Matthew Shane Ginter (born December 24, 1977) is a former American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

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 ...

. After playing collegiately at

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, he started made his

MLB 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), ...

debut in 2000 with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

. He was signed by the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

to a minor league contract, and started 2006 pitching for the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

. He had a strong start to the season, notably pitching eight innings of two-hit shutout baseball on April 23, and lowering his season

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

to 2.35 and his K/BB rate to 7. He was a strong candidate to be called up to the Red Sox to join the starting rotation, temporarily, while

David Wells David Lee Wells (born May 20, 1963) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for nine teams, most notably the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees. Nicknamed "Boomer", Wells was considered on ...

recovered from a knee injury. Ginter exercised an out clause in his contract after going 3–9 in Pawtucket and not being called up before July 1. Ginter started 2007 with the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbir ...

, the Triple-A affiliate of the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

, but after becoming a free agent, signed in late August with the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

, and was assigned to their Triple-A affiliate, the

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

. He became a free agent after the season. On December 21, 2007, the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

signed Ginter to a minor league contract with an invitation to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. The Indians called Ginter up to start on July 12, 2008. In his first major league appearance in three years, Ginter went five shutout innings with five

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s to record the win. After spending time on the disabled list, Ginter was sent outright to the minors on August 25 and became a free agent at the end of the season. In January , he signed a minor league contract with the

. He filed for free agency after the season. He is not related to

Keith Ginter Keith Michael Ginter (born May 5, 1976) is a former American Major League Baseball infielder. Ginter is a graduate of Fullerton Union High School in Fullerton, California. College Ginter attended and played baseball at Cypress College before tra ...

, an infielder for MLB from 2000 to 2005.

References

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ginter, Matt 1977 births Living people Chicago White Sox players New York Mets players Detroit Tigers players Cleveland Indians players Major League Baseball pitchers Baseball players from Kentucky Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball players Arizona League White Sox players Burlington Bees players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Norfolk Tides players Toledo Mud Hens players Pawtucket Red Sox players Indianapolis Indians players Memphis Redbirds players Nashville Sounds players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Anchorage Bucs players