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Matthew P

A photo of Matthew P. Tuiasosopo.

Matthew P. Tuiasosopo (born May 10, 1986 in Bellevue, Washington) is a Major League Baseball utility player for the Seattle Mariners. He is the brother of Marques and Zach, and the son of Manu Tuiasosopo. The Seattle Mariners drafted him 93rd overall in the third round in the 2004 Major League Baseball Draft.

Professional career[]

2004[]

He began his pro career with the Peoria Mariners in 2004, hitting a solo home run in first career-at bat on July 10. Tuiasosopo hit safely in 18 of 20 games and reached base safely in 19 of 20 games. He had a 13-game hit streak, hitting .467 from July 10-25, and tied for the team lead in home runs with four. On August 5, he was promoted to the Everett AquaSox. At the end of the season he participated in the 2004 Arizona Instructional League.

2005[]

In 2005, he was with Seattle's Low-A affiliate, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. He hit .276 with three home runs and 45 RBI. He was ranked number 36 on Minor League News' annual Fab 50.[1]

He recorded a season-high 13-game hitting streak to start the season, batting .423 with eight runs, three doubles, two home runs and 12 RBIs during that time. Tuiasosopo had 27 multi-hit games, three four-hit games and six three-hit games. He hit home runs in back-to-back games on June 9 and 10

2006[]

In 2006, he split time between the Mariners' High-A Inland Empire 66ers and Double-A San Antonio Missions affiliates. He batted a combined .248 with two home runs and 44 RBI. He played with the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League that fall.

He hit .306 with one home run with 34 RBIs, 31 runs scored and five stolen bases in 59 games with Inland Empire but only batted .185 with one home run, 16 runs scored and 10 RBIs with San Antonio.

2007[]

File:Matt Tuiasosopo 2007.jpg

Matt Tuiasosopo playing for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx in 2007.

Tuiasosopo spent the 2007 season with the Double-A West Tenn Diamond Jaxx. He hit .424 with 8 runs, 5 doubles and 3 RBIs during a season-high 10-game hitting streak from April 5-14. He recorded a double in 5 consecutive games from April 6-1.

He was named to the Southern League All-Star team and later that season played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League.

At the end of the 2007 campaign Tuiasosopo was rated as the Mariners No. 10 prospect by Baseball America. He was named to the Minor League News Fab 50 again in 2007.[2]

2008[]

Until September 2008 he was playing with the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.

On September 5, 2008, he collected his first Major League hit, a double, against pitcher Andy Pettitte of the New York Yankees while playing for the Seattle Mariners.

He finished the 2008 season batting .281 with Tacoma and .159 with the Mariners.

2009[]

Matt made the 2009 Opening Day roster for the Mariners.

On July 4, 2009 Tuiasosopo made his first rehab start with the AZL Mariners. Tuiasosopo was activated soon after the All-Star break.[3]

Tuiasosopo hit two home runs against the Portland Beavers on August 28 helping the Rainiers to their seventh straight victory.[4] He finished the season batting .261 with 11 home runs and 35 RBIs in 59 games for the Rainiers. In four playoff games, he batted .313 with one home run and four RBIs.

On September 13 Tuiasosopo was called-up to Seattle after the Rainiers lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Sacramento River Cats.[5] He said this about the playoff experience:

We all knew that if we were in the running, all of us would be here in the playoffs, because we know how important that it was, The organization thinks it's important winning in the Minor Leagues, so we knew that we were going to be around and we just wanted to keep winning. We wanted to see if we could get that ring. That was important to all of us in that room there.

—Matt Tuiasosopo, mariners.com: September 15, 2009.[6]

On September 27, during the pre-game show on 710 ESPN Radio, color man Mike Blowers predicted that Tuiasosopo would hit his first major league home run in his second at bat of the game on a 3-1 fastball into the left center field second level of Rogers Centre. Sure enough, in the fifth inning of their game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Tuiasosopo delivered, although the home run went above the left field bullpen on technically what is the first level of the stadium.[7] [8]

2010[]

Matt has spent time in the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners during the 2010 season. He has played his first major league games at shortstop, first base, and in the outfield.

2013

He made the Detroit Tigers Opening Day Roster in 2013

Personal life[]

His father and brothers played football in college — Manu attending UCLA and his two older brothers attending the University of Washington — Matt signed a professional baseball contract after graduating from Woodinville High School.

Although he chose baseball, Matt had a promising high school football career. He was selected to play in the 2004 U.S. Army All-American Bowl. Before signing with the Mariners, he signed a letter of intent to play football at the University of Washington.[9]

Matt played for the Woodinville West Little League at the 1998 Little League Western Regional Tournament in San Bernardino, California. Woodinville West lost to Cypress Federal in the championship game that lasted 7 innings.

Notes[]

External links[]

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