Kentucky catcher Alonzo Rubalcaba agrees to deal with Detroit Tigers

After six Bat ‘Cats were selected in the 2022 MLB Draft a couple of weeks ago, another one has found his way into a big league contract.

This week, it was announced that former Kentucky baseball catcher Alonzo Rubalcaba has agreed to a free agent deal with the Detroit Tigers. He’ll join his one-time UK teammate, pitcher Cole Stupp, who was taken in the 12th round of the draft by the Tigers. Rubalcaba, originally from California, began his college career at UC Santa Barbara before transferring to Kentucky for the last two seasons.

During the 2022 MLB Draft earlier this month, shortstop Ryan Ritter was the first Wildcat off the board after landing with the Colorado Rockies in the fourth round. He was followed by Tyler Guilfoil (8th round, Houston Astros) and Sean Harney (8th round, Tampa Bay Rays), along with infielder Chase Estep (9th round, New York Mets) to close out the opening day. Stupp was taken later in the 12th round before pitcher Daniel Harper was taken in the 17th round by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Below is more on Rubalcaba’s career during his time in Lexington, courtesy of UK Athletics.

His finest moment came when he looped a game-winning single in the 13^th inning to defeat No. 1 Tennessee. Earlier in the season he was named Southeastern Conference Player of the Week after smacking a grand slam on Sunday that helped the Cats secure a series vs. No. 14 Georgia. For the week, he batted .500 with a team-high seven RBI, eight hits, five runs and a pair of extra-base hits. He led the team with 12 total bases in four games and slugged .750 as part of his 1.279 OPS. He had three multi-hit games and set career-highs on Sunday with three hits and four RBI.

On the season, Rubalcaba batted .238 with 20 runs, 12 extra-base hits, 30 runs batted in and 17 walks. He had eight multi-RBI and six multi-hit games but his greatest value was in his elite defensive skills behind the plate.

For his career, he batted .249 in 189 at-bats, with 57 starts in 65 games played. He missed a bulk of the 2021 season with a thumb injury but still managed to collect 14 extra-base hits and 32 RBI in two seasons.

UK Athletics

Rubalcaba was also tabbed to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll in 2021 and the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 2022.