Alexander "Alex" Omar Hinshaw (born October 31, 1982) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He graduated from Claremont High School and attended

Chaffey College Chaffey College is a public community college in Rancho Cucamonga, California. The college serves students in Chino, Chino Hills, Fontana, Montclair, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga and Upland. It is the oldest community college in California. History ...

and

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

for the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

from 2008-2012.

Background

Hinshaw was born in California to an American father and

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

mother.

San Francisco Giants

Hinshaw was drafted by the

in 28th round of the

First-Year Player draft The first-year player draft is the primary mechanism of Major League Baseball (MLB) for assigning amateur baseball players from high schools, colleges, and other amateur baseball clubs to its teams. The draft order is determined based on a lo ...

, the 29th round of the draft, and by the

Florida Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The club's home ballpark is LoanDepot Park. The franc ...

in the 25th round of the draft, but did not sign. In the draft, he was once again selected by the Giants in the 15th round and made his professional debut with the Class A

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes are a baseball team located in Keizer, Oregon, who are charter members of the Mavericks Independent Baseball League, a four-team league entirely based in the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area and playing all their home ...

. He finished with a 3.68 ERA in 25 relief appearances, struck out 33 batters and walked 18 in 22 innings. For the advanced Class A

San Jose Giants The San Jose Giants are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. Located in San Jose, California, the Giants play their home games at Excite Ballpark. Games San Jose Giants ga ...

in , Hinshaw had a 6–3 record with a 4.26 ERA in 30 games, giving up 58 hits and striking out 78 in 69 innings. He struck out a season high nine batters in five shutout innings to earn a win on May 11, 2006. On May 15, 2008, Hinshaw made his major league debut after being called up when Merkin Valdéz went on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. Facing the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, he gave up one hit and struck out one in 1/3 of an inning.

San Diego Padres

Hinshaw signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres on December 1, 2011. He was designated for assignment on August 14, 2012, and claimed off waivers by the

on August 19. On October 6, 2012 Hinshaw elected free agency. In 37 games with the Padres, Hinshaw had a 4.50 ERA while striking out 36 in 28 innings. In 2 games with the Cubs, Hinshaw had a 135.00 ERA, giving up 5 runs while recording 1 out.

Toronto Blue Jays

On November 21, 2012, the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

announced that Hinshaw had been signed to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training. Hinshaw started the 2013 season with the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

but encountered troubles with walks (17 in 11 innings pitched), and was released on May 10.

Somerset Patriots

Hinshaw was signed by the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Bridgewater Township, New Jersey, that is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League, known as the Double-A Northeast in 2021, and ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league based in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States. The Atlantic League's ...

on May 31, 2013, and released on June 13.

Bridgeport Bluefish

He was signed by the

Bridgeport Bluefish The Bridgeport Bluefish were an American minor league baseball team based in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The team was a member of the Liberty Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, which was not affiliated with Major League Baseba ...

, also of the Atlantic League, on June 22.

Wichita Wingnuts

Hinshaw signed with the

Wichita Wingnuts The Wichita Wingnuts were an independent baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas, in the United States. The Wingnuts were members of the South Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball. An expansion franchise in the 2008 seas ...

for the 2014 season.

Scouting report

He throws his

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. "Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thro ...

in the mid 90s, and also has a

slider Slider or Sliders may refer to: Arts * K.K. Slider, a fictional character within the ''Animal Crossing'' franchise * '' The Slider'', a 1972 album by T. Rex * ''Sliders'' (TV series), an American science fiction and fantasy television series * ...

and a big-breaking

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

Personal life

Enters home games to the song "All the Above" by hip-hop artist Maino. Parents are Robert and Homa Hinshaw of Claremont, California. Hinshaw is married to his

sweetheart Courtney Fritz, a guard on the Aztecs Women's Basketball team.

Minor league honors

*2006 CAL Mid-Season All-Star *2006 HWB Post-Season All-Star *2007 EAS Mid-Season. *2008

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

Rising-Star *First member of the Giant's 2005 draft class to reach the major leagues

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinshaw, Alex 1982 births Living people American people of Afghan descent San Francisco Giants players San Diego Padres players Chicago Cubs players Baseball players from California Chaffey Panthers baseball players Major League Baseball pitchers Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players San Jose Giants players Connecticut Defenders players Richmond Flying Squirrels players Fresno Grizzlies players Tucson Padres players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Bridgeport Bluefish players Sportspeople from Pomona, California Sportspeople of Afghan descent San Diego State Aztecs baseball players Somerset Patriots players Wichita Wingnuts players Grand Prairie AirHogs players Waikiki Beach Boys players Scottsdale Scorpions players Caribes de Anzoátegui players Águilas de Mexicali players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela