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Matt Thornton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Chicago White Sox — No. 37 | |
| Relief Pitcher | |
| Bats: Left | Throws: Left |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| June 27, 2004 for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through August 14, 2006) |
|
| Innings pitched | 130.1 |
| ERA | 4.42 |
| Strikeouts | 128 |
| Former teams | |
Mattew J. Thornton (born September 15, 1976, in Three Rivers, Michigan), is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher with the Chicago White Sox. Before the 2006 season, Thornton was with the Seattle Mariners.
In the 1995 draft, Thornton was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 27th round but decided not to sign with them. Thornton played college baseball for Grand Valley State University and was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the first round as the 22nd overall pick in 1998.
Thornton played briefly (only pitched 1 inning) with the Single A Everett AquaSox in the Northwest League. In 1999 and 2000, Thornton was a starting pitcher with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the Midwest League and showed improvement with his ball control and accuracy, striking out nearly 1 batter an inning. 2001 was probably Thornton's breakout year. Thornton started for San Bernardino Stampede in the California League (high-A ball) and had a 14-7 record, along with a stellar 2.52 ERA and 192 strikeouts in only 157.0 Innings.
Thornton was then promoted to AA baseball and played with the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League in 2002. Thornton, still a starting pitcher, pitched well with a 3.63 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 62.0 innings pitched. In 2003, Thornton was briefly sent back down to high-A ball with the Inland Empire 66ers of the California League, but was quickly promoted back up AA ball with the San Antonio Missions again. He started only 4 games, but posted an incredible 0.36 ERA, with a 3-1 record, gave up only 8 hits in 25.1 innings of work and struck out 18 batters. His performance got him promoted that same year to AAA ball with the Tacoma Rainiers in the Pacific Coast League. Thornton had a shaky start to his career in Triple-A ball, starting 2 games and posting an 0-2 record and a 8.00 ERA.
Regardless of his performance in those two final games of his 2003 season, Thornton stayed with the Tacoma Rainiers in 2004. He posted a 7-5 record, along with a 5.20 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 83.0 innings pitched. The Seattle Mariners had kept an eye on Thornton and thought it was time to call the young pitcher up into the big leagues.
Matt Thornton made his MLB debut on June 27, 2004 with the Seattle Mariners in a game against the San Diego Padres, pitching brilliantly over 4 innings, only allowing 3 hits and striking out one batter. Throughout the season, the Mariners used Thornton for mostly middle reliever duty, except for one game when Thornton started and pitched 8 innings, allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and walking and striking out 7 batters. Thornton finished the 2004 season with a 1-2 record and 4.13 ERA, striking out 30 batters in 32.2 innings of work.
The following year, Thornton served his reliever duties, pitching in 55 games with 57.0 innings pitched and posting a 5.21 ERA and striking out 57.
On March 21, 2006, the southpaw Thornton was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for outfielder Joe Borchard.
As of July 2, 2006, Thornton has lowered his ERA to 3.71, posted a 3-1 win/loss record and struck out 27 batters in 26.2 innings of work.