Matthew Taylor Purke (born July 17, 1990) 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 made his

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), ...

(MLB) debut and played his only MLB season 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 ...

in 2016.

Amateur career

Purke attended

Klein High School Klein High School is a public high school located in Klein, Texas, United States, located approximately from Downtown Houston. It serves grades 9– 12 in the Klein Independent School District. The current principal of Klein High School is Bran ...

Klein, Texas Klein is an unincorporated community in Harris County, Texas, United States, roughly bordering Texas State Highway 99 to the north, Texas State Highway 249 to the west, Interstate 45 to the east, and the city of Houston to the south. It includes ...

. He was considered one of the best high school pitchers in baseball. His junior year was his best as he had a 12–1

win–loss record In sports, a winning percentage is the fraction of games or matches a team or individual has won. The statistic is commonly used in standings or rankings to compare teams or individuals. It is defined as wins divided by the total number of match ...

with a 0.37

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). In his senior season he went 4–2 with a 1.18 ERA. He also carried a 4.5 GPA. He came out as a flamethrower throwing an average of . In 2009,

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

projected that he would be the next

Johan Santana Johan Alexander Santana Araque (; born March 13, 1979) is a Venezuelan former professional baseball starting pitcher. Santana pitched in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins from 2000 to 2007 and for the New York Mets from 200 ...

. The Texas Rangers selected Purke in the first round, with the 14th overall selection, of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft. He did not sign, and instead enrolled at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples ...

(TCU), where he played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

for the

TCU Horned Frogs The TCU Horned Frogs are the athletic teams that represent Texas Christian University. The 18 varsity teams participate in NCAA Division I and in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) for football, competing mostly in the Big 12 Conference. The sc ...

. While there, he earned 2nd Team All American as a Freshman, and was named the Freshman of the year while going 16–0 with a 3.02 ERA. His sophomore year he went 5–1 with a 1.71 ERA in 11 starts.

Professional career

Washington Nationals

Purke was drafted by the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

in the third round of the

2011 Major League Baseball Draft The 2011 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2011, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Gerrit Cole out of the University of California, Los Angeles, with the first ...

. He signed with the Nationals on August 15, 2011. Purke was added to the 40-man roster in 2012 and made 3 starts for the Single-A

Hagerstown Suns The Hagerstown Suns were a Minor League Baseball team based in Hagerstown, Maryland. They were a member of the South Atlantic League and, from 2007 through 2020, were the Class A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They played their home g ...

. He then had shoulder

debridement Debridement is the medical removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue. Removal may be surgical, mechanical, chemical, autolytic (self-digestion), and by maggot therapy. In p ...

surgery and missed the remainder of the 2012 season. He returned with Hagerstown in 2013, and posted a 6-4 record and 3.80 ERA in 18 games between the High-A

Potomac Nationals The Potomac Nationals were a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League. They were located in Woodbridge, Virginia, and played their home games at Northwest Federal Field at Pfitzner Stadium. After the 2019 season, the team relocated to Fr ...

and Hagerstown. Pitching for the Double-A

Harrisburg Senators The Harrisburg Senators are a Minor League Baseball team of the Eastern League, and the Double-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals, in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, who play their home games at FNB Field on City Island, which opened in 1987 a ...

of the Eastern League in 2014, Purke struggled with a 1–6 record and an 8.04 ERA. Purke later underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

. On November 13, 2014, the Nationals released Purke, and re-signed him to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training on November 18. He split the 2015 season between Harrisburg, Potomac, and Hagerstown, accumulating a 3-6 record and 4.36 ERA with 43 strikeouts in 64.0 innings of work between the three teams. On November 6, 2015, he elected free agency.

Chicago White Sox

On November 21, 2015, Purke signed a minor league contract with the

organization that included an invitation to Spring Training. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field, which opened in 20 ...

to begin the 2016 season. The White Sox promoted Purke to the major leagues for the first time on May 13, 2016. He made his MLB debut on May 20, pitching an inning and a third of scoreless ball against the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

. He finished his rookie season with a 5.50 ERA in 12 major league games with Chicago. On December 14, 2016, Purke was designated for assignment by the White Sox, and was outrighted to the minors on December 21. Purke spent the 2017 season in Triple-A with Charlotte, and posted a 4-5 record and 3.84 ERA in 48 appearances with the team. He elected free agency on November 6, 2017.

New York Mets

On November 17, 2017, Purke signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

organization. Purke spent the year with the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s, recording a 2-2 record and 7.14 ERA with 42 strikeouts in 46.2 innings of work. On November 2, 2018, he elected free agency.

Sugar Land Skeeters

On May 10, 2019, Purke signed with the

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

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 ...

. He was released on August 16. He re-signed with the Skeeters on August 19, and finished the year with a 5-8 record and 5.62 ERA in 31 appearances. Purke became a free agent following the season.

High Point Rockers

On March 10, 2020, Purke signed with the

High Point Rockers The High Point Rockers are an American professional baseball team based at Truist Point ballpark in High Point, North Carolina, which is part of the Piedmont Triad region. They are members of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Profession ...

of the

. On May 4, Purke was released by the team without playing in a game, as the season was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On August 11, 2020, Purke announced his retirement of professional baseball and returned to his alma mater,

, to serve as a student assistant on the coaching staff as he completed his undergraduate degree.

References

External links

TCU Horned Frogs bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Purke, Matt 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from Harris County, Texas Baseball players from Texas Major League Baseball pitchers Chicago White Sox players TCU Horned Frogs baseball players Scottsdale Scorpions players Hagerstown Suns players Potomac Nationals players Mesa Solar Sox players Harrisburg Senators players Charlotte Knights players All-American college baseball players People from Spring, Texas Las Vegas 51s players Sugar Land Skeeters players Klein High School alumni