Jeff Mathis

Jeffrey Stephen Mathis (born March 31, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher.

He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Toronto Blue Jays, Miami Marlins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers and Atlanta Braves.

Mathis was born and raised in Marianna, Florida, the son of Danny and Bunnee Mathis.

He has one brother, Jake Mathis, who played in the minor leagues.

At Marianna High School, Mathis played both football and baseball, winning four district titles and a regional title.

He also appeared in the 1999 state title game in baseball, along with the state championship game in football in 2000.

Mathis was drafted in the first round by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim out of high school in 2001, which he accepted in lieu of attending Florida State University.

He quickly moved up the ranks, and by 2005, he was with the Salt Lake Bees at the Triple-A level.

In 2005, he had a .276 batting average with 21 home runs across 111 games.

Noted for his defensive skills, he also earned the Angels' minor league Defensive Player of the Year award.

Following the 2005 season, the Angels declined to pursue the return of their free agent starting catcher, Bengie Molina, allowing Mathis to take Molina's spot.

After a solid 2006 spring training, Mathis was expected to see substantial playing time at catcher, sharing the position with José Molina.

However, once the regular season began, he struggled greatly on both defense and offense.

The Angels demoted him back to the minor leagues about one month into the season.

Mathis was replaced on the Angels roster by catcher Mike Napoli, who later became a very offensive-minded catcher that transitioned to being a first baseman and designated hitter for his offensive prowess.

He was later recalled back to the majors on September 1.

Overall in 2006 he played 23 games, having a .145 batting average and collecting 8 hits with 2 doubles and 2 home runs.

Mathis entered the 2007 season fighting for the two catcher positions with Mike Napoli and José Molina.

He would end up being sent back to the minors with the Salt Lake Bees.

In the beginning of July, Napoli sustained a high ankle sprain, making the Angels recall Mathis to the majors.

He made his first season start on July 4 against the Texas Rangers.

He went 0 for 2, ground and flying out in a 2–4 loss.

On July 21, Molina was traded to the New York Yankees, making Napoli and Mathis hold the two catcher positions for the rest of the season.

The trade also indicated the Angels’ confidence in Mathis.

Overall in 2007, Mathis played in 59 games, accumulating 36 hits, with 12 doubles and 4 home runs while accruing a .211 batting average.

On July 23, 2008, Mathis had 4 hits and 6 RBI (the highest in a single game for both categories that season) in a 11–14 win against the Cleveland Indians.

Mathis noted that his team's pitcher, John Lackey, "obviously didn't have his best stuff today, but he kept battling through it... and luckily we were able to put some runs on the board for him."

Overall in 2008, Mathis played in 94 games, the most in a single season.

However, he had a batting average of .194, below the Mendoza Line.

In game 3 of the 2009 American League Championship Series, Mathis hit an 11th-inning walk-off RBI double, defeating the New York Yankees 5–4.

In spite of his poor regular season stats (.211 batting average), he used his strong playoff offensive performance and excellent defensive skill to bolster his case for a raise to $1.3 million, beating the Angels management in arbitration.

The arbitration hearing was also something of a watershed in the amount of consideration paid to Mathis' defensive statistics.

The LA Times highlighted the stark comparisons with competing catcher Mike Napoli: "in 657 innings with the agile Mathis behind the plate, Angels pitchers had a 3.99 earned-run average; they had a 4.86 ERA in 758 innings with Napoli catching. Mathis also caught 17 of 69 attempted base-stealers for a 24.6% success rate; Napoli, who will make $3.6 million in 2010 but is coming off two 20-homer seasons, caught 13 of 87 attempted base-stealers for a 14.9% success rate".

Mathis had been among the AL leaders in pitchers' earned run averages while behind the plate.

In 2010, Mathis was ranked by Beyond the Box Score as one of the worst defensive catchers in baseball.

He also matched his career-worst batting average of .194, while posting a sub-.500 OPS in over 200 at bats.

On December 3, 2011, following the acquisition of Chris Iannetta, he was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for pitcher Brad Mills.

Nine days later, Mathis signed a contract with the Blue Jays to avoid arbitration.

He signed a one-year deal and was guaranteed to earn $1.5 million.

Mathis made his first career pitching appearance in a game against the Texas Rangers on May 25.