Harrison Bader: Bronxville, NY Born Mets Outfielder (2024)

Harrison Joseph Bader was born June 3rd, 1994, in Bronxville, New York. Harrison was born to an Italian Mother & Jewish Father who were both originally from Brooklyn. Harrison also has a younger sister named Sasha.

Bader first played in Eastchester Little League. He later attended Horace Mann high school in the Riverdale section of the Bronx where he played baseball making the 2012 Rawlings Northeast All Region Team.

Florida Gators: After issues with two other colleges before committing, he attended the University of Florida, playing for the Gators where he won numerus awards & became just the 11th player in Gator history to hit 20 HRs steal 30 bases & drive in 100 runs. 

In 2015 he was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the third round, the 100th pick overall.

Harrison & his sister Sasha

Bader was to become one of the better defensive outfielders in baseball with his strong arm &
good speed.

After one year at the A ball level, he was promoted to AA & AAA in 2016. In 2017 he was named the Cardinals Minor League Player of the Year batting .283 with 20 HRs & 55 RBIs at AAA Memphis.

MLB Career: On July 25th, 2017, he made his MLB debut & scored the winning run in a 3-2 win over the Rockies. That September Harrison hit HRs in three of five games to start the month, while driving in seven runs in that time.

In 2018 Bader made the Topps All Star Rookie Team, coming in sixth in the NL Rookie of the Year voting with 12 HRs 37 RBIs & 15 stolen bases while batting .264. He also struck out 125 times in 379 at bats. In the outfield he made eight assists, most among all rookie outfielders. 

In 2019 Bader had another eight outfield assists & led the NL making four double plays. He was voted best defensive outfielder by baseball managers, scouts & executives. That September he hit five HRs, the most he would hit in any month in his career in a regular season. That year he hit another 12 HRs but hit a career low .205 while striking out 117 times.

2019 Post Season: In the NLDS win over the Braves, Bader collected two hits in four games played, with an RBI in the Game #5 Cardinal 13-1 series clincher. He appeared in two games of the NLCS loss to the Nationals.

In the Covid-19 shortened 2020 season, he played 50 games batting .226. In the 2020 NLWC loss to the Padres he went 1-9.

In 2021 Bader won his first Gold Glove Award, joining four other Cardinal teammates in winning the Award, becoming the first team in history to have five Gold Glovers.

Player of the Week Award: From September 24th to September 26th, Harrison hit HRs in three straight games while driving in five runs with eight hits. 

From September 22nd to September 28th, he collected 15 hits batted .556 with a .571 on base % & 11 runs scored. In that period the Cardinals had a franchise best 17 game win streak.

Harrison finished the year with career highs in batting average (.267) HRs (16) doubles (21) & RBIs (50) for the second-place wild card Cardinals. He went hitless in the Wild Card game loss to the Dodgers.

On April 3rd, 2022, Bader hit the first Cardinal inside the park HR in 37 years, since Vince Coleman did it in 1985. After 72 games of the 2022 season in St. Louis he was traded to the AL New York team for Jordan Montgomery in early August. 

Bader had spent parts of six seasons with the Cardinals, seeing action in over 100 games three times. 

In his first three games with N.Y. he drove in a run in each game. Overall in14 games there he hit .217 with no HRs & nine RBIs, stealing two bases in three attempts.  

2022 Post Season: Bader had a huge post season hitting 5 HRs with six RBIs batting .333. He became the fourth AL New York player to hit five HRs in a post season & the first to hit at least four HRs in their first six post season games.

In the ALDS win over Cleveland he homered in Games One, Three & Four. In the ALCS loss to the Houston Astros Baer collected hits in all four games of the Astros sweep with a HR in Game#4.

In 2023 after 84 games, he was placed on waivers & picked up by the Cincinnati Reds. He was granted free agency & signed with the New York Mets.

Mets Career: On the Mets Bader's manager is his for his former AL New York team bench coach Carlos Mendoza. Mendoza said when Bader is in the lineup he will be in centerfield.

After going hitless on Opening Day, Bader collected hits in 12 of his next 13 games, including four straight multi-hit games in mid-April.

On April 14th, he broke up a scoreless tie with an 8th inning RBI single off the Royals Chris Stratton in a 2-1 Mets win at Citi Field. 

The next day Bader hit a two run double in the 8th inning off the Pirates Aroldis Chapman, breaking up a 3-3 tie leading to a 6-3 Mets win. The wins were the start of a Mets six game win streak, getting them to 12-8 after an 0-5 start.

On April 17th, he closed out his big series with the Pirates hitting his first Mets a HR, a 6th inning two run shot off Hunter Stratton in a 9-1 Met win.

On April 28th, with the Mets down 2-1 in the bottom of the 11th inning, Bader tied up the game with a single off the Cardinals Matthew Liberatore. Mark Viento's followed with a walk off HR in his first game after being called up.

On May 16th, Bader's 8th inning RBI single off the Phillies Jeff Holman tied up the game which the Mets eventually went on to win.

On May 18th & 19th he had back-to-back multi-RBI games in South Florida. On May 19th, his 1st inning two run single started the Mets scoring in their 7-3 win over the Marlins. 

On May 26th in a 4-3 win over the Giants at Citi Field, Bader had a season high three-RBI game with w big 9th inning hit. In the bottom of the 9th, with the Mets down 3-1 & the bases loaded, Bader doubled off Tyler Rogers bringing in the tying runs. 

Next, Omar Narvaez won it with a walk off single. Bader had an RBI single in the 2nd inning as well. It was his fifth multi-RBI game of the year.

Career Stats: In his eight-year career Bader is batting .245 with 504 hits 95 doubles 13 triples 61 HRs 233 RBIs 292 runs scored with a .312 On Base% & .704 OPS. (thru June 1st, 2024).

Family: Harrison is a cousin of actor Scott Baio from Happy Days & Charles in Charge television
fame. He is also cousins with Chris Baio who is the bass player for the band Vampire Weekend.