Quick Facts
Biography
Cody Marshall Decker (born January 17, 1987) is an American professional baseball player who is currently a member of the Milwaukee Brewers organization. He has played for the San Diego Padres in Major League Baseball (MLB). A right-handed power hitter, he plays first base, third base, left field, and can catch.
Playing for Santa Monica High School in California, Decker batted .490 and was Ocean League MVP his senior year. Playing college baseball for UCLA, he led the Pac-10 in home runs with 21 during his senior year in 2009, was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection, and ended his college career tied for 7th on UCLA's all-time home run list with 47.
Decker was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 22nd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. That summer he batted .354 and led the Arizona League (AZL) in home runs, RBIs (63-an AZL record), total bases (142-an AZL record), and slugging percentage (.717), and had the best fielding percentage for a first baseman. He was named the AZL Most Valuable Player and a Topps Post-Season All Star. In 2010, he was fourth in the California League in home runs (28) and seventh in RBIs (90). He was named an MiLB.com San Diego Organization All Star and MiLB.com Short-Season Best Hitter of the Year. In 2012, he was second in the Texas League in home runs (25) and third in slugging percentage (.540). That fall he played for the Israel national baseball team in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 World Baseball Classic. In 2014, Decker tied for fourth in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in home runs (27), led all Padres minor leaguers in homers, and tied for third among Padres minor leaguers in RBIs (79). He was named a 2014 MiLB.com San Diego Organization All Star. In 2015 he was a PCL mid-season All Star, and an MiLB.com San Diego Organization All Star.
Decker made his Major League debut on September 14, 2015, after 2,566 at bats in 761 games over seven seasons in the minor leagues. At the time, his 154 home runs in the minors were the most by any MLB-affiliated minor league player since he was drafted in 2009. On June 13, 2016, Decker signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox, who assigned him to the double A Portland Sea Dogs.
Early life
Decker was born in Santa Monica, California, and is Jewish. His parents are Jay and Terri Decker, and he has an older brother (Jesse) and an older sister (Jenifer).
He attended Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California. There, playing first base, third base, and catcher he batted .490 over three seasons, and was a three-time All Bay League pick. In 2005, Decker was Ocean League MVP, Division IV Southern Section All-CIF first-team, and named to the Los Angeles Times All-South Bay/Westside Region team.
Decker then attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) on a baseball scholarship, where he majored in History and was a designated hitter, first baseman, and left fielder for the UCLA Bruins baseball team. He led the Pac-10 in home runs with 21 during his senior year in 2009. Decker was the first hitter since Eric Byrnes to hit at least five homers in each of his four college seasons, and ended his college career tied with Ryan McGuire for 7th on UCLA's all-time home run list with 47. He was a two-time All-Pac-10 selection, in 2007 and 2009.
Minor leagues
Decker was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 22nd round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He said his after-tax signing bonus was $638.
In 2009, he batted .354 and led the Arizona League in home runs (15), RBIs (63-an Arizona League record), doubles (21), extra-base hits (39), total bases (142-an Arizona League record), slugging percentage (.717), and OPS (1.138), and had the best fielding percentage for a first baseman while playing for the Arizona League Padres. Decker was named the AZL Most Valuable Player (beating out Mike Trout), a Topps Short-Season/Rookie All Star, and Topps Post-Season All Star.
In 2010, Decker was fourth in the California League in home runs (28; tied for the lead among Padres minor leaguers), sixth in doubles (35), and seventh in RBIs (90; second-best among Padres minor leaguers) with the High-A Lake Elsinore Storm. He then was named an MiLB.com San Diego Organization All Star and MiLB.com Short-Season Best Hitter of the Year with the Arizona League Padres, and voted California League Player of the Week on August 30, 2010, with the Storm.
Unfortunately, Decker missed nearly three months of the 2011 season with a severe third-degree right ankle sprain, though he hit 15 home runs in 59 games, 13 of them in AA.
In 2012, Decker finished second in the Texas League in home runs (25), and third in slugging percentage (.540) with the AA San Antonio Missions. In addition, he was twice named Texas League Player of the Week, on May 7 and May 14.
Decker split the 2013 season between San Antonio and Tucson, hitting 19 home runs (second among Padres minor leaguers) with 70 RBIs.
That year, by virtue of his Jewish heritage, Decker played for the Israel national baseball team in the qualifying rounds of the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He was 1-10 in three games, and had two RBIs.
In 2014, Decker tied for fourth in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) in home runs with 27 for the AAA El Paso Chihuahuas, and led all Padres minor leaguers in homers. He also tied for third among Padres minor leaguers in RBIs, with 79. He was named a 2014 MiLB.com San Diego Organization All Star.
In 2015 he was a PCL mid-season All Star with El Paso, and an MiLB.com San Diego Organization All Star. Decker had the fourth-best home run/at bat ratio in the league, with a homer every 17.78 at bats. On May 11, 2015, he was voted PCL Player of the Week. Through 2015, he was the all-time minor league home run leader for the Padres, with 154. Sam Geaney, the Padres Director of Player Development, described him as "big-time right-handed power." Afterwards, newspaper El Paso Times called him "the most popular player during the El Paso Chihuahuas' first two seasons." Announcer Tim Hagerty said he had not ever seen a ballplayer connect with a team's fan base as Decker did with El Paso.
Decker signed with the Kansas City Royals on December 3, 2015. They traded him to the Colorado Rockies on April 20, 2016, who released him on May 17, 2016. On June 13, 2016, Decker signed a minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox, who assigned him to the Portland Sea Dogs in the AA Eastern League.
Major leagues
Decker made his Major League debut on September 14, 2015, after 2,566 at bats in 761 games over seven seasons while playing in the minor leagues. At the time, his 154 home runs in the minors were the most by any MLB-affiliated minor league player since he was drafted in 2009, and the most ever by a Padres minor leaguer. Decker went hitless with an RBI in 11 at bats, and became a free agent after his debut season.
Team Israel
Decker played for Israel at the 2017 World Baseball Classic qualifier. Decker was the starting third baseman during all three of Israel's games, batted fifth. During the opening game Decker went 1 for 3 with a double, an RBI on a sacrifice fly and a run scored, with one strikeout, before being replaced defensively by Mitch Glasser. Against Brazil in the second game, Decker with 1 for 2, while picking up the games only RBI on a sacrifice fly, before again being replaced defensively by Glasser. During the third and final game of the qualifier, Decker went 1 for 3, with a solo home run and a walk.
In January 2017 Decker was confirmed to be on the roster for the main tournament in March 2017.
Personal
Decker has earned his Screen Actors Guild card, and had a cameo in the NBC espionage thriller, “State of Affairs.” He also produces his own short films on the side.
Decker is known for his pranks. In 2014, while playing with the El Paso Chihuahuas in AAA, for the first month of the season he convinced gullible veteran outfielder Jeff Francoeur that their teammate, pitcher Jorge Reyes, was deaf. Reyes cooperated with the prank, maintaining the appearance of being deaf by not speaking or listening to music. Decker filmed and produced a seven-minute documentary, "On Jeff Ears," revealing the truth to Francoeur. The prank documentary went viral, getting over 1.4 million hits on YouTube. Sportswriter Peter Gammons called Decker "My new favorite person." Decker raises money for the deaf and for animal rescue through charitable events.
The San Diego Union-Tribune called him "One of the most colorful characters in professional baseball." Decker is also known for having over 20,000 followers on Twitter. In the off-season, he has worked as a bartender, a bouncer, and trivia night host.
On December 23, 2016, Decker proposed to model and television personality Jenn Sterger.