Cito Culver
Quick Facts
Biography
Christopher S. "Cito" Culver (born August 26, 1992) is an American professional baseball shortstop in the New York Yankees organization. He was drafted by the Yankees in the first round pick of the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft.
Career
Culver attended Irondequoit High School in Irondequoit, New York, a suburb of Rochester. He played little league for Irondequoit Athletic Association.
Culver was selected by the New York Yankees with their first-round pick, 32nd overall, in the 2010 MLB Draft. While he had already committed to play college baseball for the University of Maryland, he passed on his commitment and instead signed a contract reportedly worth $954,000 with the Yankees. He made his professional debut that season for the Gulf Coast Yankees. He was later promoted to the Staten Island Yankees. Overall in 56 games he hit .251/.325/.330 with two home runs.
Culver played the 2011 season with Staten Island. In 69 games he hit .250/.323/.337 with two home runs. In 2012 he played for the Charleston RiverDogs. He hit .215/.321/.283 and two home runs in 122 games. Culver decided to stick to batting right-handed rather than switch hitting prior to the 2013 season. He started the season back with Charleston. In August he was promoted to the Tampa Yankees. Overall he hit .248/.322/.362 with nine home runs. He remained with Tampa for the 2014 season and in 132 games, he batted .220/.298/.303 with 5 homers, 48 RBI, and 12 steals, playing 130 of the games at shortstop while serving as the DH the other two. Culver spent 2015 with both the Trenton Thunder and the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, where he posted a combined .207 batting average with 3 home runs and 30 RBI's between both teams. In 2016, Culver also split time between the Thunder and the Railriders, where he batted .254 with 4 home runs and 51 RBI's.
Personal
His father is currently serving nine years in Attica Correctional Facility for attempting to set his family's house on fire in order to kill Cito's mother on March 22, 2008. He was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. By terms of the plea agreement Culver can have no contact with his father.