Royce Huffman

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Royce Thomas Huffman

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Royce Huffman spent seven full seasons at Triple A but never reached the major leagues. He played in the Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers systems from 1999 to 2009. Initially, he was drafted by the Astros in the 12th round of the 1999 amateur draft by the Astros, one pick ahead of pitcher Ben Kozlowski, and was signed by scout Ralph Bratton.

Huffman's offensive and defensive abilities seemed to spell major leaguer, but big league front offices thought otherwise. He began his career with a .296/.296/.480 slash line and 18 stolen bases in 53 games at the rookie level in 2009, then followed that with lines of .300/.410/.420, .309/.382/.405 and .322/.381/.471, respectively, as he worked his way up through the low- and mid-minors. Notably, in 2000, he had 32 stolen bases and 84 walks to 51 strikeouts in 133 games between two teams and in 2002, he had 12 home runs, 36 doubles and 91 runs scored in 132 games at Double A.

He reached Triple-A for the first time in 2003 and stayed there for the rest of his career. In his inaugural campaign, he hit .289/.353/.354 and the next year, .309/393/.450 with 39 doubles, 10 home runs and 81 runs scored. He played in the Arizona Fall League that year. He would bat .290 or better two more times, and hit double digit home runs and 30-plus doubles twice as well, before his career ended.

In the field, he spent considerable time at first base, second base, third base and in the outfield.

Overall, Huffman hit .294/.379/.421 with 1,388 hits, 75 home runs, 676 runs, 616 RBI, 322 doubles, 117 stolen bases and 595 walks over eleven campaigns; that averages to 126 hits, 7 home runs, 61 runs, 56 RBI, 29 doubles, 11 stolen bases and 54 walks per year. At Triple-A, he hit .286/.373/.411 with 52 home runs, 383 RBI and 41 stolen bases in seven seasons. He hit .400/.499/.666 in 213 college games.

His brother, Chad Huffman, played in the major leagues in 2010 and again in 2017.