Bio

Chris Cates is in the second season of his second stint with Tampa baseball. Cates rejoined the UT baseball coaching staff in January 2020 after previously serving as an assistant coach for the Spartans in the 2014 season. 

He serves as the team’s assistant coach, working with the infielders, guiding the hitters and game preparation duties. Off the field, he assists in recruiting, academics, equipment, travel, scheduling and community service projects. 

With the help of Cates’s leadership and knowledge, USF’s infield had career seasons in 2018. The four primary starters of third baseman David Villar, shortstop Coco Montes, second baseman JD Dutka and first baseman Joe Genord combined to hit .327 with 75 doubles, 34 home runs, 168 runs scored and 178 RBI. Genord led the team with 16 homers and was named to All-American Athletic Conference second team. Montes had a career season, hitting .331 with 23 doubles, ranking fourth on USF’s single-season list. He totaled 40 RBI and 43 runs, was an all-conference selection and was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 15th round of the 2018 MLB Draft. Villar had his best season as a Bull in 2018, hitting .374 with a league high 24 doubles, third most in USF single-season history and an American Athletic Conference single-season record. He added 12 home runs and finished with 59 RBI and 53 runs scored. Villar earned All-American Athletic Conference first-team honors and was taken in the 11th round of the MLB Draft by the San Francisco Giants. 

In 2007, Cates helped the Bulls make their second NCAA Tournament appearance in three seasons and reach the 40-win mark for the first time since 1996. He guided shortstop Kevin Merrell to a .384 average and second straight All-American Athletic Conference First Team nod. The Bulls had three hitters named to all-conference teams in The American, as outfielder Duke Stunkel Jr. was named to the second team and designated hitter Luke Borders was named to the first. The starting infield of Merrell, Coco Montes, David Villar and Joe Genord combined to hit .307. Merrell was selected 33rd overall in the MLB Amateur Draft by the Oakland Athletics, the third-highest drafted player in program history. He was named an All-American by four different publications. 

During the 2016 season, Cates guided infielder Kevin Merrell to a first team all-conference honor in The American. USF also posted another 66 stolen bases on the season, giving the Bulls a two-year total of 140 in the Mark Kingston era; that was the highest two-year stolen base total in program history since 2002-2003.  

In 2015, his first season at USF, Cates helped the Bulls reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002. He worked closely with infielders Kevin Merrell, who led the team in hitting at .346, and Kyle Teaf, who batted .301. Merrell went on to become a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and Teaf was selected in the 30th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays. He also assisted the Bulls in bringing their run production from 266 in 2014 to 309 in 2015, an increase of 43 runs. Cates was also instrumental in the Bulls’ baserunning, going from just 31 stolen bases in the season before his arrival to 74 in his first season with USF.

Cates comes from the University of Tampa, where he worked with infielders, teaching base running and bunting as an assistant coach for the 2014 season. While at Tampa, the team recorded a program-high fielding percentage of .971, while stealing 82 bases in 96 attempts and recording only 63 errors, the fifth-lowest amount in school history.

Prior to his coaching stint at Tampa, Cates was an assistant at Florida State University for the 2013 season. His primary responsibilities at FSU were in the development of the outfielders. Cates helped guide DJ Stewart, a 2015 first-round pick of the Baltimore Orioles, as well as other MLB draft picks Josh Delph (Angels) and Marcus Davis (Padres). In addition, Cates also worked in the outfield with former Heisman Trophy winner and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer QB Jameis Winston.

Selected in the 38th round of the 2007 MLB First Year Player Draft by Minnesota, Cates played for five seasons in the Twins’ minor league organization. He was named a two-time All-Star in the minors, earning his first nod in 2008 with the Beloit Snappers out of the Class A Midwest League. A year later, Cates made his second All-Star team, this time in his first season at the Class A-Advanced level of the Florida State League with the Fort Myers Miracle. Cates turned his second All-Star appearance into a promotion to the Double-A Eastern League, where he spent two seasons playing with the New Britain Rock Cats before retiring from professional baseball in 2011.

Cates graduated from the University of Louisville in 2007 with a bachelor’s degree in sports administration. A four-year starter at shortstop for the Cardinals (2004-07), Cates started 239 games and hit .302 with 270 hits, 162 runs scored, 101 RBIs, 44 doubles, five triples and three home runs. He also showed great strike zone discipline, finishing his career with 89 walks to just 69 strikeouts. Cates played an integral role in leading Louisville to its first-ever College World Series appearance in 2007, when the Cardinals went 1-2 in Omaha posting a victory over Mississippi State in an elimination contest.

He closed out his senior campaign hitting .294 with 70 hits and a single-season career-high 17 stolen bases en route to being named to the All-BIG EAST Second Team. Voted team captain by his teammates and coaches, Cates was a semifinalist for the Lowe’s Senior CLASS Award and the recipient of the Men’s BIG EAST/Aeropostale Scholar-Athlete award, which earned him a postgraduate scholarship.

The Tampa, Fla., native had a career junior season at Louisville, as he started all 60 games at shortstop and led the team with a .332 average, 47 runs scored and 16 sac-bunts - a new single-season record for the Cards. Cates was instrumental in helping set a team record for double plays turned in 2006 with 75. He went on to earn third-team All-BIG EAST honors as a junior after guiding the Cardinals to their first appearance in the BIG EAST Tournament championship game in their first season in the league.

In 2005, Cates played with North Adams of the New England Collegiate Summer Baseball League, where he earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was also named MVP of the NECBL All-Star game that summer after going 2-for-3 at the plate while turning in a spectacular defensive performance.

Cates is married to the former Meagan Suárez, a UT graduate, as the couple were wed on Nov. 3, 2012 in Tampa. They have one son, Cohen.