Biography
Benjamin Thomas Rortvedt (born September 25, 1997) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees. He made his MLB debut in 2021 with the Twins.
Amateur career
Rortvedt attended Verona Area High School in Verona, Wisconsin. As a senior, he slashed .444/.568/.667. He committed to play college baseball at the University of Arkansas.
Professional career
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins selected Rortvedt in the second round, with the 56th overall selection, of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. He signed with the Twins for a $900,000 signing bonus, forgoing his commitment to Arkansas.
Rortvedt made his professional debut that same year with the Gulf Coast League Twins before being promoted to the Elizabethton Twins. In 33 games between the two clubs, he batted .222 with ten RBIs. He spent 2017 with the Cedar Rapids Kernels where he compiled a .224 batting average with four home runs and 30 RBIs in 89 games, and 2018 with both Cedar Rapids and the Fort Myers Miracle, slashing a combined .262/.331/.379 with five home runs and 43 RBIs in 90 total games between the two clubs. He returned to Fort Myers to begin the 2019 season, and was promoted to the Pensacola Blue Wahoos in May, with whom he finished the year. Over 79 games between the two teams, he hit .238/.334/.379 with seven home runs and 29 RBIs. Rortvedt did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Twins added him to their 40-man roster after the 2020 season.
On April 30, 2021, Rortvedt was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day as the starting catcher against the Kansas City Royals. In the game, he recorded his first major league hit, an RBI single off of Royals reliever Wade Davis. He had a total of 89 at-bats over 2021 with the Twins, batting .169/.229/.281 with three home runs and seven RBIs. When not with the Twins, he played with the St. Paul Saints with whom he slashed .254/.324/.426 with five home runs and 22 RBIs over 34 games.
New York Yankees
On March 13, 2022, the Twins traded Rortvedt, Josh Donaldson, and Isiah Kiner-Falefa to the New York Yankees in exchange for Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. An oblique injury that Rortvedt suffered before the trade limited his ability to play during spring training. He began the season on the injured list, and the Yankees acquired Jose Trevino. He was activated from the injured list and optioned to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders in late April. On May 18, Rortvedt underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on his left knee to repair a partially torn meniscus. The procedure came with a recovery timetable of six-to-eight weeks. He was placed on the 60-day injured list on May 22. The Yankees promoted him to the major leagues on September 9 when Trevino went on the paternity list, but was optioned back without playing in a game on September 12.
During spring training in 2023, Rortvedt had an aneurysm in an artery near his right shoulder, requiring a surgical procedure. The Yankees promoted Rortvedt to the major leagues on May 18 when Trevino went on the injured list. Rortvedt was again promoted on July 21, after Trevino went on the injured list to receive season-ending wrist surgery. He batted .118 in 32 games for the Yankees.
Tampa Bay Rays
On March 27, 2024, the Yankees traded Rortvedt to the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team trade in which the Miami Marlins traded Jon Berti to the Yankees and the Marlins received John Cruz and Shane Sasaki. In 112 games for the Rays in 2024, Rortvedt batted .228/.317/.303 with 3 home runs and a career-high 31 RBI.