Matthew Scott "Duke" Welker (born February 10, 1986) is a former

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 leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("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, who attempts to e ...

High school and college

Welker attended

Woodinville High School Woodinville High School is a public secondary school located in Woodinville, Washington, a suburb northeast of Seattle. A senior high school serving grades 9 through 12, it educates the eastern portion of the Northshore School District and is a m ...

Woodinville, Washington Woodinville is a city in King County, Washington, United States. It is a part of the Seattle metropolitan area. There is also a much larger population with Woodinville mailing addresses in adjacent unincorporated areas of King ( Cottage Lake) and ...

. He was drafted by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

in the 34th round (1023rd overall) in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft, but chose to attend Seminole State College. He was drafted by the Mariners again, this time in the 39th round (1163rd overall) of the

2005 Major League Baseball Draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the best ...

, but he did not sign again. He played for the

Anchorage Glacier Pilots The Anchorage Glacier Pilots are a college summer baseball team in Anchorage, Alaska in the United States. They are part of the Alaska Baseball League, and a member of the National Baseball Congress. The Pilots have won the NBC World Series i ...

in the

Alaska Baseball League The Alaska Baseball League (ABL) is an amateur collegiate summer baseball league. Players in the league must have attended one year of college and must have one year of NCAA eligibility remaining. The Midnight Sun Game, held at Growden Memoria ...

in 2006. In August 2006, he transferred to the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

, 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

Arkansas Razorbacks baseball The University of Arkansas Razorbacks baseball team is a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and the Southeastern Conference (SEC), and is coached by Dave Van Horn. The program started in 1897, and is in its 100th seaso ...

team in the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities o ...

Professional career

The

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

drafted Welker in the second round, with the 68th overall selection, of the

2007 Major League Baseball Draft The 2007 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft of high school and college baseball players and was held on June 7, 2007 and June 8, 2007. The first day session of the draft included the fir ...

. He signed with the team on June 17, 2007. The Pirates initially planned to keep Welker as a starting pitcher. He struggled in his first professional seasons, before achieving better results. Welker was added to the Pirates' 40 man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft after the 2011 season. Welker was called up by the Pirates from the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory Field, which opene ...

on May 8, 2013. He was optioned back to Indianapolis on May 11. Welker was called up again on June 20, and made his major league debut three days later, against the Los Angeles Angels, pitching a scoreless eighth inning in relief. He threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in all for the Pirates before being optioned back to the minors. He maintained a 3-4 record plus a 3.25 ERA in 61 innings (41 games) with 9 saves and 64 strikeouts while in their AAA affiliate. On August 31, Welker was announced as the probable

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

traded to the Twins (along with

Alex Presley Alexander Crawford Presley (born July 25, 1985) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder who played for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Minnesota Twins, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, and Detroit Tigers from 2010 to 2017. Early an ...

) for

Justin Morneau Justin Ernest George Morneau (born May 15, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Minnesota Twins, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, and Chicago White Sox. At and , ...

. Because Welker was on the Pirates' 40-man roster, he was not officially traded to the Twins until October 5. On November 19, Welker was traded back to the Pirates in exchange for LHP Kris Johnson. Welker had

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 ...

on June 5, 2014. He was released by the Pirates on July 14, 2014. On April 15, 2016, Welker signed a minor league deal with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Y ...

. He was released on August 2, 2016.

Scouting report

Welker's

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have t ...

can reach .

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Welker, Duke 1986 births Living people Pittsburgh Pirates players Seminole State Trojans baseball players Arkansas Razorbacks baseball players State College Spikes players Hickory Crawdads players West Virginia Power players Bradenton Marauders players Altoona Curve players Indianapolis Indians players Baseball pitchers Sportspeople from Kirkland, Washington Baseball players from King County, Washington People from Woodinville, Washington Anchorage Glacier Pilots players