Matt Mantei
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| Matt Mantei | ||
|---|---|---|
| Relief pitcher | ||
| Born: July 7, 1973 | ||
| Batted: Right | Threw: Right | |
| MLB debut | ||
| June 18, 1995 for the Florida Marlins |
||
| Final game | ||
| July 1, 2005 for the Boston Red Sox |
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| Career statistics | ||
| Win-Loss | 14-18 | |
| Earned run average | 4.07 | |
| Strikeouts | 396 | |
| Teams | ||
| Career highlights and awards | ||
Matthew Bruce Mantei [MAN-tie] (born July 7, 1973 in Tampa, Florida) is a retired Major League Baseball relief pitcher. In his career, Mantei played with the Florida Marlins, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox. He batted and threw right-handed.
Mantei had four pitches. He had two fastballs, one of which regularly hit 95 MPH and occasionally hit 100, a sharp curve and an occasional slider. He was also known to throw a knuckleball earlier in his career. His two problems were his control and his ability for his arm to stay healthy.
After posting 32 saves in 1999, Mantei was slowed by injuries in 2000 and 2001, when a right-elbow injury ended his season in April and he underwent "Tommy John" ligament replacement surgery. In 2002 Mantei worked hard to regain his old form. Despite the fact that he missed a month in 2003, he finished strong in the last three months of the season. He had 29 saves while posting a 2.62 ERA.
Mantei missed most of 2004 after a surgery to deal with bone spurs in his shoulder. In 12 games, he was 0-3 with an 11.81 ERA and four saves. At the end of the season he was signed by the Red Sox. 2005 was yet another injury-plagued season for Mantei, as he only pitched 26.3 innings before being placed on the disabled list for the remainder of the year. Mantei was invited to the Detroit Tigers spring training camp in 2006 to make a comeback try, but after suffering more arm troubles early in the spring, he left camp and was out of baseball until 2008.
Mantei threw a bullpen session for the Detroit Tigers on January 11, 2008 and signed a minor league contract with them. However, after experiencing discomfort in his arm a few games into spring training, he was released and retired on March 4.
In a ten-year career with Florida, Arizona, and Boston, Mantei owned a 14-18 record with a 4.07 ERA and 93 saves in 322.7 innings. He also compiled a 1.98 strikeout-to-walk ratio (396-to-200) and a 1.39 WHIP.
