Thomas Javier Rivera (born October 27, 1988) is an American former professional baseball infielder and current coach.
Rivera is a native of New York City, and went undrafted after playing college baseball at Troy University.
[11][4][12] Rivera chose Wallace in order to play against tougher competition in warmer weather.
[13] He returned to Binghamton to start the 2015 season, and was promoted to the Las Vegas 51s of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League (PCL) on May 16.
[14] The Mets chose not to add Rivera to their 40-man roster after the 2015 season, exposing him to the Rule 5 draft; he went unselected.
Rivera hit his first major league home run on September 13, a go-ahead solo shot in the tenth inning off of Mark Melancon of the Washington Nationals.
He became the Mets' everyday second baseman toward the end of the season, after injuries suffered by Neil Walker and Wilmer Flores,[22] and started the National League Wild Card game.
[25] The Mets placed Rivera on the 10-day disabled list on July 28, after a partial tear in his right ulnar collateral ligament.
[27] He hoped to return to the Mets around midseason, but an elbow sprain suffered while playing rehabilitation games in the minor leagues ended his season.
On May 10, 2021, Rivera signed with the Long Island Ducks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
[36][37] However, on May 14, before the ALPB season began, Rivera agreed to a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Rivera has hit for high average throughout his career, batting over .300 at the minor league level.
[1][6][12][41] He however does not hit for power or draw frequent walks, qualities which are highly valued in the sabermetric era.