Clemson Baseball Star Turns To Coaching After MLB Retirement

Steven Duggar is back in South Carolina and working with youth baseball players after retiring from Major League Baseball.

Feb 25, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Steven Duggar against the Milwaukee Brewers during a spring training game at American Family Fields of Phoenix. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Former Clemson Tigers baseball player Steven Duggar had hoped his Major League career would last longer. But, after 271 career games and a number of injuries, he opted to retire after the 2023 season.

There was no question where he was headed after that — South Carolina.

Summerville, to be precise.

While Duggar was born in Spartanburg, his wife is from Summerville. So when it came time for the 30-year-old and his family to settle down, they picked her hometown.

Fresh off playing pro baseball last year, Duggar admitted he needed something to do. That’s why he’s coaching at Extra Effort Sports, reports WCIV-TV News.

It gives him the chance to keep his feet in the game he’s played since he was a kid.

"I felt like I had a lot more to give,” Duggar said. “Injuries kept taking a toll.”

Former Clemson and MLB baseball outfielder Steven Duggar is a newly retired man. But he can't pull himself from the game he loves.

He's enjoying Lowcountry living in Summerville, his wife's hometown, and hoping to put some fresh faces on the same path he took. pic.twitter.com/ovEwVPMODN

— Scott Eisberg (@SEisbergWCIV) June 6, 2024

Duggar is early in his coaching career, so he admits he’s going off what “my eyes see.” But, at Extra Effort Sports, players have access to seven large batting cages and two bullpen areas that are video monitored and recorded for security — and for play-back with coaches.

The former Tigers star hopes to draw on what he learned as a Major Leaguer, not just from his teammates but from managers like his first skipper, Bruce Bochy, in San Francisco.

"I see (similarities) across the board from the best players in the game,” Duggar said. “Certain technology points us in the right direction. (It’s) The opportunity to give back and give them my knowledge of what I've been through and see who I've played with."

Duggar played high school baseball at Byrnes High School in Duncan, S.C., before he played for Clemson from 2013-15. The Tigers reached the NCAA Tournament all three seasons.

His final two seasons at Clemson led to his Major League career. In 2014 he was second in the ACC with 25 stolen bases while he batted .294 and hit seven triples. In 2015 he improved his batting average to .304, led the ACC with eight sacrifice flies and was in the Top 7 in walks (54) and runs (56).

That was enough to get the Giants interested, as he was selected in the sixth round in 2015 and signed a bonus of nearly $250,000.

He earned a call-up three years after his draft selection and batted .255 in 141 at-bats in 2018. He hit two home runs and drove in 17 runs while playing center field. But he tore the labrum in his left shoulder that August and, as it turned out, that was the start of a premature end to his career.

He returned in 2019 and batted .234 with four home runs, 28 RBI and 24 runs. But that season also ended in August with a sprained left shoulder.

He played with the Giants until the middle of the 2022 season, when he was traded to the Texas Rangers for Willie Calhoun. His best season with the Giants, in 2021, saw him bat .257 with five triples, eight home runs and 35 RBI. But an oblique injury at the start of the 2022 season ended up sealing his fate with the Giants long-term.

Duggar played sparingly for the Rangers and was eventually designated for assignment. The Los Angeles Angels picked him up but DFA’ed him as well. He spent 2023 with the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City before calling it quits.

He was a lifetime .236 hitter with 14 home runs and 87 RBI.