Jason Motte

Jason Motte
St. Louis Cardinals – No. 30
Relief pitcher
Born: (1982-06-22) June 22, 1982
Bats: Right Throws: Right
debut
September 3, 2008, for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics (through May 1, 2011)
Win-loss record	8–6
Earned run average	3.12
Strikeouts	135
Saves	3
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2008–present)

Jason Louis Motte (born June 22, 1982 in Port Huron, Michigan) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals.

Career

Motte graduated from Valley Central High School in 2000 where he was a catcher.

Originally a catcher in the minor leagues, he converted into a pitcher in 2006 after he broke his thumb and his batting average dropped. Since then, he has soared in the minor leagues and was added to the Cardinals 40-man roster in early December 2007 to avoid the rule 5 draft as one of the Cardinals' top pitching prospects. He was called up from the minors on September 2, 2008.

Motte spent the majority of the 2008 season with the Memphis Redbirds, the St. Louis Cardinals' Triple-A farm team from the Pacific Coast League. Motte would go on to have a total of 12 appearances in 2008 with a microscopic ERA of 0.82 in the big leagues. In 11 innings of relief, Motte struck out 16 batters, allowed 3 walks, and 5 hits. Motte earned his first save on September 18 against Cincinnati in their ballpark, getting the final out in the ninth inning, with a fly ball to left field.

Motte's primary pitch is a fastball, which was clocked in the upper 90s during 2008. During the 2008–2009 off-season, he added a slider as a secondary pitch, which he continues to work on and develop.

During the 2009 spring training camp, Motte competed with Ryan Franklin and Chris Perez in an attempt to earn the role as the Cardinals' 2009 closer; Manager Tony LaRussa said there would be no closer, and that he would use a mix of relievers in the ninth inning. Motte was called on to save the first game. However, when called upon, Motte gave up four runs to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the ninth inning. Pittsburgh won 6–4. After this blown save opportunity, Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa moved Motte into a middle reliever role. Since blowing the save on opening day, and despite occasional rough outings (resulting in a 4.59 ERA) Motte had recorded 14 holds During the 2011 season, Motte became the primary closer for the Cardinals. Motte soared as the Cardinals closer in 2011, helping his team win the Wild Card. Motte pitched in two games against the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2011 NLDS, where the Cardinals won the series 3 games to 2. Motte also pitched in 3 games in the 2011 NLCS against team rival the Milwaukee Brewers. The Cardinals also won this series in 5 games. Motte was on the mound for the final out of the NLCS winning the Cardinals their 18th pennant. He was also a member of the Sanford Mainers of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

On October 20, 2011 Jason Motte blew a save during Game 2 of the 2011 World Series. Motte gave up a single to Ian Kinsler. Kinsler then stole second base like the hero that he is shortly before Elvis Andrus hit a single to shallow right-center field, advancing Kinsler to 3rd base. On the cutoff throw Albert Pujols was charged with an error after he failed to make a basic cutoff catch. On the next 2 pitches of the game, Josh Hamilton and Michael Young hit consecutive sacrifice fly balls allowing Kinsler and Andrus to score. The Rangers ended up winning the game 2-1 and Jason Motte was charged with the loss.

Motte is known by his fans as "The Sauce" and when he strikes out an opposing batter the fans yell, "The Sauce is Boss".

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)
• Motte player profile page at Scout.com