Timothy Scott Baker¡wife, Leann (Branan)¡sons Elijah (7/28/05) and Easton (8/24/07)¡2000 graduate of Captain Shreve (LA) High School¡selected to All-State team in 2000¡attended Oklahoma State University where he was named Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2001 and Second Team All-Big 12 in 2003¡named to Cape Cod League All-Star team in 2002¡was honored by the Independence Bowl in 2007, earning the Carl Mikovich Sportsperson of the Year Award¡signed by scout Gregg Miller¡passed up 35th round selection by Pittsburgh in 2000 First-Year Player Draft¡selected in the second round of the 2003 June Draft by the Minnesota Twins.
2013
Signed a one-year deal with Chicago (NL) in November 2012…spent a majority of the season recovering from Tommy John surgery he underwent in April 2012 while with Minnesota…activated from the disabled list and made his Cubs debut, Sept. 8 vs. Milwaukee, his first start since Aug. 8, 2011 vs. Boston…combined to make eight rehab starts between A Daytona and A Kane County, July 14-August 18…placed on the 60-day disabled list, March 31… made three September starts for the Cubs.
2012
Missed the entire campaign due to Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on April 17 ... on October 29, the Twins declined
his major league option for 2013, making him a free agent.
2011
Began the season as the Twins number four starter in the rotation, making his first start, April 4
at New York...allowed four runs on five hits in 6.0 innings and was dealt the loss...Went 2-0, 1.59 (28.1 ip, 5 er) with four walks and 25 strikeouts in four starts, April 16-May
6...recorded his first win, tossing 7.0 shutout innings allowing four hits, one walk and nine
strikeouts, April 21 at Baltimore...Earned his second win, allowing two runs on seven hits in 8.0 innings, May 6 at Boston...the win
gave him 57 career victories, tying him with Eric Milton for 12th on the Twins' All-Time wins list...Set a career-high with five walks, May 11 vs. Detroit...Recorded his 700th career strikeout, fanning Kelly Johnson in the third inning, May 21 at Arizona...Recorded his second career hit and first extra-base hit, doubling off Micah Owings, May 21 at Arizona...recorded his third career hit, June
24 at Milwaukee...Made nine of his first 12 starts on the road, going 3-3, 3.55 (58.1 ip, 23 er) in those road outings...Made his 150th career start, allowing four runs (three earned) on nine hits in 7.0 innings while earning the win, June 6 at Cleveland...struck
out his 716th career batter, passing Eric Milton (715) on the Twins All-Time strikeouts list, moving into sole possession of 11th place, June 6 at
Cleveland...that same start, he passed Milton (57) and moved into sole possession of 12th place on the Twins' All-time list with his 58th win...Tossed his fourth career complete game, allowing one run on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts, earning the win, June 11 vs. Texas...
also his first home win of the season (13th overall start of 2011)...also in that start, surpassed 900.0 career innings pitched and struck
out his 725th career batter, passing Kevin Tapani (724) to move into sole possession of 10th place on the Twins' All-Time strikeouts list...Set a season-high with 10 strikeouts, June 18 vs. San Diego...third time in his career with double-digit strikeouts in a start...His 8.64 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings ratio ranked second in the American League through games of June 18, behind Jon Lester (8.78)...
finished a single-season career-high with an 8.2 strikeouts-per-9.0 innings pitched ratio...Won his 61st career game, tying Scott Erickson for 11th on the Twins' All-Time wins list, June 29 vs. Los Angeles (NL)...passed Erickson and
moved into sole possession of 11th, July 5 vs. Tampa Bay...His 3.01 ERA pre-All-Star break was the lowest for a Twins pitcher since Johan Santana posted a 2.75 ERA in the first half of 2007...Placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right flexor strain, July 17 (retroactive to July 7)...reinstated July 23...His 2.86 ERA through games of July 28 ranked as the eighth-lowest in the American League...Passed four players on the Twins' All-Time starts list during the season: passed Joe Mays (146) with his 147th on May 21, passed Dave Boswell
(150) with his 151st on June 11, passed Kyle Lohse (152) with his 153rd on June 24, passed Scott Erickson (153) with his 154th on June 29...Made his final start of the season, August 8 vs. Boston...placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right flexor strain, August 9...Reinstated from the 15-day disabled list, September 20...made two relief appearances upon his return, just the third and fourth relief
appearances of his career.
2010
Was the Twins Opening Day starter for the first time in his career, after missing the opportunity
in 2009, when he began the season on the disabled list...suffered the loss, allowing four runs
on five hits in 4.2 innings in his Opening Day start, April 5 at Los Angeles (AL)...Entered the season with the fifth-best winning percentage in Twins history (.566) with a
minimum of 75 career decisions...Recorded first win of the season in his second start, allowing one run on five hits in 7.0 innings,
April 10 at Chicago (AL)...Went 4-2 in his first six decisions, April 5-May 8...three wins coming at Target Field...Set a career-high with 12 strikeouts, June 16 vs. Colorado, the 65th time in club history in which
a Twins pitcher struck out 12-plus in an outing...the 12 strikeouts also marked a team-high in
2010, and were the most by a Twins pitcher since Kevin Slowey struck out 12, August 29, 2008 vs. Oakland...Did not walk a batter in four consecutive outings (23.1 ip) from June 22-July 8, including 25 strikeouts in that span...Recorded his 50th career win, July 2 vs. Tampa Bay (7.0-6-1-1-0-8), becoming the 16th pitcher in club history to record over 50 wins in
a Twins uniform...Started the season 22nd on the Twins' All-Time strikeouts list and passed 10 pitchers during the season (Dean Chance - 504, Joe Nathan
- 518, Jim Merritt - 527, Scott Erickson - 527, Mike Trombley - 528, LaTroy Hawkins - 532, Dick Stigman - 538, Kyle Lohse - 561, Rick
Aguilera - 586 and Eddie Guardado - 610)...tied and passed Guardado to move into sole possession of 12th place on the Twins' All-Time
strikeouts list with his 610th and 611th strikeout, August 4 at Tampa Bay...finished the season with 647 career strikeouts...Earned his 10th win of the season, August 10 vs. Chicago, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits in 6.0 innings...third consecutive
season with double-digit victories...Earned his 11th win and fourth straight decision, August 22 vs. Los Angeles (AL), tossing 7.0 shutout innings of five-hit ball, with two
walks and four strikeouts...Left a start after 2.0 innings with right elbow pain, September 2 vs. Detroit...shortest start since September 22, 2007 vs. the White Sox
(2.0 ip)...missed 16 games and made his next start, September 21 vs. Cleveland...did not factor into the decision, but the Twins clinched
the AL Central title with a win and a White Sox loss later that night...He won each of his final five decisions, July 24, through the end of the season...Twins went 9-1 in his final 10 starts...Made his final start, September 29 at Kansas City, striking out nine batters in 5.0 innings (ND)...tied his season and career-high with four walks.
2009
Started the season on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder stiffness...made one rehab start for Single-A Ft. Myers, April 10 vs.
Charlotte and was reinstated on April 14...lost his first four starts of the season from April 15-May 3, allowing 21 earned runs in 20.2 innings
(9.15 ERA)...recorded first win, May 8 vs. Seattle, tossing 7.0 shutout innings, allowing five hits while walking none...pitched 8.1 innings, May 24 vs. Milwaukee, giving up three runs on seven hits, earning his second victory...tossed 7.0 innings and earned his third victory, while setting a career-high with 10 strikeouts, June 4 vs. Cleveland...fourth win, tossing 8.0 innings and allowing three runs on four hits, June 9 at Oakland...finished June with record of 4-0, 3.20 (39.1 ip, 14 er) in six starts with 35 strikeouts and an opponent batting average of .213...went 7-0, 3.04 (71.0 ip, 24 er) in 11 starts, July 12-September 5, setting a career-high with seven straight wins...earned his 10th win of the season, third career complete game and second career shutout, allowing just two hits, August 14 vs. Cleveland...started American League Central Division tiebreaker game vs. Detroit, October 6, pitching 6.0 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts as the Twins won 6-5 in 12-innings...finished tied for 10th in the AL in wins and 13th in strikeouts...led staff with 15 wins, tied for first in starts and was second in innings pitched...set career-highs in wins, starts, innings pitched and strikeouts.
2008
Won first two starts of season, April 4 vs. Kansas City and April 9 at Chicago (AL)...walked just five batters over his first five starts (33.0 ip)...placed on 15-day disabled list with right groin strain, May 7 (retro to May 4)...began rehab assignment at Single-A Ft. Myers, May 31...returned from rehab assignment and reinstated from 15-day disabled list, June 5...had six consecutive quality starts, June 10-July 7, including 7.0 shutout innings at Fenway Park, July 7...had a career-high four-game win-streak, going 4-0, 3.09 (32.0 ip, 11 er) in five starts, June 20-July 12...singled off Josh Banks for first Major League hit, June 26 at San Diego...tossed 8.0 innings, allowing one run on two hits in 1-0 loss, July 20 vs. Texas...matched a season-high with 8.0 innings allowing just one run, August 21 at Los Angeles (AL)...tossed five consecutive quality starts from August 21-September 13, posting a 2.38 ERA (34.0 ip, 9 er)...matched a career high with nine strikeouts in 6-0 win, September 28 vs. Kansas City...pitched 6.0-or-more innings in 20 of 28 starts.
2007
Began season at Triple-A Rochester...recorded first professional save with 3.0 innings of relief, April 10 vs. Norwich...was 2-0, 0.90 (20.0 ip, 2 er) with two walks and 20 strikeouts in three starts, April 14-28...pitched 6-plus innings in his last five starts at Rochester, April 14-May 13...recalled and tossed 8.1 innings, May 19 at Milwaukee...had career-high nine strikeouts, June 26 vs. Toronto...tossed 8.0 innings allowing just one run on three hits, July 1 at Detroit...went 8.0 innings allowing just one run on two hits with seven strikeouts, July 20 vs. Kansas City...held opponents to a .229 batting average over six starts in July...earned his sixth win of the year August 5, tossing 8.0 shutout innings allowing just four hits vs. Cleveland...had a perfect game into the ninth inning before a Mike Sweeney single with one out in the ninth, August 31 vs. Kansas City...he became the first Twins pitcher to have a no-hitter broken up in the ninth inning since Steve Luebber, August 7, 1976 at Texas...Baker is just the second Twins player to finish with a one-hitter and have a no-hitter broken up in the ninth inning, the other was Gerry Arrigo on June 26, 1964 on a single to start the ninth inning vs. the White Sox...finished August with a 2.59 ERA...pitched 6-plus innings in 13 of 24 starts and 7-plus innings in 8 starts...had 12 quality starts.
2006
Began season with Minnesota ... was 1-1, 3.30 (16.1 ip, 6 er) in 3 starts, April 8-20 ... tied career-high 7.0 innings, April 26 at Kansas City ... career-high 8 strikeouts, May 20 at Milwaukee ... optioned to Rochester, June 1 ... pitched 6-plus innings in 7 consecutive starts, going 3-2, 2.92 (49.1 ip, 16 er), June 5-July 5 ... recalled July 13 and made 3 starts before being optioned August 1 ... while at Rochester went 2-2 with a 2.31 ERA in August ... was recalled September 1 ... beat the Yankees on September 2 allowing just one run over 5.0 innings ... picked up his fifth win of the season on September 17 as he allowed just one run on 6 hits over 6.0 innings at Cleveland . . . .finished the month going 2-1 with a 4.58 ERA.
2005
Began season at Rochester . . . was 2-0, 1.09 (33.0 ip, 4 er) in 6 starts, April 12-May 20 . . . Twins' Minor League Player of the Week, April 23-29 . . . recalled May 3 . . . made major league debut in relief, May 7 at Tampa Bay . . . optioned May 11 . . . recalled July 3 . . . made first career start, July 5 at Los Angeles (AL) . . . optioned July 10 . . . named International League Player of the Week, July 11-17 . . . was 3-0, 1.67 (27.0 ip, 5 er) in 4 starts, July 17-August 7 . . . recalled and recorded first major league win, July 23 at Detroit . . . optioned July 23 . . . pitched 6-plus innings in 15 of 22 starts with Rochester . . . led International League in ERA . . . recalled and tied season-high 5 strikeouts, August 29 at Kansas City . . . tied season-high 7.0 innings, September 16 vs. Chicago . . . pitched 6-plus innings in 4 of 9 starts . . . had 4 quality starts...rated 12th Best Prospect in International League
by
Baseball America.
2004
Began season at Ft. Myers . . . was 2-2, 2.16 (25.0 ip, 6 er) in 4 starts,
April 10-25 . . . was 2-0, 2.70 (20.0 ip, 6 er) in 3 starts, May 1-12 . . . pitched
6-plus innings in 6 of 7 starts . . . had 5 quality starts . . . promoted to New
Britain, May 16 . . . season-high 3-game win-streak, going 3-0, 1.50 (30.0 ip, 5 er) in 4 starts, May 18-June 3 . . . tossed
complete game shutout and season-high 9.0 innings, June 3 at New Hampshire . . . season-high 14 strikeouts, July 16
vs. Bingamton . . . pitched 6-plus innings in 10 of 11 starts and 7-plus innings in 7 of 11 starts . . . had 7 quality starts
. . . promoted to Rochester, July 21 . . . was 0-1, 2.89 (28.0 ip, 9 er) in 4 starts, July 26-August 11 . . . won Jim Rantz
Award as Twins' Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
2003
Season-high 3-game win-streak, going 3-0, 1.80 (25.0 ip, 5 er) in 5 starts, July 11-August 13 . . . season-high
8 strikeouts, July 18 vs. Wisconsin . . . disabled with pulled groin, July 24-August 4 . . . tied season-high 6.0 innings,
August 18 vs. South Bend . . . had .151 (11-73) batting-average-against with one homer vs. lefthanders.
