 home runs and 21 RBI.

On March 26, 2008, Jarrod lost the starting catching job to Gerald Laird, and the Rangers chose to send him down to the minors to catch every day instead of sitting as the backup. However, he was called up on April 25, 2008.

Personal Jarrod is married to Ashhley, a woman 14 years older than he - a former teacher from his high school (though he was never directly her student). He has a daughter, Sidney, born on December 27, 2006, and a daughter Hunter born in December 2007.