Matt Purke

Position: LHP
Born: 7/17/1990
Height: 6'4
Weight: 215
B/T: L/L
Acquired: Signed as a minor league free agent January 26, 2016 (CHW). Originally drafted in the third round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft (WSH).

Most Recent Stats at Time of Debut
CURRENT SEASON STATS: 0-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 10 games started at Charlotte (Triple-A), striking out 14 and walking eight while allowing 16 hits in 15.2 IP.

Info & MLB Debut Date
Contract purchased from Charlotte on May 13 when RHP Scott Carroll was sent down and LHP John Danks was released.
MLB Debut Date: 5/20/2016

Debut Details
May 20, in a 4-1 loss to the Royals. The last of three pitchers, he worked 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out one. Coming on with two outs in the eighth inning in relief of Zach Putnam, Purke surrendered a single to center to the first batter he faced, Salvador Perez before striking out Alex Gordon swinging to end the inning. In the ninth, the first batter, Cheslor Cuthbert, reached on an error. After Omar Infante flew out, Paulo Orlando singled to left. However, Alcides Escobar grounded out and Lorenzo Cain lined out to end the threat.

Player Notes
After waiting eight days to finally get the call into a game, Purke tossed a scoreless debut and that somehow seems to mirror what has been a ride to the bigs filled with similar highs and lows. While we use the term “originally drafted” in our “Acquired” section to reflect how the player started his pro career, it’s certainly worth noting that, in fact, Matt Purke had been drafted before that. He was ‘originally-originally’ selected by his home state Texas Rangers in the first round of the 2009 draft (14th overall) out of Klein High School, but did not sign and instead headed to college, where he pitched two seasons before re-entering the draft (because of age rules, he was draft-eligible after his sophomore season at TCU). One of the top high school pitchers in the state of Texas, posting a 12-1 record and an 0.37 ERA as a junior and a 4-2 record and 1.18 ERA as a senior (to go with a 4.5 GPA), he continued to dominate on the mound as a freshman at TCU, going 16-0 with s 3.02 ERA and 5-1 with a 1.71 as a sophomore. However, due to injuries (including shoulder surgery after the 2012 season and Tommy John surgery in 2014), he had pretty much fallen off of every prospect list by 2016 when the White Sox took a chance on him. He’d posted a composite 4.62 ERA in four-plus minor league seasons (he did not pitch at all in 2011 after being drafted by the Nationals), most recently climbing through three levels of Class A, High A and Double-A with the Nationals in 2015 to post a 4.36 ERA in 20 games, allowing 72 hits in 64 combined innings.