Mets Speedy Outfielder: Keon Broxton (2019)

Keon Darrell Broxton was born on May 7th, 1990 in Lakeland Florida. The tall six foot three outfielder attended Lakeland High School where he was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies but did not sign. 

He then moved on to Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida, getting drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009, as a third round pick.

After five years in the Diamondbacks organization, his contract was purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. He got a September callup, debuting on September 21st, as a pinch runner scoring a run. He played in seven games as a Pirate, the speedy Broxton was used mostly as a pinch runner. On December 17th, 2015, Broxton was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers for Jason Rogers.

The Brewers had a crowd of nine players competing for the centerfield job that Spring Training, with Broxton winning out. He got the Opening Day start but struck out eleven times in six games before going back to the minors for a month. 

In July he hit his first career HR, but was batting just .140, not getting over .200 until August 6th. On August 21st, he had his first multi HR game in a 7-6 win over Seattle. In 75 games he hit 9 HRs but struck out 88 times batting .242. His most impressive stat was his 23 stolen bases in 27 attempts. 

In 2017 he was the Brewers main centerfielder, playing in 143 games, 139 in center (4th most in the NL). From June 11th to June 25th he hit 7 HRs with 16 RBIs with five multi RBI games in a 15 game span. From there he hit just one HR in the next three 1/2 weeks & struck out way too often. 

He did another brief stint in the minors before returning. He finished off the year solid, putting in a 20/20 season, with 20 HRs & stole 21 bases in 28 attempts, with 49 RBIs. He hit just .220 & struck out 175 times (4th most in the NL).

In the off season, the Brewers made changes & brought in All Star Lorenzo Cain, for centerfield, leaving Broxton out in the cold. He began the year at AAA Colorado Springs, but after Cain went down with injury in June, Broxton got more playing time. In 51 games he hit just .179 with 4 HRs 11 RBIs 5 steals & 28 Ks. In the off season he was sent to the New York Mets for Bobby Wahl & two minor leaguers.

Mets Career: He was to be a back up to Juan Lagares in center, as the Mets were awaiting Yoenis Cespedes to return from a long injury. He made his Mets debut on Opening Day, coming in in the 8th inning in the 2-0 win over the Washington Nats. 

Two days later he got his first start & collected a pair of hits & a walk, while stealing two bases as well. On April 6th, the Mets were down 5-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning, when Pete Alonso & Robinson Cano both homered to tie it. Broxton drove in the game winning run with a base hit scoring Michael Conforto.

Through April 20th, he had just 6 hits (.179 average) but was leading the NL in stolen bases with 4 & had four runs scored as well.