1. Overview
Allan Murray de San Miguel, born on February 1, 1988, is an Australian former professional baseball catcher with an extensive career spanning minor league baseball, the Australian Baseball League (ABL), and international competitions. He played for various organizations including the Minnesota Twins, Baltimore Orioles, Colorado Rockies, and Kansas City Royals during his minor league career, and notably with the Perth Heat and Melbourne Aces in the ABL, where he held several significant records. De San Miguel also represented the Australia national baseball team in prestigious tournaments such as the World Baseball Classic and WBSC Premier12. Following his playing retirement, he transitioned into a coaching role, currently serving with the Kansas City Royals.
2. Early life and background
Allan de San Miguel was born on February 1, 1988, in Australia. He attended South Fremantle Senior High School in Perth, Western Australia. His professional baseball career began when he signed with the Minnesota Twins organization as an undrafted free agent on August 18, 2004, shortly after his high school education.
3. Playing career
Allan de San Miguel's playing career encompassed various levels of professional baseball, from minor league affiliates in the United States to the Australian Baseball League and international representation.
3.1. Minor league career
De San Miguel began his professional career with the Minnesota Twins organization, spending time at all levels from Rookie League to Triple-A as an organizational catcher. He remained with the Twins until his release from the New Britain Rock Cats in 2011.
On January 9, 2012, de San Miguel signed a minor league contract with the Baltimore Orioles after a strong performance in the Australian Baseball League. He split his time across the High-A Frederick Keys, Double-A Bowie Baysox, and Triple-A Norfolk Tides. During this period, he batted .239 with a .331 on-base percentage and a .399 slugging percentage, hitting six home runs in 63 games. He was invited to Spring Training with the Orioles in 2013 and spent the entire season with High-A Frederick, where he batted .240/.366/.421 with 10 home runs in 65 games. He elected free agency on November 4, 2013.
On January 13, 2014, de San Miguel signed a minor league contract with the Colorado Rockies but was released before the season started on March 27. He then spent the 2014 season as the starting catcher for the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. For the Blue Crabs, he batted .203/.289/.332 with five home runs in 61 games.
On January 12, 2015, de San Miguel returned to the Twins organization, but his second stint was brief, as he appeared in only three games for the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings before sustaining an injury. He elected free agency again on November 6, 2015.
On February 11, 2016, de San Miguel signed a minor league contract with the Kansas City Royals. He batted .187/.248/.264 in 30 games split between the Triple-A Omaha Storm Chasers and Double-A Northwest Arkansas Naturals. The following year, he hit .237/.310/.333 in 34 games. In both 2018 and 2019, he remained signed as a player with the Royals but was rarely activated due to being placed on the injured list. He made no appearances in either season before electing free agency on November 4, 2019. De San Miguel signed another minor league deal with the Royals on January 10, 2020, and was assigned to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. On July 4, he was added to the Royals' 60-man player pool. He elected free agency on November 2, 2020, but re-signed with the Royals on a minor league contract on February 3, 2021.
3.2. Australian Baseball League career
De San Miguel was a prominent figure in the Australian Baseball League (ABL). He served as the starting catcher for the Perth Heat for six seasons, from 2010 to 2015. In 2016, he joined the Melbourne Aces. Over his ABL career, he maintained a batting average of .270, an on-base percentage of .382, and a slugging percentage of .452, accumulating 39 home runs in 279 games.
He achieved considerable success with the Perth Heat, winning four ABL Championships in the 2010-11, 2011-12, 2013-14, and 2014-15 seasons. He also contributed to the Melbourne Aces' championships in 2019-20 and 2020-21, with the latter as a manager. De San Miguel was recognized for his outstanding performance by being named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the 2014-15 Championship Series.
Upon his retirement following the 2019-20 Australian Baseball League season, de San Miguel held several ABL records, including most games played (386), most plate appearances (1560), most at-bats (1300), most runs batted in (214), most times hit by pitch (39), as well as most strikeouts (294), and most times grounded into double play (42). During the 2022-23 Australian Baseball League season, Tim Kennelly surpassed de San Miguel's records for plate appearances, at-bats, and RBI. Additionally, Trent D'Antonio broke his all-time games record, with Kennelly also surpassing it later in the same season.
3.3. International career
Allan de San Miguel has represented the Australia national baseball team in several major international tournaments.
In 2009, he was a provisional member of the Australian team for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Australia was eliminated in the first round, finishing 12th out of 16 teams with a 1-2 record. De San Miguel did not play in the tournament.
He returned with the team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic, for which Australia automatically qualified. Australia finished last out of sixteen teams, losing all three of their first-round games to Chinese Taipei, South Korea, and the Netherlands. De San Miguel made one appearance against Korea, going 0-for-3 with a strikeout, and later replaced Matt Kennelly against the Netherlands, striking out in his only plate appearance in that game.
In 2016, de San Miguel caught for Australia in the 2017 World Baseball Classic - Qualifier 1, held from February 11-14, 2016. Australia defeated the Philippines and South Africa twice each to advance. He appeared in all three games, going 2-for-11 with one walk and one strikeout.
De San Miguel competed in the main 2017 World Baseball Classic with the Australian national baseball team in 2017. Australia was eliminated in the first round after losses to Japan and Cuba. De San Miguel had a strong series, going 5-for-9 with one walk and three strikeouts. He hit a solo home run off of Tomoyuki Sugano in the second inning of the first game against Japan.
In 2018, he was selected for an exhibition series against Japan. On October 8, 2019, he was also selected for the 2019 WBSC Premier12 tournament.
4. Coaching career
Following his retirement as a player, Allan de San Miguel transitioned into a coaching role within professional baseball. The Kansas City Royals announced that they hired him to their major league coaching staff before the 2022 season. In this capacity, de San Miguel serves as a strategist and bullpen catcher for the team.