Matt Antonelli

Matthew Antonio Antonelli (born April 8, 1985) is an American former professional baseball second baseman.

Early life

Antonelli was the Massachusetts Player of the Year in both football and hockey,^[1] and was a runner-up for baseball in his senior year at St. John's Prep.^[2] He attended Wake Forest University, where he displayed good plate discipline, walking 57 times as a sophomore, ranking seventh among collegiate hitters. He only struck out 38 times in 232 at-bats, giving him one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios in the nation.

Professional career

San Diego Padres

Antonelli was originally drafted as a third baseman by the San Diego Padres with the 17th pick of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.^[3] In July 2007, Antonelli was named the best second base prospect in the minors by Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus.^[4] In November 2007, Antonelli was ranked as the #1 second base prospect and #27 prospect overall in baseball, on a list polling 20 members of the scouting community and compiled by Jonathan Mayo of minorleaguebaseball.com ^[5]

With the Padres in spring training 2008.

Before the 2007 season, Antonelli was not considered to have much power potential after having zero home runs in over 200 professional at bats in 2006. However, he hit 14 home runs in 82 games for High A Lake Elsinore, before moving up to Double A San Antonio Missions to finish the season. In 534 at-bats between the two levels, Antonelli finished with a slash line of .304/.404/.491 with 21 homers and 25 stolen bases along with a 94/83 K/BB ratio. He won the Texas League Championship with the Missions in 2007.

In 2008, Antonelli played for the Padres' AAA farm club, the Portland Beavers. He struggled at the plate most of the year, hitting just .215, but kept his good eye and ended up with 76 walks. In August he found some success, hitting .290 for the month, with 4 home runs and a .393 OBP.

Matt was called up to the Padres on September 1, 2008, where he promptly laced a single off Greg Maddux of the Dodgers for his first hit in the major leagues. He then went hitless in his next 20 at bats, but then got 7 hits in his next 13 at-bats with 3 walks, including his first home run, on September 15, off of Colorado Rockies pitcher, Jason Hirsh. He was unable to earn another big league promotion with the club and granted free agency at the end of the 2010 season.

Washington Nationals

He signed as a minor league free agent with the Washington Nationals on December 17, 2010 and spent the season with the AA Harrisburg Senators and AAA Syracuse Chiefs.

Baltimore Orioles

On November 21, 2011, Antonelli signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He was added to the team's 40-man roster. On May 13, 2012, the Orioles designated him for assignment.^[6]

New York Yankees

On May 17, the New York Yankees claimed Antonelli off waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.^[7] He was designated for assignment on July 1 and released on July 5.

Cleveland Indians

He signed a minor league contract with the Cleveland Indians in January 2013. After appearing in 3 games with Triple-A Columbus, Antonelli retired on July 17.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Minorleaguebaseball.com profile
• Firstinning.com profile