Corey Leshaad Wimberly is an American manager in Minor League Baseball for the Boston Red Sox organization, and a former professional baseballinfielder and outfielder. Entering the season, Wimberly was one of only nine African American managers, across the 160 teams of MiLB. Wimberly spent 10 seasons playing in the minors, including four seasons at the Triple-A level, before retiring after the 2016 season. Listed at tall and, he was a switch hitter and threw right-handed.
Playing career
Amateur
Wimberly attended Alcorn State University in Mississippi, where he played college baseball for the Braves. As a freshman in 2004, Wimberly earned multiple honors: Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American, SWAC Freshman and Newcomer of the Year, First-Team All-Conference, and Second-Team All-Blackcollegebaseball.com. After batting.420 in 42 games in 2004, he hit.462 in 38 games in 2005.
Professional
Wimberly was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the sixth round of the 2005 MLB Draft; he signed with the Rockies, receiving a signing bonus of $145,000. Wimberly played in the Rockies' farm system from 2005 through 2008, reaching as high as Double-A. In February 2009, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics for Matt Murton. With Oakland, Wimberly spent most of 2009 in Double-A, batting.296 in 70 games, and all of 2010 in Triple-A, batting.284 in 135 games. In December 2010, Wimberly was traded to the Indianapolis Indians, Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. With Indianapolis during the 2011 season, he hit.238 in 56 games, spending three stints on the disabled list. In November 2011, he elected to become a free agent. In December 2011, Wimberly signed with the New York Mets and was assigned to their Triple-A team, the Buffalo Bisons. In 39 games with Buffalo he hit.301, while spending nearly two months on the disabled list. In November 2012, he again elected to become a free agent. In April 2013, Wimberly joined the Gwinnett Braves, Triple-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves, where he hit.234 in 25 games. The Braves released him at the end of May. In June, he joined the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. He hit.260 in 59 games for Pensacola. In November 2013, he again elected to become a free agent. In December 2013, Wimberly signed with the Minnesota Twins, and was assigned to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats. During the 2014 season, he hit.252 in 72 games for New Britain, and additionally played in several Gulf Coast League games while rehabilitating from an injury. Overall, in 10 minor league seasons, Wimberly batted.289 with 12 home runs and 253 RBIs in 820 games. He played games at all infield positions except first base, and at all outfield positions. He stole 50 or more bases in a season three times, including 59 with the Double-A Tulsa Drillers in 2008. Wimberly finished his playing career with Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League during the 2015 and 2016 seasons, batting.340 and.338, respectively.
