Jonah Heim
Jonah Nathan Heim (born June 27, 1995), nicknamed "The Buffalo Bomber", is an American professional baseball catcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2020 for the Oakland Athletics. Early life. Heim attended Kenmore East High School in Tonawanda, New York, and Amherst Central High School in Snyder, New York. He signed a letter of intent to attend Michigan State University on a college baseball scholarship to play for the Michigan State Spartans. Career. Baltimore Orioles. The Baltimore Orioles selected Heim in the fourth round, with the 129th overall selection , of the 2013 MLB draft. He signed with Baltimore, receiving a $389,700 signing bonus, rather than enroll at Michigan State. He made his professional debut that season the GCL Orioles and spent all of 2013 there, slashing .185/.275/.247 in 27 games. In 2014, he played for the GCL Orioles and the Aberdeen IronBirds where he batted .196 with one home run and seven RBIs in 46 games, and in 2015, he played for the Delmarva Shorebirds where he compiled a .248 batting average with one home runs and 16 RBIs in 43 games. He began 2016 with the Frederick  Keys. Tampa Bay Rays. On August 1, 2016, the Orioles traded Heim to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Steve Pearce. Tampa Bay assigned him to the Charlotte Stone Crabs and he finished the season there. In 102 total games between Frederick and Charlotte, he collected a .217 batting average with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. He spent 2017 with both Charlotte and the Bowling Green Hot Rods, slashing .260/.317/.402 with nine home runs, 61 RBIs, and a .718 OPS in 93 games. Oakland Athletics. Heim was traded to the Oakland Athletics on December 19, 2017, as the  player to be named later to complete a trade for Joey Wendle. He spent 2018 with both the Stockton Ports and the Midland RockHounds, batting .258 with eight home runs and sixty RBIs in 119 total games between both teams. He split the 2019 season between Midland and the Las Vegas Aviators, hitting a combined .310/.385/.477/.862 with 9 home runs and 53 RBI. On November 1, 2019, Heim was added to the Athletics 40–man roster. On August 24, 2020, Heim was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. Heim made his major league debut the next day  against the Texas Rangers as the starting catcher. Heim hit .211 with 5 RBI over 13 games for Oakland in 2020. Texas Rangers. On February 6, 2021, Heim, Khris Davis, and Dane Acker were traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Elvis Andrus and Aramis Garcia. Heim hit his first major league home run on April 6, 2021, off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Tommy Milone. On July 31, Heim hit home runs from each side of the plate, including his first career walk-off home run, off Seattle Mariners pitcher Diego Castillo. On August 1, he hit another walk -off home run versus Seattle to become the first player in Texas Rangers history, and the first rookie in MLB history, to record walk-off home runs in two straight games. Over 82 games in 2021, Heim hit .196/.239/.358/.598 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI. Heim hit his first major league grand slam home run on April 14, 2022 off Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani in a 10-5 Rangers Victory. Coincidentally, it was the first grand slam Ohtani has given up in his major league career.