T.J. Rivera

Thomas Javier Rivera (born October 27, 1988) is an American professional baseball infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). Rivera is a native of New York City, and went undrafted after playing college baseball at Troy University. Rivera signed with the Mets after Mackey Sasser, a former Met and one of Rivera's college coaches, recommended him to the team.

Rivera was born to Tommy, a handyman, and Nilsa Rivera, an insurance adjuster. Rivera is of Puerto Rican descent. His mother and father are from Aibonito and Ponce, Puerto Rico. He has stated in the past that he would like to represent Puerto Rico at the 2017 World Baseball Classic. Rivera grew up as a fan of the New York Yankees, but also liked the Mets. Rivera met his wife, Ashton, at Troy University.

Rivera grew up in the Throggs Neck neighborhood of The Bronx, and attended Herbert H. Lehman High School. He began his college baseball career at Wallace Community College in Dothan, Alabama, and transferred to Troy University in Troy, Alabama, where he played for the Troy Trojans. He graduated from Troy in 2011, but went unselected in the Major League Baseball draft.

Minor league career

Former Mets catcher Mackey Sasser, T.J. Rivera's head coach at Wallace Community, recommended him to a scout for the New York Mets, who then signed him as a free agent.

Rivera had a .301 batting average in 2011, splitting the season between the Kingsport Mets of the Rookie-level Appalachian League and the Brooklyn Cyclones of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League. In 2014, Rivera hit .349 with five home runs and 75 runs batted in (RBIs) for the St. Lucie Mets of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League and the Binghamton Mets of the Class AA Eastern League. He returned to Binghamton to start the 2015 season, and was promoted to the Las Vegas 51s of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League (PCL) on May 16. Despite hitting .306 with 17 doubles in 54 games, the Mets demoted Rivera to Binghamton on August 1. The Mets chose not to add Rivera to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season, exposing him to the Rule 5 draft; he went unselected.

The Mets invited Rivera to spring training in 2016. He began the 2016 season with Las Vegas. He was named the PCL's Player of the Month for May, when he batted .373 with five home runs. He ended the season as the PCL batting champion.

Major league career

After batting .349 with 11 home runs and 90 RBIs for Las Vegas, and being named the PCL's Player of the Week for August 1 through 7, the Mets promoted him to the Major Leagues on August 10. He made his debut that night, starting at third base, and collected his first Major League hit in his debut. He had a 2-run double against the San Diego Padres for the first two runs batted in of his Major League career. He hit his first major league home run on September 13, a go-ahead solo shot in the tenth inning off of Mark Melancon of the Washington Nationals. Rivera batted .333 in 33 games for the Mets, becoming the Mets' everyday second baseman due to injuries to Neil Walker and Wilmer Flores.