| Matt Wieters | |
|---|---|
 Wieters with the Washington Nationals in 2018 | |
| Catcher | |
| Born: (1986-05-21)May 21, 1986 (age 39) Goose Creek, South Carolina, U.S. | |
Batted: Switch Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| May 29, 2009, for the Baltimore Orioles | |
| Last MLB appearance | |
| September 25, 2020, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Batting average | .249 |
| Home runs | 146 |
| Runs batted in | 550 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Matthew Richard Wieters (/ˈwiːtərz/; born May 21, 1986) is an American former professionalbaseballcatcher. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theBaltimore Orioles,Washington Nationals, andSt. Louis Cardinals.
Wieters playedcollege baseball forGeorgia Tech and was drafted by theBaltimore Orioles with the fifth overall selection in the2007 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2009. Wieters is a four-timeMLB All-Star and has won twoGold Glove Awards. Wieters played for the Orioles through the2016 season before becoming a free agent. He has also played for theWashington Nationals andSt. Louis Cardinals.
Wieters was born on May 21, 1986, inGoose Creek, South Carolina.[1] He played high school baseball atStratford High School inGoose Creek, South Carolina.[2] He played under Coach John Chalus, where he and the Knights made it to the AAAA state championship series.[citation needed]
Wieters attended theGeorgia Institute of Technology and playedcollege baseball for theGeorgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He is one of just three players in Georgia Tech history to earn first-teamAll-America honors on at least two occasions.[3] He was named a first-team All-America by Rivals.com and first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference in 2007, first-team All-America byBaseball America and second-team All-ACC in 2006, and the ACC Rookie of the Year, Freshman All-America and first-team All-ACC in 2005.[citation needed]
In 2006, Wieters playedcollegiate summer baseball for theOrleans Cardinals of theCape Cod Baseball League (CCBL). He hit .307 with eight home runs for Orleans, and was named the league's outstanding pro prospect. Wieters was inducted into theCCBL Hall of Fame in 2013.[4][5]
Wieters finished his junior season ranked tied for sixth in the Yellow Jacket record books with 54 careerdoubles with 198runs batted in along with 16saves in his three years on the Flats. He also ranked 13th with a .359 careerbatting average and 418total bases, tying for 16th with 35home runs and 18th with 253hits in his college career. He finished 2007 having played in 169 consecutive games.[3] Wieters served as Tech's primary closer for his first two years and as one of two closers his junior season.[6]
Wieters was drafted by theBaltimore Orioles with the 5th overall pick of the2007 amateur draft[7][6] and signed a contract with a $6 million signing bonus on August 15, 2007.[6][8] That winter, he played for theHonolulu Sharks, hitting .283 in 31 games with onehome run, 17runs batted in, ninedoubles, onetriple, 44total bases, and 12walks.[citation needed]
Going into the 2008 season, he was ranked 12th byBaseball America on their 2008 Top 100 Prospects List and was the highest ranked catcher on the list. He attended 2008spring training with the Orioles, starting the season with their Class A affiliate theFrederick Keys. He gained a midseason promotion to the Double-ABowie Baysox.
In 130 games for the Keys and Baysox, hit a combined .355BA/.454OBP/.600SLG with 27 home runs and 91 RBI.[9] Wieters earned the 2008Minor League Player of the Year honors fromBaseball America.[10] According toClay Davenport's measureEqA, Wieters had one of the single best seasons in recorded minor league history. His EqAs of .301 and .349 were the highest marks in their respective leagues in the last 40 years[11] (although this would later turn out to be partially a result of inflated league difficulty factors[12]).
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Wieters participated in the 2008Arizona Fall League season, playing for theSurprise Rafters. He was also selected to play in the Fall League's Rising Stars game.[citation needed] Wieters hit .343 in 35 spring training at bats for the Orioles in 2009, but was sent down to Triple-ANorfolk to start the season.
He was named the No. 2 prospect in MiLB by Minor League News in the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2009 rankings.[citation needed]
Wieters made his major league debut on May 29, 2009, against theDetroit Tigers. Wieters' first major league hit came the next night, atriple, off of Detroit'sJustin Verlander. Wieters hit his first career home run June 17 against theMets, a two-run home run off of Mets starterTim Redding. Wieters changed his jersey number after his rookie season from 15 to 32, which was what he wore in college at Georgia Tech.[citation needed]
Although Wieters disappointed some observers because of his difficulties handling the Baltimore pitching staff, he established himself as a solid defensive catcher in 2010, throwing out many runners, while also hitting for power and a fairly good average at the plate.[citation needed]
Wieters earned aFielding Bible Award and aGold Glove in 2011 as the best defensive catcher in MLB, and American League, respectively.[13][14]
On April 16, 2012, Wieters helped the Orioles rally to beat theChicago White Sox in 10 innings by hitting his first career grand slam. On May 29, Wieters was ejected for the first time in his career for arguing that two pitches thrown byMiguel Gonzalez were strikes, not balls, as ruled by home plate umpireDoug Eddings. The Orioles lost the game against the Blue Jays, 8–6.
On July 1, 2012, Wieters was selected to represent the Orioles in theAll Star Game for the second consecutive year.[15] On October 30 it was announced that he had won his second consecutiveGold Glove.
On Opening Day, April 2, 2013, Wieters became the first Oriole to ever hit a home run againstTampa Bay Rays starterDavid Price, a two-run shot in the top of the first. On April 18, Wieters helped to beat the Rays again by hitting a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 10th. Wieters was the first Oriole to hit a walk-off grand slam sinceHarold Baines in 1999.[16]
While Wieters did finish 2013 with a career-lowbatting average of .235, he also hit 22 home runs and a career-high 29 doubles, as well as leading all MLB hitters with 12sacrifice flies.
On May 11, 2014, Wieters was hitting over .300 when an elbow injury of his throwing arm put him on the 15-day disabled list. He was still on the disabled list on June 11, when he was the leading American League catcher in the vote to determine the All Star Game starters. Orioles broadcasterGary Thorne reported that Wieters was unlikely to play in the All Star Game even if he won the vote.[17] On June 16, the Orioles announced that Wieters would undergoTommy John elbow reconstruction surgery the next day, ending his 2014 campaign.[18] The surgery was successful.[19]
Wieters only played in 26 games in 2014 and was off to the best start of his career. In 26 games, he slashed .308/.339/.500 with five doubles, five home runs, 18 RBIs, while also scoring 13 runs. The Orioles would go on to win the division with rookie catcherCaleb Joseph and veteran catcherNick Hundley (for whom the team had traded) platooning behind the dish.
Wieters began the 2015 season on the 15-day disabled list in an effort to continue recovering from last year's Tommy John surgery. Wieters returned to the Orioles on June 5 and became an immediate impact in their lineup. On July 27, Wieters hit his fourth career walk-off home run, helping the Orioles's beat theAtlanta Braves by a score of 2–1. Wieters would end up slashing .267/.319/.422 in 75 games for the Orioles in 2015. He collected 69 hits, eight home runs, and also drove in 25 runs.
Wieters had a chance to become a free agent at the end of the 2015 season, but on November 13 he accepted the Orioles' $15.8 million qualifying offer and remained with the club.[20]
On Opening Day, Wieters delivered a walk-off RBI single up the middle to scoreChris Davis, as the Orioles won their sixth consecutive opening day by a score of 3–2. It was Wieters' 700th career hit and also his eighth career walk-off hit, placing him fourth on the Orioles all-time list.
Wieters made the All-star team as the backup catcher for the AL squad,[21] after posting a .258/.310/.418 slash with nine home runs and 37 RBIs. Wieters went 0-for-2 during the game, as the AL won 4–2.
On August 14, Wieters collected a career-high five hits after going 5-for-5, scoring two runs, and having a double and triple in an 8–7 Orioles comeback victory over theSan Francisco Giants. He was the first Oriole catcher since 1991 to have a 5-hit game and only the third catcher in Orioles history to do so. On August 30, Wieters hit a game-winning two-run homer against the Toronto Blue Jays in the eighth inning, securing a 5–3 victory for the Orioles.
On September 10, Wieters hit two home runs against the Detroit Tigers, giving him his sixth career multi-home run game. On September 23, Wieters hit a game-tying solo home run in the ninth inning of a game against theArizona Diamondbacks, a game in which the Orioles would go on to walk off in the 12th inning. In the final game of the season, Wieters hit two two-run home runs, one from each side of the plate, becoming the first Orioles switch hitter to do so in the same game sinceRoberto Alomar, who did it on July 25, 1996. It was his seventh career multi-home run game.
Wieters ended his regular season having played in 124 games, slashing .243/.302/.409 with 17 home runs and 66 RBIs. After the season, his contract expired, becoming a free agent for the first time of his career.
On February 24, 2017, Wieters signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract with theWashington Nationals. His contract included a $10.5 million player option for the 2018 season.[22] Wieters continued wearing #32 after relief pitcherKoda Glover agreed to change his number to #30 to accommodate his new teammate.[23] In 2017, Wieters played in 123 games, batting .225 with ten home runs and 52 RBIs. Following the year, Wieters exercised his contract option for the 2018 season.[24] He played in 76 games in 2018 where he hit .238 with eight home runs and 30 RBIs.
On February 26, 2019, Wieters signed a minor league contract, with an invitation to spring training, with theSt. Louis Cardinals.[25] He made the opening day roster and had his contract purchased. For the season, Wieters appeared in 67 games as a backup toYadier Molina, batting .214 with 11 home runs and 27 RBIs.[1]
On January 19, 2020, Wieters agreed to a one-year, $2 million contract with the Cardinals to return for the 2020 season.[26] He appeared in 19 games and hit .200 with no home runs.
In May 2021, Wieters announced his plans to play forTeam USA in the2021 Summer Olympics. He was dropped from the roster for the qualifying round.[27]
On October 27, 2022, Wieters was named student assistant coach at his alma mater,Georgia Tech.[28]
Wieters and his wife have two children.[29] Wieters is aChristian and spoke about his faith in a 2015 video for a website about Christian athletes.[30]
