Baseball player James OutmanOutman with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024Minnesota Twins – No. 43Center fielderBorn: (1997-05-14) May 14, 1997 (age 28)Redwood City, California, U.S.Bats: LeftThrows: RightMLB debutJuly 31, 2022, for the Los Angeles DodgersMLB statistics (through 2025 season)Batting erage.214Home runs34Runs batted in95Stats at Baseball Reference Teams Los Angeles Dodgers (2022–2025) Minnesota Twins (2025–present)
James Matthew Outman (born May 14, 1997) is an American professional baseball center fielder for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made his MLB debut in 2022.
Early life[edit]James Matthew Outman was born on May 14, 1997, in Redwood City, California. He attended Junípero Serra High School in San Mateo, California. In high school, he hit .305 with a .508 slugging percentage and .962 fielding percentage and also played linebacker and tight end for the football team.[1] Outman was a fan of the San Francisco Giants growing up.[2]
College career[edit]Outman attended California State University, Sacramento and played college baseball for the Sacramento State Hornets. He hit .249 in 147 games over three seasons with 23 homers and 99 RBI.[3] He also played for the Humboldt Crabs in 2016[3] and the Bethesda Big Train of the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League in 2017, where he was the Team MVP and League Offensive Player of the Year. [4]
Professional career[edit] Los Angeles Dodgers[edit] 2018–2021[edit]The Los Angeles Dodgers selected Outman in the seventh round of the 2018 MLB Draft.[5] He played with the Ogden Raptors in 2018 and the Great Lakes Loons in 2019.[3] After missing the 2020 season as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Outman began 2021 with the Loons, where he hit .250 with nine home runs and 30 RBI.[3] He was promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in July and was named Double-A Central hitter of the week two weeks later when he had seven extra base hits, including three home runs in six games against the Springfield Cardinals.[6] He wound up hitting .289 with nine homers and 24 RBI in 39 games for Tulsa.[3]
Outman with the Great Lakes Loons in 2021The Dodgers assigned him to the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League after the season, where he was selected to the Fall Stars Game for the best prospects in the league.[7] Outman was added to the Dodgers' 40-man roster in November 2021.[8] He began the 2022 season with Tulsa before being promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers at the end of June.[9] Between the two levels in 2022, he appeared in 125 games, hitting .294 with 31 homers and 106 RBIs.[3]
2022[edit]Outman was called up to the Major Leagues for the first time on July 30.[10] He made his debut as the starting right fielder the following day against the Colorado Rockies and hit a home run in his first MLB at-bat off of Germán Márquez. He had three hits in his debut with the homer, a double and three RBI.[11] After his second career game the following night, he became the first Dodgers player to reach base seven or more times in his first two career games since Casey Stengel in 1912.[12] Outman appeared in four games in the majors in 2022, with six hits in 13 at-bats, including two doubles, the one home run and 13 RBI.[13]
2023[edit]Outman made the Dodgers opening day roster for the first time in 2023, as the team's starting center fielder against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He hit a two-run homer off Cole Sulser to give the Dodgers their first homer of the season.[14] On April 20 against the Chicago Cubs, Outman hit two home runs including the go-ahead grand slam in the ninth. [15] That was Outman's first multi-homer game, a feat that he repeated two days later when he hit another pair of home runs against the Cubs.[16] Outman was selected as the National League Rookie of the Month for April.[17] He played in 151 games, batting .248 with 23 home runs and 70 RBI.[13]
2024[edit]Outman again began the season as the Dodgers' center fielder. However, he struggled at the plate in the first couple of months, hitting just .147 with three home runs, and was optioned back to the minors on May 17.[18] He spent most of the rest of the season in the minors, except for July, when he was recalled.[19] He hit .147 with four home runs and 11 RBI in 53 games in the majors[13] and .279 with 17 home runs and 46 RBI in 69 games in the minors.[3]
2025[edit] Outman with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2025Outman was on the roster for the Tokyo Series to open the season but did not appear in either of the two games and was optioned back to the Oklahoma City Comets to start the minor league season.[20] In 70 games for Oklahoma City, Outman batted .289 with 20 homers and 74 RBI.[3] He also played in 22 games for the Dodgers, but hit only .103 with two home runs and four RBI.[13]
Minnesota Twins[edit]On July 31, 2025, the Dodgers traded Outman to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for pitcher Brock Stewart.[21][22]
See also[edit] List of Major League Baseball players with a home run in their first major league at bat References[edit] ^ "James Outman bio". Hornetsports.com. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved July 31, 2022. ^ "The SF Giants fan who became a Dodger now leads MLB in this key stat". The San Francisco Standard. Retrieved April 14, 2023. ^ a b c d e f g h "James Outman College, Amateur and Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball Reference. Retrieved July 31, 2022. ^ "Bethesda Big Train Major Leaguers". Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023. ^ Bernal, Terry (October 21, 2025). "Serra graduate James Outman named Double-A Central Hitter of the Week". San Mateo Daily Journal. Retrieved November 21, 2025. ^ "Outman Named Hitter of the Week". milb.com. August 9, 2021. Retrieved July 31, 2022. ^ Williams, Blake (November 12, 2022). "Dodgers Prospects Bobby Miller, Landon Knack & James Outman Named 2021 Arizona Fall League All-Stars". Dodger Blue. Retrieved July 31, 2022. ^ Stephen, Eric (November 19, 2021). "Dodgers add Jacob Amaya, James Outman, Michael Grove, Eddys Leonard, Jorbit Vivas to 40-man roster". SB Nation. Retrieved November 21, 2021. ^ Walton, Ryan (June 30, 2022). "Dodgers promote James Outman to Triple-A Oklahoma City". SB Nation. Retrieved July 31, 2022. ^ Stephen, Eric (July 30, 2022). "James Outman gets his first call to the majors". SB Nation. Retrieved July 30, 2022. ^ Stephen, Eric (July 31, 2022). "James Outman's major league debut to remember leads Dodgers over Rockies". SB Nation. Retrieved July 31, 2022. ^ "MLB world captivated by historic start for Dodgers rookie". amp.thecomeback.com. Retrieved May 25, 2023. ^ a b c d "James Outman Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved October 5, 2022. ^ Stephen, Eric (March 30, 2023). "James Outman starts in center field on opening day, his first game at Dodger Stadium". SB Nation. Retrieved March 30, 2023. ^ Toribio, Juan (April 20, 2023). "Mookie's shortstop debut 'a dream come true'". mlb.com. Retrieved April 21, 2023. ^ Stephen, Eric (April 22, 2023). "James Outman continues red-hot month with two more home runs". SB Nation. Retrieved April 22, 2023. ^ Stephen, Eric (May 3, 2023). "James Outman wins National League rookie of the month for April". SB Nation. Retrieved May 3, 2023. ^ Stephen, Eric (May 17, 2024). "Dodgers activate Jason Heyward from injured list, option James Outman to Triple-A". SB Nation. Retrieved May 21, 2024. ^ "James Outman 2024 Batting Gamelogs". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 23, 2024. ^ Camras, Noah (March 19, 2025). "Dodgers Option James Outman, 2 Pitchers to Triple-A". Retrieved March 19, 2025. ^ Chen, Sonja (August 1, 2025). "Dodgers add Brock Stewart, Alex Call at Trade Deadline". MLB.com. Retrieved October 31, 2025. ^ Gonzalez, Alden (July 31, 2025). "Dodgers make trades for Twins' Stewart, Nationals' Call". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 1, 2025. External links[edit] Career statistics from MLB · ESPN · Baseball Reference · Fangraphs · Baseball Reference (Minors) · Retrosheet · Baseball Almanac Sacramento State Hornets bio Archived February 25, 2020, at the Wayback Machine vteMinnesota Twins current rosterActive roster 2 Kody Clemens 9 Trevor Larnach 11 Mickey Gasper 15 Luke Keaschall 16 Austin Martin 17 Bailey Ober 18 Alan Roden 20 Mick Abel 22 Brooks Lee 23 Royce Lewis 24 Simeon Woods Richardson 25 Byron Buxton 26 Taj Bradley 27 Ryan Jeffers 38 Matt Wallner 41 Joe Ryan 43 James Outman 44 Cole Sands 45 Tris Adams 47 Edouard Julien 48 Justin Topa 49 Pablo López 52 Zebby Matthews 53 Ryan Fitzgerald 55 Kody Funderburk 58 Did Festa 62 Pierson Ohl 65 Jhonny Pereda 85 Marco Raya 90 Emmanuel Rodríguez -- Josh Bell -- Gabriel González -- Alex Jackson -- John Klein -- Ryan Kreidler -- Hendry Méndez -- Andrew Morris -- Eric Orze -- Connor Prielipp -- Kendry Rojas Coaching staff Manager 8 Derek Shelton Bench -- Mark Hallberg Assistant bench -- Mike Rabelo Catching Vacant Third base -- Ramon Borrego First base -- Grady Sizemore Hitting -- Keith Beauregard Ast. Hitting 67 Trevor Amicone Ast. Hitting 79 Rayden Sierra Pitching 88 Pete Maki Assistant pitching 91 Luis Ramirez Bullpen -- LaTroy Hawkins Quality Control 75 Nate Dammann Bullpen catcher 97 Garrett Kennedy Bullpen catcher 98 Connor Olson Field coordinator -- Toby Gardenhire