page_title: Matt Wieters
section_title: Minor leagues
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Wieters / Professional career / Minor leagues
caption_attribution_description: Matt Wieters
context_page_description: Matthew Richard Wieters is an American professional baseball catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals.
  Wieters played college baseball for Georgia Tech and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles with the fifth overall selection in the 2007 MLB draft. He made his MLB debut in 2009. Wieters is a four-time MLB All-Star and has won two Gold Glove Awards. Wieters played for the Orioles through the 2016 season before becoming a free agent.
context_section_description: Going into the 2008 season, he was ranked 12th by Baseball America on their 2008 Top 100 Prospects List and was the highest ranked catcher on the list. He attended 2008 spring training with the Orioles, starting the season with their Class A affiliate the Frederick Keys. He gained a midseason promotion to the Double-A Bowie Baysox.
  In 130 games for the Keys and Baysox, hit a combined .355 BA/.454 OBP/.600 SLG with 27 home runs and 91 RBI. Wieters earned the 2008 Minor League Player of the Year honors from Baseball America. According to Clay Davenport's measure EqA, Wieters had one of the single best seasons in recorded minor league history. His EqAs of .301 and .349 were the highest marks in their respective leagues in the last 40 years  (although this would later turn out to be partially a result of inflated league difficulty factors ).
  Wieters participated in the 2008 Arizona Fall League season, playing for the Surprise Rafters.  He was also selected to play in the Fall League's Rising Stars game. Wieters hit .343 in 35 spring training at bats for the Orioles in 2009, but was sent down to Triple-A Norfolk to start the season.
  He was named the No. 2 prospect in MiLB by Minor League News in the MLN FAB50 Baseball 2009 rankings.
caption: Wieters made his Major League Baseball debut on May 29, 2009.
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