A couple of weeks ago, former Detroit Tigers catcher Wilson Ramos announced some shocking news regarding his professional baseball career. After playing 12 years in the majors, the 37-year-old catcher decided to retire.
Ramos spent part of his final season in the majors (2021) in the Motor City, playing 35 games before heading to Cleveland. The veteran catcher hit .200 at the plate with six home runs and 13 RBI.
However, Ramos isn’t the only former Tigers catcher who has decided to hang up the glove in recent days.
Ex-Tiger Tucker Barhart Retires After 12 Seasons in MLB
On Monday, Robert Murray of FanSided reported that veteran catcher Tucker Barnhart is set to retire after 12 seasons in the majors, according to his agent Steve Rath of Ballengee Group.
The 34-year-old Barnhart spent most of his career with the Cincinnati Reds (eight years), where he hit .248 and won two Gold Gloves. The Reds traded Barnhart on November 3, 2021, to the Tigers for Nick Quintana.
Detroit immediately exercised Barnhart’s club option worth $7.75 million for the 2022 season. In 94 games with the Tigers, the veteran catcher slashed .221/.287/.267 with a home run and 16 RBI.
It wasn’t a great year at the plate for Barnhart, who hit .247 in his final year with the Reds. After one season in Detroit, the left-handed-hitting catcher spent the last three seasons playing for the Chicago Cubs, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Texas Rangers. He also had a couple of minor league stints with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Reds, too.
The ex-Tiger spent part of this season with the Rangers, who signed him to a one-year minor league pact this offseason. Barnhart appeared in eight games with the big club and 34 games at Triple-A Round Rock after he was designated for assignment at the beginning of last month.
Even though Barnhart couldn’t carry his success with the Reds over to the Tigers, he still had a solid 12-year career playing professional baseball. For a 10th-round pick in 2009, Barnhart got everything he could out of the game, including two Glove Gloves, which is impressive.