Matthew Liberatore

Matthew Liberatore
Tampa Bay Rays
Pitcher
Born: (1999-11-06) November 6, 1999
Bats: Left Throws: Left

Matthew Joseph Liberatore (born November 6, 1999) is an American baseball pitcher in the Tampa Bay Rays organization.

Career

Amateur

Liberatore graduated from Mountain Ridge High School in Glendale, Arizona.[1] In July 2017, he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game and was named the games MVP after throwing three scoreless innings.[2] Later in the summer, he played for the USA Baseball 18U National Team.[3] As a senior at Mountain Ridge in 2018, he posted an 8-1 record with a 0.93 ERA with 104 strikeouts in 60.1 innings[4] and was named Arizona's Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year.[5]

Liberatore committed to the University of Arizona to play college baseball.[6]

Professional

Liberatore was selected 16th overall by the Tampa Bay Rays in the MLB draft and signed with the team with a $3.5 million signing bonus.[7] He was assigned to the Gulf Coast Rays. After posting a 0.98 ERA in eight starts, Liberatore was promoted to the Princeton Rays of the Appalachian League.[8] He pitched in one game for Princeton to end his first professional season.

Personal

Liberatore has been friends with fellow 2018 draft prospect, Nolan Gorman, since they were five.[9]

References

  1. ↑ "Top MLB draft prospect Liberatore stays grounded – Your Valley". 17 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "Matthew Liberatore Jordyn Adams UA All-America". MLB.com.
  3. ↑ "Mountain Ridge's Matthew Liberatore, SDO's Nolan Gorman lead USA baseball to gold".
  4. ↑ "The friendship of two MLB Draft prospects". MLB.com.
  5. ↑ Star, Arizona Daily. "Arizona Wildcats commit Matt Liberatore wins state's Gatorade Player of the Year award".
  6. ↑ "Mountain Ridge's Matthew Liberatore, SDO's Nolan Gorman receive lofty pre-MLB Draft rankings".
  7. ↑ Bartel, Jason. "Arizona signee Matthew Liberatore to ink contract with Tampa Bay Rays". Arizona Desert Swarm. SB Nation.
  8. ↑ "First-round pick Matthew Liberatore signs". MLB.com.
  9. ↑ "Arizona's Matthew Liberatore and Nolan Gorman: Opponents, draft prospects — and best friends".
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.