Baseball career

Avila played prep baseball at Archbishop McCarthy High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 34th round of the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to attend the University of Alabama where he was an All-SEC selection. Following his junior year in which he hit .343 with 17 home runs and 62 RBI, he was then drafted by the Tigers in the fifth round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft.

Avila also played in the Cape Cod League following his sophomore year in 2007.

On August 6, 2009, Avila made his major league debut for the Tigers against the Baltimore Orioles where he had two hits scoring a run and batting one in. He started the following night, August 7, and in his first at bat of the game he hit his first career home run off pitcher Anthony Swarzak.

Avila entered the 2010 season as a member of the Tigers major league roster, and shared playing time with Gerald Laird. Baseball America ranked Avila as the sixth best prospect in the organization entering the 2010 season. He also caught Armando Galarraga's near-perfect game on June 2, 2010 and Justin Verlander's no hitter on May 7, 2011.

On July 3, 2011, Avila was selected to his first all-star team as the starting catcher for the American League, beating out New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin who led through the majority of the voting.