Scott Baker (bakersc02)

From BR Bullpen

Timothy Scott Baker

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 4", Weight 221 lb.
School Oklahoma State University
High School Captain Shreve High School
Debut May 7, 2005
Born September 19, 1981 in Shreveport, LA USA

[edit] Biographical Information

Scott Baker has pitched in the majors for the Minnesota Twins since 2006.

Baker was an All-State pitcher in high school in 2000. In 2001, he had a 6-2, 4.05 record as a college freshman at Oklahoma State University. He went 6-3 with a 4.23 ERA as a sophomore. In his junior season, Scott had a 10-5, 3.79 record with 29 BB in 112 IP. He tied two other hurlers for the Big 12 Conference lead in wins and made the All-Conference team. The Minnesota Twins took him in the 2nd round of the 2003 amateur draft and signed him for a $600,000 bonus.

Baker made his professional debut with the Quad City River Bandits, going 3-1 with a 2.49 ERA and an impressive 47 K to 8 BB in 50 2/3 IP. Scott climbed the Twins ladder in 2004, making stops with the Fort Myers Miracle (4-2, 2.40, 6 BB and 37 K in 45 IP), New Britain Rock Cats (5-3, 2.43, 72 K and 13 BB, .173 opponent batting average in 69 2/3 IP) and the Rochester Red Wings (1-3, 4.97), reaching AAA in his first full season in the minors. Baseball America labeled him the 12th-best starting pitcher prospecti n baseball and the #17 prospect in the Eastern League.

In 2005, Scott had a 5-8, 3.01 mark for Rochester, with a .198 average by left-handers, 1.74 BB/9 and 7.15 K/9. He led the International League in ERA and made his big-league debut with the Twins, going 3-3 with a 3.35 ERA in 10 solid outings.

Baker struggled badly in several stints with the 2006 Twins (5-8, 6.37, .324 opponent average, 17 HRA in 83 1/3 IP) but did well with Rochester (5-4, 2.67), splitting his year almost evenly between the two clubs. He became a full-time member of the Twins starting rotation in 2007, when he started 23 games with a 9-9 record. He spent all of 2008 in Minnesota, improving to 11-4, 3.45, in 28 starts and 172 innings. He was the Twins' ace in 2009, going 15-9 and reaching 200 innings for the first time. He started the one-game playoff with the Detroit Tigers that gave the team the AL Central title, but as a result did not start any of the games in the ALDS agaisnt the New York Yankees, as the Twins were swept in three games and he was slated to start Game 4, had it been necessary.

Sources: 2004-2007 Baseball Almanacs, MLB.com