High school years Phelps attended
Lakeland High School in
Rathdrum, Idaho, where he was the
baseball team's Most Valuable Player as a senior, and graduated 4th in his class in 1996 with a 3.94 GPA.
Minor league career In , he led the
Florida State League in slugging percentage (.562), and was 2nd in
batting (.328). He was rated as the 5th best prospect in the organization by
Baseball America. In , with
Tennessee of the
Southern League (Double-A), he hit .292, led the league with 36
doubles and 31 home runs, and was third in
RBI (97). He was the
Southern League MVP, was named to their All-Star team as the catcher and designated hitter, was selected to Baseball America's Minor League Second Team All-Star as catcher, was named as the R. Howard Webster Award winner (team MVP), and was twice selected as the SL Player of the Week. He then hit .433 in 23 games in the
Arizona Fall League for
Scottsdale. He was rated the top prospect in the Blue Jays organization by Baseball America. In , he started the season with
Syracuse (Triple-A) of the
International League, and was recalled on July 2 by Toronto. At the time of his recall, he was leading all of minor league baseball in home runs (24), and was leading the IL in RBI (64) and slugging percentage (.658). He was named to the Triple-A All Star team, and was selected to play for Team USA at the
Futures game in
Milwaukee. He spent with the
Toledo Mud Hens, the
Detroit Tigers Triple-A franchise. He hit .308 (2nd in the league), and ranked second among International League hitters with a .532 slugging percentage, and 3rd in the league with 24 HR and 90 RBI. Through 2006 in his minor league career, he had hit .288/.360/.524.
Major league career In , he appeared in one game for Toronto at the age of 22. The following year, he caught in 7 games, and went hitless in 12
at bats. In , he hit .309 with a .562 slugging percentage, and was 5th in the AL in
HBP (17). In , he hit a career-high 20 home runs. In August , he was traded by the Blue Jays to the
Cleveland Indians for
Eric Crozier. In December 2004, he signed as a
free agent with the
Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In January , he was signed by the Detroit Tigers to a minor league contract. In November 2006, he signed with the
Baltimore Orioles to a one-year minor league contract, but he was acquired by the
Yankees in the
Rule 5 Draft on December 7, 2006. On March 30, , he was placed on the New York Yankee 40-man roster, beating out
Andy Phillips. Initially picked to platoon at first base with
Doug Mientkiewicz, manager
Joe Torre hinted that Phelps might man the position by himself if his impressive
spring training numbers continued into the regular season. On June 19, 2007, Phelps was designated for assignment. He was claimed by the
Pittsburgh Pirates on June 22 and replaced
Brad Eldred on their 25-man roster. On November 29, 2007, he elected to file for free agency and was signed to a minor league contract by the St. Louis Cardinals on January 10, . Phelps was promoted to the Major League roster on August 27, . He appeared in 19 games in 2008, and he made his last Major League appearance on September 28, 2008, in the last game of the Cardinals' season. On October 15, , he was
designated for assignment to make room for
left-handed relief specialist,
Charlie Manning. On November 3, 2008, the San Francisco Giants signed Josh Phelps to a minor league contract with a spring training invitation. Phelps is the all-time leader in home runs for a player born in
Alaska.
Independent League career 2010 was his first season with the
Bridgeport Bluefish in the Atlantic League. He was the starting first baseman and wore number 29 as of June 30, 2010. In 100 games he hit .310/.375/.449 with 10 home runs, 67 RBIs and 15 stolen bases.
Italian Baseball League career On February 21, 2011, the
Telemarket Rimini signed Josh Phelps to one-year contract. In 40 games he hit .340/.444/.486 with 4 home runs, 29 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. ==Awards==