Matt Blank

Early life

Blank, a Texas native, finished high school at James W. Martin in Arlington. The New York Yankees picked him in the 1994 draft's 37th round, but he passed and went to Galveston College.

A year later, the Florida Marlins chose him in the 40th round of the 1995 draft; he again turned them down. He then moved to Texas A&M University. During the summer of 1996, he played for the Wareham Gatemen in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Professional career

Blank was drafted in the 11th round of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft by the Montreal Expos after not being drafted in an earlier year. In 1998, he split time between the Class-A Cape Fear Crocs and Advanced-A Jupiter Hammerheads, combining for a 14–3 record, 2.54 ERA, and 140 strikeouts in 177 innings. He began 1999 with Jupiter, earned a promotion to Double-A Harrisburg Senators, and finished the minor league season at 15–8 with a 3.14 ERA and 108 strikeouts in 175 innings.

Blank was added to the Expos roster at the start of 2000 to fill in for Graeme Lloyd and made his MLB debut on April 3, pitching one scoreless inning in a 10–4 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He made 13 relief appearances for the Expos that year, going 0–1 with a 5.14 ERA and four strikeouts in 14 innings. He spent the entire 2002 season with the Lynx, posting an 11–7 record, 3.24 ERA, and 92 strikeouts in 147 innings.

Did You Know?

• Blank was drafted three times before signing: by the Yankees in the 37th round in 1994, by the Marlins in the 40th round in 1995, and finally by the Expos in the 11th round in 1997.
• Blank was traded to the San Francisco Giants as the player to be named later in a deal that sent Jim Brower to the Giants for Edwards Guzmán, Liván Hernández, and cash.
• In August 2006, Blank was traded back to the San Diego Padres organization for Jim Brower—the same player he had been traded with to the Giants in 2003.