Joe Panik

Joseph Matthew Panik (born October 30, 1990 in Yonkers, New York) is a professional baseball second baseman in the San Francisco Giants organization.

Career

Panik attended John Jay High School in Hopewell Junction, New York. He went to college at St. John's University, where he played college baseball for the St. John's Red Storm baseball team, playing in the Big East Conference. Panik compiled a .398 batting average with 19 doubles, 10 home runs and 57 runs batted in (RBI) during his junior season, ranking tenth among college baseball players with a .509 on-base percentage (OBP). Panik earned All-America honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), Baseball America and Louisville Slugger. Panik was also a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, an honor given to the nation's top shortstop. He was also a first team ABCA All-Northeast Region honoree, a first team All-Big East selection, and he won the Red Storm Most Valuable Player Award.^[1]

Out of St. John's, the Giants drafted Panik in the first round (29th overall) of the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft.^[2] Panik made his professional debut with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Class-A Short Season Northwest League. He led the league with a .341 batting average, 49 runs scored, 54 RBIs and a .401 on-base percentage (OBP) for Salem-Keizer, winning the league's Most Valuable Player award.^[3] He was rated the tenth best second base prospect prior to the 2012 season^[4] and was invited to spring training.^[3]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)