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

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. 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 university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

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

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

from 2008 to 2012.

Background

Hinshaw was born in California to an American father and

Afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

mother.

San Francisco Giants

Hinshaw was drafted by the

in 28th round of the

First-Year Player draft The Major League Baseball draft (officially the Rule 4 Draft; also known as the first-year player draft or amateur draft) is the primary mechanism by which Major League Baseball (MLB) assigns amateur baseball players from high schools, colleg ...

, 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 team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

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 ...

. 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 g ...

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 Merkin R. Valdéz Mola (born November 10, 1981) is a Dominican former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays, and Texas Rangers. Valdez graduated from Escuela Rur ...

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 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

. Facing the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

, he gave up one hit and struck out one in 1/3 of an inning. He was designated for assignment on August 4, 2011, he cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A on August 9. He elected free agency following the season on November 2.

San Diego Padres

On November 23, 2011, Hinshaw signed a minor league contract with the

. He had his contract selected to the major league roster on May 8. He was designated for assignment on August 14, 2012,

Chicago Cubs

On August 19, 2012, Hinshaw was claimed off waivers by the

. He was designated for assignment on August 28, he cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A

Iowa Cubs The Iowa Cubs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They are located in Des Moines, Iowa, and are named for their Major League Baseball (MLB) affiliate. T ...

on August 31. 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

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

On May 31, 2013, Hinshaw signed with the

Somerset Patriots The Somerset Patriots are an American professional Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team based in Bridgewater, New Jersey. They are the Double-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They compete in the Eastern League (EL), known as the Double-A Nort ...

of the

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

, He released on June 13. In 2 games 1 inning of relief he gave up 1 hit and 1 earned run (9.00 ERA) with 4 walks and 2 strikeouts.

Bridgeport Bluefish

On June 22, 2013, Hinshaw signed with 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 Baseb ...

of the

. He was released on July 27. In 9 games 8.2 innings of relief he struggled immensely going 0-1 with a 10.38 ERA with 13 strikeouts.

Long Island Ducks

On August 26, 2013, Hinshaw signed with the

Long Island Ducks The Long Island Ducks are an American professional minor league baseball team based on Long Island in Central Islip, New York. The Ducks compete in the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB), an independent "par ...

of the

. He was released on September 9. In 2 games 1.1 innings of relief he went 0-0 with a 6.75 ERA with 2 strikeouts.

Wichita Wingnuts

On May 14, 2014, 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 sea ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor ...

. In 34 games 30.1 innings of relief he went 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA with 43 strikeouts and 4 saves.

Grand Prairie AirHogs

On August 12, 2014, Hinshaw was traded to the

Grand Prairie AirHogs The Texas AirHogs were a professional baseball team based in Grand Prairie, Texas from 2008 to 2020. The AirHogs were members of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. B ...

of the

. He became a free agent following the season. In 6 games 5.2 innings of relief he went 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA with 13 strikeouts and 1 save.

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 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 Baseball players 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 Claremont High School (California) alumni Sportspeople from Claremont, California