Zach Daeges

Daeges was born in Omaha, Nebraska and moved as a teenager with his family to Iowa[3] He attended Harlan Community High School in Harlan, Iowa before choosing to attend Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, where he studied accounting.[2] Prior to the 2005 season, Daeges had Tommy John surgery, which forced him out of the field the following season. In 2005 as a designated hitter, Daeges was named to the third team Academic All-American team as well as to the first-team All Missouri Valley Conference squad.[4] As a senior in 2006, he was named a second team All American as a third baseman and first team All Missouri Valley Conference after hitting .350 in 180 at-bats with 13 home runs and 49 runs batted in.[2]

Daeges was drafted with the 150th overall pick in the 2006 MLB amateur draft by the Boston Red Sox. In 2006, he joined the Lowell Spinners, the short-Season A level affiliate of the Red Sox in the New York – Penn League (NYPL). With the Spinners, he drove in 32 runs while hitting .288 with 57 hits in 55 games, for which he was named a NYPL all-star.[1] In 2007, with the class A advanced Lancaster JetHawks, Daeges hit .330 with 21 home runs, 113 runs batted in and 170 hits in 127 games. He was named by MiLB.com as the class A advanced Offensive Player of the Year after the season and set the California League record for doubles in a season with 25 games remaining.[5] The following year with the AA Portland Sea Dogs, Daeges hit .308 with 6 home runs, 63 runs batted in and 121 hits in 108 games. He was also the Sea Dogs player of the year and an Eastern League all-star.[1] During the 2008 off-season, Daeges traveled to Venezuela to play for the Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League, with whom he batted .208 with 6 hits in 8 games. Prior to the 2009 season, he was a SoxProspects.com all-star selection and the 24th-best minor-league prospect in the Red Sox organization.[1] With the Pawtucket Red Sox, Daeges injured his ankle in spring training and missed all but 9 games of the 2009 season due to the severe injury.[6] Following the season, Daeges had surgery to remove the Os Trigonum bone; it was discovered that he is one of the rare people with an extra bone in his ankle.[6] Despite the injury, Red Sox officials were not concerned that it would affect his development.[6] Prior to the 2010 season, Daeges was invited to the Boston Red Sox spring training.[7] However, Daeges missed all of the 2010 season due to injury as well. After playing 2 games and going 0-6 with the Lowell Spinners in 2011, Daeges was released by the Red Sox organization.[1]

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference (Minors)