History of Ian Desmond in Timeline

September 20, 1985

Ian Morgan Desmond (born September 20, 1985) is an American former professional baseball shortstop and outfielder. He played 11 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Texas Rangers and Colorado Rockies. Desmond is a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a two-time MLB All-Star. While primarily a shortstop early in his career, Desmond began playing primarily left field, center field, and first base starting in 2016.

2004

The Montreal Expos selected Desmond in the third round of the 2004 MLB draft (84th overall). Desmond batted .227 with one home run and 27 RBIs for the Gulf Coast League Expos in 2004. He was second in the Gulf Coast League with 216 at-bats and fifth in stolen bases with 13. He had a .250 batting average with one home run and one RBI in four games for the Class-A short-season Vermont Expos.

2005

In 2005, Desmond batted .247 with four home runs and 23 RBIs in 73 games for Class-A Savannah Sand Gnats. He added a career-high 20 stolen bases. Desmond had a .256 batting average with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 55 games for the Class-A Advanced Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League. At season's end, he was named the best defensive shortstop in the South Atlantic League (SAL) in Baseball America's top tools survey of league managers. He was ranked as the 19th best prospect in the SAL by Baseball America.

2006

In 2006, Desmond batted .244 with a career-high nine home runs and 45 RBIs for Potomac. He scored 50 runs and had 20 doubles in 92 games. He had a .182 batting average with no home runs and three RBIs for the Double-A Harrisburg Senators.

2008

In 2008, Desmond played for Harrisburg and started the year there in 2009. In his three months there, he batted .306 and, in June, was promoted to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs. In 55 games with the Chiefs, he batted .354. After the minor league season ended, he was called up to the Nationals.

September 10, 2009

Desmond made his major league debut on September 10, 2009. In his second at-bat, Desmond got his first career hit and RBI with a double and later hit his first career home run in his 3rd at bat. He followed that up with a 4-for-4 game, and become only the second player ever (along with Guy Sturdy of the 1927 St. Louis Browns) to record at least six hits and four RBI in his first two games as a major leaguer.

2010

Desmond has a younger brother, Chris Charron. Desmond and former major league player Josh Roenicke are brothers-in-law; Roenicke, a pitcher who played for the Minnesota Twins through 2013 and signed a minor league deal with the Nationals for 2014, married Desmond's sister Nikki in 2010. In January 2010, Ian married his wife Chelsey, whom he met in fifth grade. The couple has five children together. When his first child was born, Desmond became one of the first players to claim paternity leave, which had just been introduced to MLB. The family lives in Sarasota, Florida.

March 28, 2010

On March 28, 2010, after a solid spring training in which he led the team in RBIs, Desmond earned the Nationals' starting shortstop job, beating out incumbent Cristian Guzmán. His first full year was a bit erratic. He booted the first ball that came to him and in the next game, hit the first home run of the season for the Nationals. Desmond ended the season batting .269 with 10 home runs and 65 runs batted in while stealing 17 bases.

2011

In 2011 he batted .253/.298/.358 in 154 games. He stole a career-high 25 bases.

2013

In 2013, Desmond repeated both his 20 home run – 20 steal season and his Silver Slugger Award. He batted .280 with 20 home runs, 80 runs batted in and 21 stolen bases in 158 games played.

2014

While with the Nationals, Desmond served on the board of the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy, which opened in 2014.

February 29, 2016

After rejecting a $15.8 million qualifying offer from the Nationals, Desmond remained a free agent until February 29, 2016, when he signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Texas Rangers. Desmond was expected to play primarily in the outfield rather than as a shortstop for the Rangers. He made his first appearances in left and center field during Cactus League action in March 2016.

December 13, 2016

On December 13, 2016, Desmond signed a five-year, $70 million contract with the Colorado Rockies, with a team option for a 6th year. During a spring training game on March 13, 2017, Desmond was hit by a pitch on his left hand. The injury resulted in a metacarpal fracture, requiring surgery. He appeared in his first game for the Rockies on April 30 in left field, due to the strong play of first baseman Mark Reynolds.

2018

In 2018, he batted .236/.307/.422. For the 2018 season, he had the highest ground ball percentage of all major league hitters (62.0%).

2019

In 2019, Desmond hit .255 with 20 home runs and 65 RBIs in 140 games. On June 10, 2019, Desmond hit the fifth-longest home run of the 2019 season at Coors Field with a 486-foot (148 m) home run off of Mike Montgomery.

2020

In 2020, Desmond co-founded Newtown Connection, a non-profit organization based in his hometown, which aims to help underserved youth in the Sarasota, Florida area through "academic enrichment, physical activity, and health education" and to "promote character development and an active lifestyle, instilling the values of leadership, accountability, teamwork, and the pursuit of excellence."

February 21, 2021

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Desmond chose to opt out of the 2020 MLB season. On February 21, 2021, Desmond announced via his Instagram page that he had decided to opt out of the 2021 season. Desmond forfeited his salary in both the 2020 and 2021 seasons by opting out, which essentially turned his 5 year, $70 million contract into a 3 year, $45 million contract. He became a free agent on November 4, 2021, after the Rockies declined the $15 million option for the 2022 season, instead paying him a $2 million buyout. Desmond was the Rockies' nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award in each of his 5 seasons with the Rockies for his community work and philanthropic efforts off the field.