Ian Desmond

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.

Ian Morgan Desmond (born September 20, 1985) is an American former professional baseball infielder 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.

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.

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.

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.

Desmond spent the 2007 season with Potomac and set career highs in home runs with 14, average with a .264 clip, on-base percentage with a .357 clip and doubles with 30.

Desmond slugged his first homer of the season on April 17.

He went 3-for-5 with a home run, double, three RBIs and scored twice on April 20.

He homered in consecutive games on July 28–29 and August 12–13.

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.

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.

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.

In 2011 he batted .253/.298/.358 in 154 games.

He stole a career-high 25 bases.

Desmond switched his uniform number to 20 at the beginning of the 2012 season to honor Frank Robinson.

On Opening Day, Desmond started at shortstop and hit leadoff for the Nationals, who played at the Cubs.

Desmond was selected for the 2012 All Star Game, his first such selection.

However, on Saturday, July 7, it was announced that Desmond was withdrawing from the game due to a sore oblique.

The oblique injury persisted, forcing the Nationals to place Desmond on the 15-day disabled list on July 23.

At the encouragement of manager Davey Johnson, Desmond became a very aggressive hitter.

He was second in the National League, and seventh in the majors, in percent of pitches swung at in the 2012 season (55%).

While primarily a shortstop early in his career, Desmond began playing primarily left field, center field, and first base starting in 2016.

He was ranked as the 19th best prospect in the SAL by Baseball America.