Matthew Thomas Skole (born July 30, 1989) 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 ...

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

who 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), ...

(MLB) for 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 2018 and 2019.

Baseball career

Amateur

Skole attended

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, and in 2009 and 2010 he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the

Falmouth Commodores The Falmouth Commodores are a collegiate summer baseball team based in Falmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's West Division. The Commodores play their home games at Arnie All ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. He was selected 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 fifth 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 ...

Washington Nationals

In 2012, Skole was the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

MVP and Nationals Minor League Player of the Year after hitting .291/.426/.559 with 27

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

and 104

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

. Prior to the 2013 season, Skole was ranked as the Nationals fourth-best prospect by ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

''. However, Skole collided with a runner on a fielding play at first base in the second game of his 2013 campaign with the Class-AA

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 ...

, falling to the ground and tearing his

ulnar collateral ligament Ulnar collateral ligament (or UCL), may refer to: * Ulnar carpal collateral ligament * Ulnar collateral ligament of elbow joint The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) or internal lateral ligament is a thick triangular ligament at the medial aspec ...

and flexor tendon in his left elbow. He 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 April 17, 2013, taking him out of action for the season. Skole returned to action and played in the Nationals' instructional league in September and then against high minor league talent for the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

in the

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 ...

. Skole struggled somewhat in 2014 after missing a significant amount of the previous season, batting .241/.352/.399 with Harrisburg. He slipped down the prospect rankings, with ''Baseball America'' listing him as the Nationals' 24th-best prospect after the season—20 places lower than he was before it started. He was not added to the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft that winter, but no team selected him and he remained with the Nationals organization. Despite Skole's poor 2014 campaign, he was invited to spring training with the major league ballclub in 2015. After hitting well in spring training, he got off to a slow start with Harrisburg but then went on an offensive tear in June and July, earning a promotion to the Class-AAA

Syracuse Chiefs Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

. Skole was once again left unprotected before the Rule 5 draft after the season, but again, he was not drafted and remained part of the organization. The Nationals again invited Skole to spring training before their 2016 season. He spent the entire season with Syracuse for the first time in his minor league career. The Nationals added Skole to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season, in which he hit 24 home runs as a Chief and won a minor league

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual fielding performances at each fielding position in bo ...

at first base. While on the minor league disabled list, Skole was designated from assignment and removed from the Nationals' 40-man roster on July 29, 2017, to clear space for newly acquired utilityman

Howie Kendrick Howard Joseph Kendrick III (born July 12, 1983) is an American former professional baseball infielder and current special assistant to the General Manager for the Philadelphia Phillies. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim selected Kendrick in the t ...

. He cleared waivers and was released by the Nationals, but days later, he signed a new minor league contract with the organization and was assigned to the

Auburn Doubledays The Auburn Doubledays are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League (PGCBL) that is located in Auburn, New York. From 1958 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) ...

Chicago White Sox

He elected free agency on November 6, 2017, and announced November 21 that he had signed with the

. Skole was called up to the majors on May 28, 2018, and he made his debut that day. On the first pitch of his first at-bat, Skole singled off

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 ...

starter

Adam Plutko Adam Gregory Plutko ( ; born October 3, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the LG Twins of the KBO League. He attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he played college baseball for the UCLA Bruins. He ...

. Skole hit his first big league home run in his next at-bat, also against Plutko. Skole was outrighted off the roster on September 4, 2018. He elected free agency on November 2, 2018. On November 19, 2018, Skole re-signed a minor league deal with the

. He was assigned to AAA

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 start the 2019 season. On August 2, 2019, the White Sox selected Skole's contract. On October 28, Skole was outrighted off of the White Sox roster and elected free agency. On January 21, 2020, Skole re-signed with the White Sox on a minor league deal. Skole was released by the White Sox organization on June 26, 2020.

Playing style

In his minor league seasons, Skole has exclusively played at

first First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

third base A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

in the field. Nationals General Manager

Mike Rizzo Michael Rizzo, is an American DJ, record producer and remixer from New York City, active since the early 1990s. He is well known for working with various artists such as Jennifer Green and Sun, all of whom scored hits on both '' Billboard's Ho ...

described him in 2012 as someone who "probably profiles as a left-handed power bat at first base". He has also been noted as a patient hitter with a "strong propensity to take walks".

Personal life

His brother, Jake, was also a professional baseball player.

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skole, Matt 1989 births Living people People from Woodstock, Georgia Sportspeople from the Atlanta metropolitan area Baseball players from Georgia (U.S. state) Major League Baseball first basemen Chicago White Sox players Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets baseball players Falmouth Commodores players Auburn Doubledays players Hagerstown Suns players Potomac Nationals players Harrisburg Senators players Syracuse Chiefs players Mesa Solar Sox players Salt River Rafters players Naranjeros de Hermosillo players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Charlotte Knights players