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Caleb Martin Joseph (born June 18, 1986) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Toronto Blue Jays from 2014 to 2020. His brother, Corban Joseph, also played in MLB.
He played for the Bowie Baysox of the Class AA Eastern League in 2010, and for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League after the season. The Orioles returned Joseph to Bowie in 2011 and 2012. In 2013, Joseph had a .299 batting average, 22 home runs, and 97 RBI for the Baysox. He was named an All-Star at mid-season and for the season-ending team, and was named the Eastern League's Minor League Player of the Year by Topps. At the mid-season Eastern League All-Star Game, Joseph won the Home Run Derby. The Orioles did not renew his contract, and he was not selected in the Rule 5 draft in December 2013.
In six and a half minor league seasons, he hit for a .268 average.
Joseph began the 2014 season with the Norfolk Tides, where he batted .261 with a .284 OBP and .402 slugging percentage in 22 games. He was promoted to the Orioles on May 7, going 0-for-3 in his MLB debut in a 4–3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field that night. His first major league hit was a fourth-inning single off Drew Smyly in a 4–1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Camden Yards six nights later on May 13. He hit his first major league home run off David Huff in the ninth inning of an 8–0 triumph over the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 22. "Orioles hand Yankees' Tanaka second loss," Reuters, Sunday, June 22, 2014.
On August 9, Joseph hit a home run in the Orioles' 10–3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals; making him the first Orioles catcher to homer in 5 consecutive games. He batted .207/.264/.354 in 246 at bats for the 2014 season.
With Matt Wieters still recovering from Tommy John surgery, Joseph began the 2015 season as the Orioles starting catcher. Joseph was hitting .243 with 4 HR and 18 RBI in 43 games until Wieters was activated on June 5, and following his activation, Joseph and Wieters split catching duties. In 100 games in 2015, Joseph hit .234/.299/.394 with 11 HR and 49 RBI. Joseph also caught 33% of attempted base stealers, and led the pitching staff to a 3.65 ERA when he was behind the plate.
After driving in a pair of runs in a 14–8 home victory over the Kansas City Royals on September 11, 2015, Ginsburg, David. "Orioles use 2 grand slams to rally past Royals 14-8," The Associated Press, Saturday, September 12, 2015. Joseph would not be credited with a run batted in (RBI) in any MLB regular season game until 19 months and 18 days later. The span included the entire 2016 campaign in which he had 132 at-bats and 141 plate appearances, breaking a major-league record which was previously held by Wilbur Wood who had 96 and 124 respectively in 1971. The drought ended when he hit a two-run homer off Tommy Layne in the ninth inning of a 12–4 away loss to the Yankees on April 29, 2017.
In February 2017, the Baltimore Orioles beat Joseph in arbitration, and he was given the team's $700,000 offer (an increase from his prior salary of $523,500), instead of his $1 million request.
Joseph struggled early in the 2018 season. On May 18, the Orioles optioned Joseph to Norfolk. He became a free agent following the season.
On September 19, 2022, Lipscomb University hired Joseph to the team's coaching staff to serve as the Director of Player Development.
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