Matt Ginter

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Matt Ginter is a former American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball for the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Detroit Tigers, and Cleveland Indians. Born on December 24, 1977, in Winchester, Kentucky, he was drafted out of high school by the New York Yankees in 1996 but chose to go to college at Mississippi State. The Chicago White Sox selected him in the first round of the 1999 draft, and he made his MLB debut on September 1, 2000, earning the win in a 9–8 game against the Anaheim Angels.

Ginter spent parts of the next few seasons moving between the majors and minors, appearing in a career-high 33 games in 2002. On March 27, 2004, he was traded to the New York Mets for outfielder Timo Pérez. He made his first start for the Mets on May 16, 2004, against the Houston Astros, giving up two runs (one earned) in about five and two-thirds innings and earning a no-decision. He also notched his first major league hit off Roger Clemens in that game.

In 2005, Ginter was traded to the Detroit Tigers for left-hander Steve Colyer and went 0–1 with a 6.17 ERA in 14 appearances. He signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox in 2006 and played well in Triple-A with Pawtucket, posting a strong start to the season before exercising an out clause to become a free agent on July 1. He then joined the Pittsburgh Pirates organization and spent the rest of 2006 with the Indianapolis Indians, going 2–5 with a 5.50 ERA.

Ginter signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007 and began the year with Memphis, going 2–6 with two saves and a 4.06 ERA in 31 games (eight starts) before being released in August. He then joined the Milwaukee Brewers organization and finished the year with Nashville. In December 2007, he signed with the Cleveland Indians and was called up to the majors in July 2008. In his first appearance back in the big leagues in three years, he worked five shutout innings with five strikeouts to earn the win. After spending time on the disabled list, he was sent to the minors and became a free agent at the end of the season.

Ginter signed a minor league contract with the Milwaukee Brewers in January 2009 and later became a free agent again. Over his MLB career, he had a 5–7 win–loss record, a 5.43 earned run average, and 132 strikeouts. He is not related to Keith Ginter.

External links and full statistics are available at Baseball-Reference and MLB, but this summary highlights the key points of Matt Ginter’s professional baseball journey.