New Met - 1B David Cooper

David Cooper
Cooper with the Toronto Blue Jays
New York Mets
First baseman
Born: February 12, 1987 (age 28) Stockton, California
Bats: Left Throws: Left
MLB debut
April 29, 2011 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics (through 2012 season)
Batting average	.270
Hits	57
Home runs	6
Runs batted in	23
Teams
Toronto Blue Jays (2011–2012)

Minor League career[edit]

Cooper played college baseball for the Cal State Fullerton Titans baseball team before finishing his college career with the California Golden Bears baseball team. In his junior season he hit .359/.449/.682 with 19 home runs and 55 RBIs, attracting the attention of professional scouts. Cooper was one of many first base prospects taken in the first round of the draft after other highly regarded college hitters such as Yonder Alonso, Brett Wallace, and Justin Smoak. In scouting reports prior to the draft Cooper was regarded as a highly polished college bat who can hit for both average and plus home run power in the majors. Defensively he is limited and will either play at 1B or DH at the major league level.^[3]

He was drafted with the 17th overall pick of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was playing with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s in the Blue Jays organization, until he was called up to the Blue Jays on April 29, 2011.^[4][5]

Major League career[edit]

Toronto Blue Jays[edit]

Cooper made his major league debut on April 29, 2011, against the New York Yankees, playing the DH position and batting 7th in the line-up. He walked in his first plate appearance, and struck out in his first official at-bat. He finished the game 0–4.^[6] He recorded his first career RBI the next day in a 5-4 loss to the Yankees, and his first career hit on May 1 against Ivan Nova.^[7] On May 10, Cooper hit his first career home run, a solo shot off of Boston Red Sox reliever Daniel Bard, and followed that up with a game winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th inning.^[8] Cooper was demoted back to Triple-A on May 15, and after almost 4 months with Las Vegas, he was included in the Blue Jays' September call-ups and re-debuted on September 8.

Cooper did not make the Blue Jays roster out of spring training and began the 2012 season at Las Vegas. Cooper was hitting .298 with 6 HR and 34 RBI in 42 games when on May 25, he was promoted to Toronto after Ben Francisco was placed on the 15-day DL.^[9]

Cooper was optioned to the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s on June 24, 2012.^[10] He was recalled on July 30 to replace Adam Lind, who was placed on the disabled list due to a mid-back strain,^[11] On February 17, 2013, the Blue Jays announced that Cooper will miss all of spring training due to a serious back injury, and is seeking treatment for a disc issue.^[12][13] Cooper was released by the Blue Jays on March 13, 2013.^[14]

Cooper underwent back surgery in April 2013 and had a titanium plate and two titanium screws placed in his T7 and T8 vertebrae to reinforce his spine.^[15]

Cleveland Indians[edit]

On August 13, 2013, Cooper signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians. It included an opt out clause if he didn't make the major league club by late August.^[16]He played seven games with the Columbus Clippers before being granted free agency on August 31.

Cooper signed a new major league deal with the Indians on December 9, 2013.^[17] He was designated for assignment on March 2, 2014 when Justin Sellers was acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers,^[18] and was outrighted to Triple-A on March 4.^[19]

Lancaster Barnstormers[edit]

On March 25, 2015, Cooper signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.^[20]

New York Mets[edit]

On May 14, 2015, Cooper was signed by the New York Mets, and assigned to the Double-A Binghamton Mets.^[21]

2006	Cal State Fullerton	BigWest	NCAA	17	fr		19	55	151	16	46	9	0	2	37	0	1	9	18	1		4	5	4	.305	.337	.404	741	.099	.152	.324	2.00	75.5	61	170
2007	California	Pac10	NCAA	18	so		20	55	204	39	78	14	0	12	55	2	4	30	21	1		2	7	6	.382	.450	.627	1077	.245	.382	.371	0.70	17.0	128	244
2008	California	Pac10	NCAA	18	jr		21	56	220	55	79	14	0	19	55	0	1	37	35	2		0	4	4	.359	.449	.682	1131	.323	.486	.353	0.95	11.6	150	263
2008	Auburn	NYPL	A-	-	tor	1b	21	21	85	10	29	10	1	2	21	0	1	10	16	0	2	0	0	5	.341	.411	.553	964	.212	.318	.403	1.60	42.5	47	95
2008	Lansing	Midw	A	-	tor	1b	21	24	96	15	34	10	0	2	17	0	0	10	14	0	0	0	0	0	.354	.415	.521	936	.167	.271	.400	1.40	48.0	50	106
2008	Dunedin	FSL	A+	-	tor	1b	21	24	92	10	28	9	0	1	13	0	0	10	16	0	1	0	0	3	.304	.373	.435	808	.130	.239	.360	1.60	92.0	40	102
2009	New Hampshire	East	AA	18	tor	1b	22	128	473	62	122	32	0	10	66	0	0	59	92	2	3	0	4	17	.258	.340	.389	729	.131	.256	.299	1.56	47.3	184	538
2010	New Hampshire	East	AA	9	tor	1b	23	132	498	59	128	30	1	20	78	0	0	52	74	1	1	0	2	9	.257	.327	.442	769	.185	.289	.266	1.42	24.9	220	553
2011	Las Vegas	PCL	AAA	24	tor	1b	24	120	467	77	170	51	1	9	96	1	3	67	43	2	6	0	9	14	.364	.439	.535	974	.171	.310	.380	0.64	51.9	250	545
2011	Toronto Blue Jays	AL	MLB	40 30	tor	1b-dh	24	27	71	9	15	7	0	2	12	0	0	7	14	1	0	0	2	2	.211	.284	.394	678	.183	.282	.228	2.00	35.5	28	81
2012	Las Vegas	PCL	AAA	24	tor	1b	25	68	261	45	82	27	1	10	52	0	1	37	34	1	4	0	5	13	.314	.395	.540	935	.226	.364	.324	0.92	26.1	141	304
2012	Toronto Blue Jays	AL	MLB	30	tor	1b	25	45	140	16	42	11	0	4	11	0	1	4	22	1	0	0	0	1	.300	.324	.464	788	.164	.186	.333	5.50	35.0	65	145
2013	AZL Indians	Ariz	Rk	-	cle	1b	26	6	25	4	11	3	0	0	5	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	.440	.481	.560	1041	.120	.200	.458	0.50	--	14	27
2013	Columbus	IL	AAA	-	cle	1b	26	7	26	1	5	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	.192	.250	.192	442	.000	.077	.208	1.00	--	5	28
2014	Columbus	IL	AAA	0	cle	1b	27	40	143	13	32	7	0	0	14	0	0	20	14	0	0	0	0	5	.224	.319	.273	592	.049	.189	.248	0.70	--	39	163
MLB Totals (2 Seasons)								72	211	25	57	18	0	6	23	0	1	11	36	2	0	0	2	3	.270	.310	.441	751	.171	.218	.298	3.27	35.2	93	226
MLB: Average per 162 Games								162	475	56	128	41	0	14	52	0	2	25	81	5	0	0	5	7	.270	.310	.441	751	.171	.218	.298	3.27	35.2	209	509
Minor League Totals (7 seasons)								570	2166	296	641	179	4	54	363	1	5	269	306	6	17	0	20	66	.296	.372	.457	829	.161	.283	.321	1.14	40.1	990	2461