| P. J. Walters | |
|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: March 12, 1985 Dothan, Alabama |
|
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| April 17, 2009 for the St. Louis Cardinals | |
| Career statistics (through July 30, 2011) |
|
| Win-loss record | 2-0 |
| ERA | 7.24 |
| Strikeouts | 40 |
| Teams | |
Phillip DeWayne "P. J." Walters (born March 12, 1985) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball.
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Walters was born March 12, 1985, in Dothan, Alabama. He is married to Brittney.
Walter's daughter, Annabelle, was born on February 10, 2010, about 14 weeks premature. She had several complications related to her premature birth, and Walters was back and forth from spring training to be with his wife, including their daughter's surgery. On April 3, 2010, Annabelle Walters died at the hospital in Mobile, Alabama.[1]
Walters was drafted by the Cardinals in the 11th round of the 2006 player draft (346th overall) from the University of South Alabama following his junior year, in which he had a 2-1 record, with eight saves and a 3.56 ERA.
Walters climbed three levels in 2007, and spent most of 2008 in Triple-A Memphis. He went 9-4 for the Cardinals' top affiliate, with a 4.87 ERA over 122 innings.
Walters made his major league debut on April 17, 2009, as the starting pitcher against the Chicago Cubs. He had been called up when Chris Carpenter was placed on the 15-day disabled list.[2] He became the first Cardinals rookie to make his first major-league start at Wrigley Field in nearly three decades. On September 15, 1980, Andy Rincon debuted for the Cardinals against the rival Cubs.[3]
He pitched 4.0 innings, leading 4-3 in the game before replaced, pitching against veteran Carlos Zambrano, giving up 6 hits (one hit was a double), 3 runs (all earned), walked 2, struck out 7, and has a 6.75 ERA. He faced 19 batters, threw 98 pitches (59 for strikes), with 4 groundouts and 1 fly out.
On July 7, 2011, Walters had his contract purchased by St. Louis.[4]
On July 25, 2011, Walters gave up a grand slam to Houston Astros outfielder Carlos Lee. This made Walters and Lee the first pair of players in MLB history in which the batter (Lee) hit grand slams in each of his only two at bats against the pitcher (Walters).
On July 27, 2011, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays along with Colby Rasmus, Brian Tallet and Trever Miller for Edwin Jackson, Octavio Dotel, Marc Rzepczynski and Corey Patterson.[5][6] He pitched 1 inning for the Blue Jays (giving up an earned run) before being demoted to the minor leagues. In the remaining months of 2011, he went 1-3 with an 8.38 ERA in Triple-A, and was not called back to the Blue Jays that year. After the 2011 season, he elected for free agency.[7]
On December 14, 2011, Walters signed a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins.