Matt Bush #49

Graduated from Mission Bay (CA) High School, where he played shortstop and pitched...was First Team All-America as a senior...Also played football (S, WR, QB) in high school through his junior year...Was named Best Defensive Infielder and Best Arm among high school eligible players in Baseball America’s annual Best Tools survey of the top 100 prospects entering the 2004 First-Year Player Draft...Is a supporter of Equest, whose mission is to enhance the quality of life for children and adults with diverse needs by partnering with horses to bring hope and healing through equine-assisted activities and therapies.

2022

Went 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA and three saves in a career-high 65 games (6 starts) between Texas and Milwaukee...Made starts for the first time in his Major League career (all as an opener)...Held opponents to a .196 batting average with a career-high 74 strikeouts in 59.2 innings...Retired 46 of 59 first batters faced (78.0%)...stranded all 16 inherited runners...Earned saves on 4/23 at Oakland, 8/9 vs. Tampa Bay and 8/13 at St. Louis...Was traded by Texas to Milwaukee on 8/1 in exchange for INF/OF Mark Mathias and LHP Antoine Kelly...Went 2-1 with a 2.95 ERA and one save in 40 games (five starts) with Texas...Went 0-2 with a 4.30 ERA and two saves in 25 games (one start) with Milwaukee...Signed a one-year contract on 11/18, avoiding arbitration.

2021

A week-long stay on the Opening Day roster would turn into almost an entire season on the Injured List, as his year was limited to just 8 total appearances in the Majors and Minors… spent the bulk of the season on IL from 4/8-10/2 with right elbow inflammation…pitched in 3 of Rangers’ 1st 6 games before IL stint, then was activated for the final day of the season on 10/3 vs. CLE (1.0 IP, 1 SO, 3 BF), going nearly 6 months between app. (last 4/7 vs. TOR)…season debut on 4/3 at KC was 1st ML appearance since 6/13/18 at LAD…had 4-G rehab run with Round Rock (AAA) in late September: 3.0 IP, 0 R, 4 BB, 3 SO.

2020

Was in minor league camp at Spring Training, but did not see any action before the March shut down…did not participate in Summer Camp, was not in 60-man player pool, and did not go to fall instructional league…worked out at Globe Life Field over the 2020-21 offseason, is expected to have full participation in Spring Training, and be ready for start of regular season.

2019

Opened season in extended spring training and was assigned to Frisco on 6/8, posting 1.04 ERA (1 ER/8.2 IP) with .103 opp. BA (3-29) over 9 G with RoughRiders…had 8.0 SHO IP over 1st 8 outings, but exited final appearance on 6/30/19 vs. Midland after throwing just 8 pitches and retiring one of 2 BF in the 8th inning…was on the back end of pitching on back-to-back days for the 1st time, one of the likely final steps before an expected promotion to Texas...elected free agency on 11/4/19 before signing a 2-year minor league contract on 12/16/19.

2018

Made 21 appearances for the Rangers, but last outing was 6/13 at LAD, as he was on the disabled list from 6/14-end of season with a right elbow strain (see separate text)…trained with the intention of becoming a starting pitcher leading into spring training, but ultimately opened the season in the Rangers’ bullpen…had 1.35 ERA (1 ER/6.2 IP) through 6 G before posting a 6.06 ERA (11 ER/16.1 IP) over final 15 G in the big leagues…posted career high figures in WHIP (1.609) and BB/9 (5.5) while recording a career-low 7.4 SO/9…went 0-3, 7.82 (11 ER/12.2 IP) in 9 G/2 GS in spring ‘A’ games…appeared in 8 G on option at Round Rock (AAA) from 4/25-5/20, going 1-1 with a 2.00 ERA (2 ER/9.0 IP) and 4 BB/14 SO.

2017

Despite being sidelined by a pair of health issues, still ranked 2nd on the staff in games (57), games finished (22), and saves (10) in his sophomore season…posted a 3.78 ERA that was over one-and-a-quarter runs higher than last year (2.48)… his 10.0 SO/9 was an improvement over his rookie season (8.9), but had higher BB/9 (3.3), HR/9 (1.2) and WHIP (1.452), with the WHIP figure being over 500 points higher than 2016 (0.941)… went 10-for-15 in save chances, with team-high 5 blown saves ranking T10th-most in A.L…served as club's primary closer from late April through end of June…converted 8 of 9 chances from 4/23-6/13, but was 2-for-last-5 in save tries, with last save chance being blown save on 6/30 at CWS…allowed runs in 2 of 1st 3 outings, then had a 0.00 ERA (2 R-0 ER/15.0 IP) over 16 outings from 4/16-5/30 to lower season figure to 0.96…final 38 outings beg. 5/31: 5.35 ERA (20 ER/33.2 IP), .297/.370/.493/.863 opp. slash with 6 HR allowed. INJURIES // Had an injection in his right AC joint on 4/12 and did not pitch 4/10-15…was on the disabled list from 8/21-9/9 with a right knee MCL sprain suffered in a collision with Joey Gallo while catching a popup on 8/20 vs. CWS.

2016

Ranked among the A.L. relief leaders in opp. OPS (4th, .525), wins (T5th, 7), opp. SLG (7th, .281), opp. OBP (8th, .244), WHIP (9th, 0.941), holds (10th, 22), ERA (15th, 2.48) in his 1st major league action…the 7 relief wins tied Tony Barnette (and Keone Kela in 2015) for 4th-most by a rookie in Texas history, trailing only Danny Patterson (10 in 1997), Jeff Zimmerman (9 in 1999), and Mitch Williams (8 in 1986)…his 22 holds were 2nd among Rangers (Diekman-26)… averaged 8.90 SO per 9 innings, 5th-best ever by a qualifying rookie reliever for Texas…his 15 games finished were T3rd-most on the Texas staff… entered all appearances in the 7th-or-later…entered game with Texas ahead or tied in 45 of 58 outings… had contract purchased from Frisco on 5/13 and posted 1.02 ERA (2 ER/17.2 IP) over 1st 19 ML outings through 6/22…gave up career-high 4 R and 2 HR in blown save on 7/27 vs. OAK…beginning 8/24, compiled 1.40 ERA (3 ER/19.1 IP) in last 17 appearances, including 11.1 scoreless innings in last 10 outings starting 9/9… pitched twice in big league spring games for Texas, both in Surprise: 3/23 vs. CHC (2.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 SO, 25 pitches) and 3/27 vs. ARI (1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 SO, 20 pitches)…went 0-2, 2.65 (5 ER/17.0 IP) with 0.765 WHIP in 12 relief appearances with Frisco (AA), converting all 5 save chances in his first regular season action since 2011

2012-15

Was in Tampa Bay’s 2012 spring training camp, tossing 4.2 scoreless innings over 4 relief appearances in major league camp…last outing was 3/16/12 at TOR, retiring all 3 batters faced…spent entire campaign on Rays restricted list and was released on 10/5/12…sentenced to 4 years and 3 months in prison on 12/18/12 after pleading no contest to driving under the influence with serious bodily injury pertaining to incident on 3/22/12 in Port Charlotte, FL…released from the Hamilton Correctional Institution in Jasper, FL on 10/30/15.

2011

Spent the season with Double-A Montgomery and worked out of the Biscuits bullpen, going 5-3 with 5 saves...Posted a 13.8 SO/9 IP ratio with 77 SO in 50.1 IP...his 77 SO ranked 3rd among Southern League relievers...recorded multiple strikeouts in 23 of his 36 apps...had 3 or more strikeouts in 12 of his 36 apps...Had a 3.04 ERA (23.2-IP, 8-ER) with 35 SO and only 9 BB after the All-Star break (17 apps)... had a 6.41 ERA (26.2-IP, 19-ER) with 15 BB before the All-Star break (19 apps)...Recorded 4 or more outs in 19 of his 36 apps...Finished the season on a streak of 8 straight scoreless apps (11-IP), recording 20 SO in that span.

2010

Spent the season with Class-A Charlotte but was limited by injuries to 10 appearances - 6 with the Stone Crabs and 4 with the Gulf Coast League Rays on a rehabilitation stint. ... pitched to a combined 3.37 ERA (13.2-IP, 5-ER) with 20 strikeouts and 3 walks. ...Has fanned 42 percent of the batters (36 of 86) he has faced since converting from shortstop to pitcher in 2007...has averaged 15.19 SO/9 IP (21.1-IP, 36-SO) in his career. ...Began the season at the Rays extended spring training camp ... assigned to Charlotte and made his debut on April 29 vs. St. Lucie (Mets) ... it was his first game action in nearly three years ... fanned the first two hitters then allowed a home run, the only homer he has allowed as a pro. ... Held opponents to a .173 average (9-for-52) ... his longest outing was 2 innings, twice, matching his career high...earned a GCL win with 2 scoreless innings over the Twins on Aug 10 ... saved Charlotte's 1-0, 12-inning win over Daytona (Cubs) on June 4. ... Spent a month on the DL with right arm soreness, missing the majority of May ... after the season underwent surgery on his right radial nerve (upper arm) by Dr. Koco Eaton in St. Petersburg ... in addition, spent nearly 2 months (June 20-Aug 14) on the DL with a left oblique strain, and appeared in 4 games with the GCL Rays on a rehabilitation assignment before his return to Charlotte.