Courtney Hawkins (baseball)

Courtney James Hawkins (born November 12, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Hawkins attended Mary Carroll High School in Corpus Christi, Texas. As a senior, he was the Texas Gatorade High School Baseball Player of the Year.^[1] He was the fifth ranked high school recruit in his class by ESPN and was committed to University of Texas at Austin.^[2]

The Chicago White Sox selected Hawkins in the first round, with the 13th overall selection, of the 2012 Major League Baseball draft.^{[3] [4] [5]} Hawkins started his career with the rookie-level Bristol White Sox of the Appalachian League. In 38 games he hit .272/.314/.401 with three home runs and 16 runs batted in. On August 12, 2012, he was promoted to the Low-A Kannapolis Intimidators of the South Atlantic League.^[6] He hit .308/.352/.631 with four home runs and 15 runs batted in 16 games. He ended the season with the High-A Winston-Salem Dash after he was promoted on August 29, 2012.^{[7] [8]} Overall, he finished his first season hitting .284/.324/.480 with eight home runs and 33 runs batted in 59 games. Hawkins was ranked the White Sox #1 prospect at the start of the 2013 season.^[9] He was also ranked as the #55 ranked prospect in baseball according to Baseball America and #68 by MLB.com. Hawkins spent the whole 2013 season with High-A Winston-Salem Dash. He struggled in his first full season, batting .178 with 19 home runs and 160 strikeouts in 383 at-bats.^[10]

Hawkins returned to Winston-Salem in 2014,^[11] batting .249 with 19 home runs and 84 RBIs. He spent 2015 with the Double-A Birmingham Barons, batting .243 with nine home runs and 41 RBIs, and 2016 with Birmingham, posting a .203 average with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs. In 2017, he played for Kannapolis, Winston-Salem and Birmingham, posting a combined .205 average with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in 91 total games between both teams.^[12] Hawkins was released from the organization on April 18, 2018.^[13]

On April 26, 2018, Hawkins signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Hawkins appeared in 88 games for the Skeeters and hit .285/.342/.505 with 54 runs, 17 doubles, 18 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 12 stolen bases.^[14]

On August 10, 2018, Hawkins' contract was purchased by the Cincinnati Reds.^[15] Hawkins spent the remainder of the year with the High-A Daytona Tortugas, hitting .246/.310/.354 with 2 home runs, 4 RBI, and 3 stolen bases in 17 games.

In 2019, he played in 3 games for the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts before being promoted to Triple-A. However, he struggled to find his footing in 16 games for the Louisville Bats, hitting .167/.196/.352 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI.^[16] He was released by the Reds organization on May 3, 2019.

On May 10, 2019, Hawkins signed with the Sugar Land Skeeters of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.^{[citation needed ]} Playing in 3 games, he went 6-for-12 (.500) with 2 home runs and 3 RBI.^[17]

On May 14, 2019, Hawkins's contract was purchased by the San Francisco Giants and he was assigned to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Despite the assignment, he spent the year with the High-A San Jose Giants. In an August 26 game against the Stockton Ports, Hawkins tied San Jose records for hits (5) and home runs (3) in a game, tallying on 6 RBI as well.^[18] In 88 games for the team, Hawkins hit .256/.314/.497 with 21 home runs and 59 RBI. He became a free agent following the season on November 4.^[19]

In July 2020, Hawkins signed on to play for the Skeeters of the Constellation Energy League, a makeshift four-team independent league created as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, for the 2020 season. He was named to the league's all-star team.^[20]

On May 4, 2021, Hawkins signed with the Lexington Legends of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.^[21] In Game 4 of the Atlantic League's championship series, Hawkins hit three home runs in the Legends 13–2 victory over the Long Island Ducks, clinching the franchise's first league championship.^[22] Hawkins was named the most valuable player of the series.^[23]

In 2022, Hawkins played in 127 games for Lexington, batting .298/.399/.655 with 48 home runs, 125 RBI, and 6 stolen bases. Following the regular season, he was named an Atlantic League All-Star,^[24] and the Atlantic League Player of the Year.^[25] In addition, Hawkins was named the 2022 Independent Player Of The Year by Baseball America .^[26]

On December 21, 2022, Hawkins signed with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Nippon Professional Baseball.^[27] In three games for the Hawks in 2023, Hawkins went 0–for–9 with one RBI. On December 4, SoftBank announced that Hawkins would not return to the team, making him a free agent.^{[28] [29]}

On April 22, 2024, Hawkins signed with the Pericos de Puebla of the Mexican League.^[30] In seven games for Puebla, he went 4–for–25 (.160) with one RBI. On May 10, Hawkins was released by Puebla.^[31]

On May 17, 2024, Hawkins signed with the Charleston Dirty Birds of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.^[32] In 16 games for Charleston, he hit .219/.265/.484 with five home runs and 14 RBI. He became a free agent following the season.

• Career statistics from Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)

• 1993 births
• Living people
• Bristol White Sox players
• Kannapolis Intimidators players
• Winston-Salem Dash players
• Birmingham Barons players
• Sugar Land Skeeters players
• Daytona Tortugas players
• Lexington Legends players
• Baseball players from Corpus Christi, Texas
• Chattanooga Lookouts players
• Glendale Desert Dogs players
• Louisville Bats players
• San Jose Giants players
• Sultanes de Monterrey players
• African-American baseball players
• American expatriate baseball players in Mexico
• Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players
• Expatriate baseball players in the United Arab Emirates

• CS1 Japanese-language sources (ja)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Short description matches Wikidata
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from December 2022