Matthew Thomas Pagnozzi (born November 10, 1982) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

who 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 ...

(MLB) for the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

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

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

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 ...

, and

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

. Pagnozzi attended Highland High School in

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. Located southeast of Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, Gilbert is home to 288,128 residents. It is the fifth-most populous municipality in Arizona and is considered a suburb of Phoenix. I ...

, and then

Central Arizona College Central Arizona College (CAC) is a public community college near Coolidge, Arizona. CAC serves the population of Pinal County. History and campus Central Arizona College was founded in 1969. With five campuses and three centers located thr ...

. The St. Louis Cardinals selected him in the eighth round of the 2003 June amateur draft as the 245th pick overall.

Career

St. Louis Cardinals

Pagnozzi made his

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

debut with the

New Jersey Cardinals The New Jersey Cardinals were a Short-Season A minor league baseball team affiliated with the St. Louis Cardinals. They were a member of the New York–Penn League and played at Skylands Park in Augusta, New Jersey from 1994–2005. History The t ...

of the

New York–Penn League The New York–Penn League (NYPL) was a Minor League Baseball league that operated in the northeastern United States from 1939 to 2020. Classified as a Class A Short Season league, its season started in June, after major-league teams signed th ...

. By 2008, he had advanced to the

Memphis Redbirds The Memphis Redbirds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. They are located in Memphis, Tennessee, and are named for their Major League Baseball affiliate. The Redbird ...

, the

AAA AAA, Triple A, or Triple-A is a three-letter initialism or abbreviation which may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming * AAA (video game industry) - a category of high budget video games *'' TripleA'', an open source wargame Mu ...

affiliate of the

. In September

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, the Cardinals called him up to the major leagues when rosters expanded. He made his MLB league debut on September 29, 2009, appearing as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

and drawing a walk. Pagnozzi hit his first and only major league

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

on September 28,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, against the

Colorado Rockies

On November 29, 2010, Pagnozzi signed a minor league contract with the

. He was purchased on June 17, 2011.

Pittsburgh Pirates

On Wednesday September 14, 2011, Pagnozzi was claimed off waivers by the

. The Pirates had previously tried to acquire Pagnozzi in June 2011, after catchers

Ryan Doumit Ryan Matthew Doumit ( ; born April 3, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played the first seven years of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, then two for the Minnesota Twins, and one ...

and

Chris Snyder Christopher Ryan Snyder (born February 12, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, and Baltimore Orioles. He bats and t ...

went down with injuries. Those talks failed, and the Pirates instead received Michael McKenry from the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Pagnozzi was set be the 52nd player to appear in a game for the Pirates in 2011, breaking the franchise record of 51 players set the year before. The record number of players to appear on the team is due to the large number of injuries sustained by the team in 2011.

Cleveland Indians

Pagnozzi signed a minor-league contract with the

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) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

on December 2, 2011. His contract included an invitation to major-league spring training.

Atlanta Braves

On December 4, 2012, Pagnozzi signed a minor league deal with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

with an invitation to spring training. He was expected to provide depth at catcher and serve as a back-up to Gerald Laird while Brian McCann missed the month of April with injury, but Pagnozzi was passed on the depth charts due to the emergence of

Evan Gattis James Evan Gattis (born August 18, 1986) is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. Gattis has also earned the nickname of or Th ...

. As a result, Pagnozzi spent the majority of the 2013 season with AAA Gwinnett.

Houston Astros

On September 3, 2013, Pagnozzi was traded to the

for cash considerations. He was outrighted off the roster on October 2, 2013, and elected free agency the next day.

Milwaukee Brewers

Pagnozzi signed a minor league deal with the

on December 4, 2013. He played the entire 2014 season with the Triple-A

Nashville Sounds The Nashville Sounds are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, and are named for the ci ...

, before having his contract purchased by the Brewers on September 1. He was outrighted off the roster on October 2, 2014, and elected free agency on October 12.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On November 6, 2014, Pagnozzi signed a minor league contract with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Personal life

His uncle, Tom Pagnozzi, was a three-time

Gold Glove 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. It is awarded at each fieldin ...

winning catcher for the Cardinals from 1987 through 1998.Scout.com profile
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References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagnozzi, Matt 1982 births Living people Baseball players from Arizona Central Arizona Vaqueros baseball players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Columbus Clippers players Gwinnett Braves players Houston Astros players Major League Baseball catchers Memphis Redbirds players Milwaukee Brewers players Nashville Sounds players New Jersey Cardinals players Palm Beach Cardinals players People from Miami, Arizona Peoria Chiefs players Pittsburgh Pirates players Reno Aces players St. Louis Cardinals players Springfield Cardinals players Toros del Este players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Madison Mallards players