BIOGRAPHY
Harrison Joseph Bader was born on June 3, 1994, in Bronxville, New York. He is an outfielder in the MLB.
He attended the University of Florida and played college baseball for the Florida Gators. Bader made his MLB debut in 2017. Bader led the Gators with a .312 batting average as a freshman and with a .337 average as a sophomore. As a junior in 2015, he batted .297 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs in 67 games. He was named to the All-Tournament Team in the 2015 College World Series after he batted .348 in five games. In the 2015 Major League Baseball draft, the St. Louis Cardinals selected Bader in the third round, with the 100th overall selection. He signed with the Cardinals, receiving a $400,000 signing bonus, and made his professional debut with the State College Spikes of the Class A-Short Season New York–Penn League, hitting two home runs in his first game.
On July 25, 2017, the Cardinals promoted Bader to the major leagues to take the place of the injured Dexter Fowler. Bader had been batting .297 with 19 home runs and 48 RBIs in 97 games at Memphis prior to his promotion. That night, he started in center field and batted seventh, and recorded his first major league hit, a double, along with scoring the winning run on a walk-off sacrifice fly. He hit his first MLB home run, a 395 foot shot to left field, on September 1, 2017, off of Johnny Cueto, leading the Cardinals to an 11-6 win over the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park. After the season, the Cardinals named Bader their 2017 Minor League Player of the Year.
MLB.com ranked Bader as St Louis' fifth-best prospect going into the 2018 season. He began the 2018 season with Memphis. The Cardinals promoted him to the major leagues on April 3. Bader finished his 2018 rookie campaign batting .264 with 12 home runs, 37 RBIs, and 15 stolen bases in 138 games along with ranking fourth among MLB outfielders with 19 Defensive Runs Saved.
During spring training 2021, Bader injured his right forearm and missed the start of the regular season. He returned to play on April 30, but injuring a rib while diving for a ball in a May 26 game against the Chicago White Sox. Reactivated and returned to the starting lineup on July 1, he hit his first career grand slam, helping the Cardinals to a 9–3 win over the Rockies at Coors Field. Bader was named the National League Player of the Week for the first time on September 27, 2021. His efforts that week included batting 15-for-29, slugging 1.000, hitting three home runs in eight games, and helping the Cardinals win a franchise-record 17th consecutive game.
Bader finished the 2021 season with 367 at-bats over 103 games, slashing .267/.324/.460 with 16 home runs, fifty RBIs, 21 doubles, and nine stolen bases. He was awarded the Gold Glove.
On August 2, 2022, the Cardinals traded Bader and a player to be named later or cash considerations to the New York Yankees for pitcher Jordan Montgomery.
Bader signed with the New York Mets following the 2023 season.
