Brian O'Keefe (baseball)

O'Keefe attended South Colonie High School in Albany, New York, and Saint Joseph's University, where played college baseball at Saint Joseph's Hawks.[1][2] In 2014, his junior year at Saint Joseph's, he hit .350/.423/.519 with seven home runs and 43 RBIs over 50 games.[2]

After the season, he was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the seventh round of the 2014 Major League Baseball draft.[3] O'Keefe made his professional debut with the Low-A State College Spikes, batting .239 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 47 games. He split the 2015 season between State College and the Single-A Peoria Chiefs, accumulating a .241/.311/.397 slash in 47 games. In 2016, O'Keefe played for Peoria and the High-A Palm Beach Cardinals, clubbing 13 home runs and 64 RBI to go along with a .252/.361/.436 triple slash. O'Keefe split the 2017 campaign between Peoria, Palm Beach, and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, hitting .262/.320/.433 with a career-high 15 home runs and 48 RBI in 101 games between the three affiliates. He returned to Palm Beach for a third season in 2018, batting .243/.358/.412 with 6 home runs and 44 RBI in 73 contests. In 2019, O'Keefe spent the year with Springfield, slashing .229/.319/.389 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI in 88 games.[4]

On December 12, 2019, the Seattle Mariners selected O'Keefe in the minor league phase of the Rule 5 draft after he had spent six years in the Cardinals' minor league system.[5] O'Keefe did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[6] He spent the 2021 campaign split between the Double-A Arkansas Travelers and the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, logging a slash of .269/.349/.485 while posting career-highs in home runs (24) and RBI (70) in 105 combined games. He elected minor league free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.[7]

On December 3, 2021, O'Keefe re-signed with the Mariners organization on a minor league contract and received an invitation to Spring Training.[8] He did not make the club out of spring and was assigned to Triple-A Tacoma to begin the 2022 season.[9] The Mariners promoted O'Keefe to the major leagues on September 30.[10]

On September 30, 2022, O'Keefe was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[11] On October 1, 2022, O'Keefe hit his first Major League hit off Oakland Athletics pitcher JP Sears.[12] He appeared in 2 games for Seattle, going 1-for-3 (.333) with a walk.

On November 18, 2022, O'Keefe was non-tendered and became a free agent.[13] On December 27, O'Keefe re-signed with the Mariners on a minor league deal.[14] He was assigned to Tacoma to begin the 2023 season, where he played in 86 games and batted .240/.325/.511 with 22 home runs and 65 RBI. On August 16, 2023, the Mariners selected O'Keefe's contract, adding him to the major league roster.[15] In 8 games for Seattle, he went 2–for–19 (.105) with two walks and two RBI. On October 13, O'Keefe was designated for assignment following the waiver claim of Kaleb Ort.[16] He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple–A Tacoma on October 17.[17]