Hunter has been guided by several experienced coaches and managers throughout his baseball career…at Barbe (La.) High School, he was coached by Glenn Cecchini, whose resume throughout his nearly 40-year tenure includes five national coach of the year recognitions, four national championships and 12 state championships, three of which came with Hunter on the roster…at Louisiana State University, he played under Paul Ranieri, a 2009 national champion and two-time SEC Coach of the Year…since beginning his Major League career, he has already been guided by the Dodgers Dave Roberts and the Rays Kevin Cash, the two longest-tenured managers with their current teams in the majors... Barbe High School is also the alma mater of 13-year MLB veteran Wade LeBlanc…during his childhood, Hunter took pitching lessons from Wade, who also hails from Lake Charles, La... He didn’t become a regular starter in high school until his senior year, when he hit .353 en route to all-district honors... Growing up in Louisiana, Hunter was an Astros fan, with Houston being only a two-hour drive away…his favorite players were Hall of Famers Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell... His nickname in the Rays clubhouse is “Feddy.”... One of his favorite in-season hobbies is playing video games, including MLB The Show, Madden, Call of Duty and Apex Legends…during the offseason, he enjoys golfing, hunting and fishing back in Louisiana... Hunter and his wife, Julia, were married last December and honeymooned in the Cayman Island Selected by the Dodgers in the 12th round (374th overall) of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of Louisiana State University…appeared in 56 games (48 starts) in his lone season with the Tigers... Began his collegiate career with two seasons at LSU-Eunice (2016-17)…earned team defensive player of the year honors both years and was recognized as the 2016 ABCA/Rawlings NJCAA Division II Gold Glove winner at catcher…his .390 career batting average remains the highest in program history... Named the No. 4 prospect in the Northwoods League in 2017 by Baseball America…batted .348 (64-for-184) with 27 XBH and 41 RBI in 46 games with the Rockford Rivets... Is the third LSU-Eunice product to reach the majors, joining Stuart Turner (CIN, 2017) and Ben Braymer (WSH, 2020)... Won three state championships at Barbe (La.) High School…as a senior, hit .353 en route to all-district honors.
2025
Played a career-high 38 games between the Rays (36G) and Dodgers (2G)…was a trade deadline acquisition by Tampa Bay on July 31 in exchange for RHP Paul Gervase, LHP Adam Serwinowski and C Ben Rortvedt...Of his 36 games with the Rays, 28 were starts, all of which came at catcher…did not commit an error or permit a passed ball...Min. 100 PA, his 14.3 pct. walk rate ranked eighth in the AL and second among AL catchers to Matt Thaiss (15.3%)...Recorded a .321 on-base pct. vs. right-handed pitching and .048 against southpaws…tallied 15 BB and 18 SO when facing righties...Twelve of his 13 hits came off fastballs, including each of his five XBH…12 of the 13 were against right-handed pitching, and nine came with runners on base...On April 4, was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City…went 0-for-2 with a walk, entering a pair of games at Nationals Park as a pinch hitter April 7-8…optioned back to Oklahoma City April 10...On Aug. 3 vs. LAD, recorded his first hit as a Ray against his former club, lacing a 108.7-mph single off Yoshinobu Yamamoto following a sevenpitch at-bat in the second inning...From Aug. 17-27, threw out three of seven potential base stealers (42.9%) over a five-start span…from that point on, opponents were successful on each of their final 14 stolen base attempts against him...On Aug. 20 vs. NYY, hit a two-out, two-strike, two-run double in the ninth inning off David Bednar to knot the score at 3-3 and force extra frames…became the fifth catcher in franchise history to record a game-tying/go-ahead hit with the Rays down to their final strike, first since Francisco Mejía on Aug. 17, 2022 at NYY (games at catcher only)...On Sept. 3 vs. SEA, set a career high with three RBI and matched a career best with two hits (also: Sept. 17, 2024 at MIA) in his lone multi-hit effort of the year…tallied a sacrifice fly in the first inning and added a two-run single in the second, making him the 11th catcher (13x) in Rays history to collect three RBI or more in the first two innings, first since teammate Nick Fortes turned the trick two days earlier (Sept. 1 vs. SEA)…prior to Fortes, the last Rays backstop to accomplish the feat was Travis d’Arnaud on July 21, 2019 vs. CWS… also joined Luke Maile (Aug. 16, 2016 vs. SD) and Wilson Ramos (June 30, 2018 vs. HOU) as the only Rays catchers with 3 RBI or more in the first two innings without hitting a home run...Tallied a hit in six of eight games with a PA between Sept. 9-24, going 6-for-20 (.300) with 2 2B, 2 RBI and 3 BB…included a career-best three-game hitting streak (Sept. 13-18)…after an RBI double in the second frame Sept. 24 at BAL, ended the year on an 0-for-12 skid with 7 SO...Played 79 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, including 52 starts behind the plate…had a .996 fielding pct. at catcher with two errors on 493 total chances...Recorded a Triple-A career-best 10-game hitting streak between May 31-June 14, batting .488 (20-for-41) with one 2B, one 3B, one HR and 12 RBI.
2024
Backstop saw his first Major League action in five games with the Dodgers, totaling four hits, two runs, one RBI and two walks in 12 at-bats...Made his Major League debut on July 31 against San Diego, coming in as a pinch-hitter...Played 82 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City, slashing .284/.409/.428 with 50 RBI...Had his best offensive month in May with Triple-A Oklahoma City, hitting .308 (20-for-65) with a home run and 13 RBI in 17 games...Launched a six-RBI game on May 9 with Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 4-for-7 with two runs, a triple and a home run...In Triple-A, hit .306 (71-for-232) against righties compared to .215 (14-for-65) against lefties…hit .329 (28-for-85) with runners in scoring position.
2023
Spent the entirety of the season with Triple-A Oklahoma City (90 G) while slashing .279/.387/.451 with a .838 OPS and 18 doubles, two triples, 11 home runs and 57 RBI... Set career-highs in multiple categories, including games (90), at-bats (319), runs (61), hits (89), total bases (144), RBI (57) and walks (58)…and tied his career-high in triples (2)...Appeared in 86 games (82 starts) for a .994 fielding percentage, only committing five errors in 837 total chances over 741.1 innings…threw out 21 runners...Named Pacific Coast League Player of the Week for the week of April 17-23 after smashing a .555 (10-for-18) average with three doubles, two homers, five runs and 13 RBI, including three games with four RBI April 18-20 Had his best month in April, slashing .362/.516/.638 with a 1.1.54 OPS in 15 games with three home runs and 18 RBI…hit .293 (67-for-229) off righties compared to .244 (22-for-90) off lefties…boasted a 15.3-percent walk rate and 20.8-percent strikeout rate...had a five-hit game on April 18 against Albuquerque, finishing the day 5-for-5 with two runs, one double, one home run and five RBI.
2022
Season was divided between the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers and Double-A Tulsa Drillers…assigned to Triple-A on June 29, 2022...Batted a combined .238 with 46 runs, 20 doubles, one triple and 51 RBI overall…produced a 1.000 fielding percentage with no errors in 67 games (66 starts) as a catcher...Summed up his first Triple-A stint, slugging .473 and hit .240 (36-for-150) with 14 doubles, seven homers and 25 RBI...With Double-A Tulsa, put up a .236 average (34-for-144), 26 RBI, eight longballs, and seven extra-base hits…struck out 38 times against 24 walks...Presented a threat to right-handed pitchers as he hit seven homers off them…had two five-RBI games with Triple-A Oklahoma City on July 22 vs. Triple-A Sacramento River Cats and on Aug. 20 vs. Sugar Land Space Cowboys…totaled 12 multi-RBI games this season…cranked out two dingers against the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers in his first career multi-homer game on July 12.
2021
Played all of the 2021 season with Double-A Tulsa, appearing in 86 games while slashing .254/.343/.398 with nine doubles, one triple, ten home runs and 45 RBI with 39 walks against 62 strikeouts... Caught a career-high 70 games, starting 64 of those contests…produced a .999 fielding percentage, committing just one error in 676 total chances... Recorded 39 assists, a career-high, and helped in three double plays on the year…caught 22 of 52 base stealers...batted well at home, averaging .286 (40-for-140) with four doubles, four home runs and 23 RBI…batted three points higher at .289 in the month of September, going 13-for-45 with three doubles and seven RBI...was invited to his first professional spring training as a non-roster invitee.
2020
Did not participate in the 2020 season after the minor league season was canceled.
2019
Split the season between Advanced-A Rancho Cucamonga and Single-A Great Lakes, batting .275 with a five homers and 43 RBI.
