Matt Albers, Relief Pitcher

Date of Birth: 1/20/1983
Birthplace: Houston, Texas
College: San Jacinto College

Matt Albers, relief pitcher, was first drafted in 2001 by the Houston Astros. He was a starting pitcher in the Astros' minor league system from 2002 through 2005.

Albers first pitched for the Astros in 2006. He had a 6.00 ERA in two games as a starting pitcher and two games as a reliever. He spent most of the season in the minor leagues. The following season, he pitched in 18 games as a starter and 13 games in relief with the Astros. He finished the 2007 season with a 5.86 ERA, 4 wins and 11 losses, and a career high 71 strikeouts to 50 walks in 110.2 innings.

The Astros traded Albers to the Baltimore Orioles on December 12, 2007. He was primarily a relief pitcher for the Orioles in 2008, pitching in 3 games as a starter and 25 games as a reliever. He had a 3.49 ERA in 49.0 innings. The following two seasons he pitched only from the Orioles' bullpen. He finished the 2009 season with a 5.51 ERA in 67.0 innings and in 2010, he had a 4.52 ERA in 75.2 innings.

Albers became a free agent on December 2, 2010. He signed with the Boston Red Sox on December 16th. In 2011, he pitched in 56 games and he had a 4.73 ERA.

The Red Sox traded Albers to the Arizona Diamondbacks on July 31, 2012. He finished the 2012 season with a 2.39 ERA in 40 games with Boston and 23 games with the Diamondbacks.

Albers was traded to the Cleveland Indians on December 11, 2012. He had a good 2013 season, finishing with a 3.14 ERA, 3 wins and 1 loss, and 35 strikeouts to 23 walks in 56 games.

Albers became a free agent on October 31, 2013. He returned to the Astros on December 17th. He spent most of the 2014 season on the DL with right shoulder tendinitis. He pitched just 10.0 innings in 8 games with the Astros.

On October 9, 2014, Albers once again became a free agent. He signed with his sixth team, the Chicago White Sox, on February 13, 2015. He spent time on the DL in 2015 with a broken finger. In 30 games with the White Sox, he had a 1.21 ERA. In 2016, he had a 6.31 ERA, 2 wins and 6 losses, and 20 strikeouts to 19 walks in 51.1 innings in 58 games.

After becoming a free agent again on November 3, 2016, Albers signed with the Washington Nationals on January 31, 2017. He finished the 2017 season with 7 wins and 2 losses, 2 saves, 63 strikeouts to 17 walks, and a 1.62 ERA in 61.0 innings in 63 games. In the postseason, he pitched 2.1 innings in 2 games and he gave up just 1 hit.

Albers elected free agency on November 2, 2017. He signed with the Milwaukee Brewers on January 30, 2018. He spent time on the DL in 2018. He finished the season with 3 wins and 3 losses, 1 save, 32 strikeouts to 12 walks, and a 7.34 ERA in 34.1 innings. He didn't pitch in the postseason.

Albers finished the 2019 season with 8 wins and 6 losses, 4 saves, 57 strikeouts to 29 walks, and a 5.13 ERA in 59.2 innings in 67 games. He didn't pitch in the postseason.

Albers became a free agent on October 31, 2019. He hasn't played professional baseball since 2019

Career pitching statistics for Albers through 2019 include:

• 616 games played
• 759.0 innings pitched
• 47-48 win-loss record
• 571 strikeouts to 314 walks
• 4.35 ERA

Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Matt Albers
ESPN - Matt Albers