Xan Barksdale enters his first season with the East Tennessee State Buccaneers as the recruiting coordinator and catchers' coach. Before his move to ETSU he spent five seasons at the University of Louisville as an assistant coach. He joined the Cardinal staff after spending three seasons in the Atlanta Braves system. He worked with the Cardinal catchers and assisted with the hitters as well as other administrative duties.
During the 2010 season, Louisville catcher Jeff Arnold earned Second Team All-BIG EAST recognition after hitting .306 with three home runs and 32 RBI. Following the season, Arnold was selected in the 26th Round of the 2010 MLB First-Year Player Draft by the San Francisco Giants.
In 2009, Arnold earned All-BIG EAST Tournament honors and was a Preseason All-BIG EAST selection for 2010. Under the guidance of Barksdale, Louisville catchers had a stretch of 77 consecutive games from 2007 to 2009 without committing an error behind the plate.
In 2008, Louisville catcher Derrick Alfonso earned first-team All-BIG EAST honors throwing out an impressive 20 of 32 baserunners while working with Barksdale. During the 2007 season, Alfonso was named second-team All-BIG EAST, throwing out 29 of 60 would-be baserunners.
Barksdale signed a free agent contract with the Braves in July of 2004 and competed for the Braves minor league affiliates in the Gulf Coast (GCL Braves), South Atlantic (Rome) and Carolina Leagues (Myrtle Beach). He played the final two seasons with former Cardinal Mark Jurich.
Prior to his pro career, he played for two seasons at Ole Miss while current Cardinal head coach Dan McDonnell was an assistant. He was named most dedicated in 2004 and completed his bachelor's degree in marketing with a minor in math.
Following high school, Barksdale attended Holmes Community College for two seasons - the same JUCO that Roy Oswalt attended. While at Holmes, he earned an associate's degree in engineering, was a member of the Phi Theta Kappa honorary fraternity away from the field and was a two-time All-State selection and All-Region honoree in 2002 on the field.
He was All-State and All-Conference and was selected to play in an All-Star Game following his senior season at Madison-Ridgeland Academy in Madison, MS. Barksdale was born on December 7, 1981, in Memphis, TN.
Along with his duties at ETSU, Barksdale has developed the product called Catcher's Thumb, the Catcher's Performance Summary application for iPhone, and online software called Never Miss A Sign that generates catching wristbands. He also wrote the best selling book Catching-101: The Complete Guide for Baseball Catchers, which is probably his greatest accomplishment off the field.
2007
Trystan Magnuson
Louisville
Toronto Blue Jays
1S
Yes
2007
Isaiah Howes
Louisville
New York Yankees
11
Yes
2007
Logan Johnson
Louisville
Chicago White Sox
20
Yes
2007
Boomer Whiting
Louisville
Washington Nationals
28
Yes
2007
Zack Pitts
Louisville
Washington Nationals
30
No
2007
Chris Cates
Louisville
Minnesota Twins
38
Yes
2007
Kyle Hollander
Louisville
New York Yankees
FA
Yes
2007
Dan Burton
Louisville
Evansville Otters
FA
Yes
2008
Chris Dominguez
Louisville
Colorado Rockies
5
No
2008
BJ Rosenberg
Louisville
Philadelphia Phillies
13
Yes
2008
Zack Pitts
Louisville
St. Louis Cardinals
24
Yes
2008
Derrick Alfonso
Louisville
Milwaulkee Brewers
26
Yes
2008
Jorge Castillo
FIU
Chicago White Sox
26
Yes
2008
Justin McClanahan
Louisville
Toronto Blue Jays
33
Yes
2009
Chris Dominguez
Louisville
San Francisco Giants
3
Yes
2009
Justin Marks
Louisville
Oakland A's
3
Yes
2009
Andrew Clark
Louisville
Chicago Cubs
31
No
2009
John Dao
Louisville
Cincinnati Reds
FA
Yes
2010
Thomas Royse
Louisville
Chicago White Sox
3S
Yes
2010
Neil Holland
Louisville
Washington Nationals
11
Yes
2010
Adam Duvall
Louisville
San Francisco Giants
11
Yes
2010
Phil Wunderlich
Louisville
Tampa Bay Rays
12
Yes
2010
Josh Richmond
Louisville
Texas Rangers
12
Yes
2010
Andrew Clark
Louisville
Texas Rangers
13
Yes
2010
Jeff Arnold
Louisville
San Francisco Giants
26
Yes
2010
Stewart James
Louisville
New York Yankees
29
No
2010
Dean Kiekhefer
Louisville
St. Louis Cardinals
36
Yes
2010
Bob Revesz
Louisville
St. Louis Cardninals
49
Yes
2011
Tony Zych
Louisville
Chicago Cubs
4
Yes
2011
Ryan Wright
Louisville
Cincinnati Reds
5
Yes
2011
Derek Self
Louisville
Oakland A's
27
No
2011
Mike Nastold
Louisville
Philadelphia Phillies
37
No
2011
Justin Amlung
Louisville
Cincinnati Reds
39
No
2011
JJ Ethel
Louisville
Los Angeles Dodgers
49
Yes
