Chris Volstad

Chris Volstad
Miami Marlins — No. 41
Pitcher
Born: September 23, 1986 (1986-09-23) (age 25) Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 6, 2008 for the Florida Marlins
Career statistics (through 2011)
Win-Loss	32-39
Earned run average	4.59
Strikeouts	378
Teams
Florida/Miami Marlins (2008-present)

Christopher Kenneth Volstad (born September 23, 1986 in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida) is a right-handed pitcher for the Miami Marlins. He is 6 foot 8 inches and 225 pounds, and is a 2005 graduate of Palm Beach Gardens High School.

Volstad was drafted with the 16th pick in the 2005 Major League Baseball Draft, the first of three first round picks for the Marlins that year.

High school career

Volstad graduated from Palm Beach Gardens (FL) High School in 2005, going 7-2 with one save and 0.41 ERA in 10 games as a senior, striking out 98 batters and walking just eight in 69.0 innings. He led his team deep into the regional playoffs, coming up one game short of States.

Minor league career

In his first season of professional baseball, Volstad went 4-3 in 13 starts (with 55 K's in 65 IP) between the GCL Marlins and Jamestown Jammers of the New York – Penn League (Short season A) with a 2.22 ERA.

Volstad never returned to Jamestown, instead starting out 2006 with the Greensboro Grasshoppers of the South Atlantic League (Class A). He went 11-8 over 26 starts with a 3.08 ERA. He was named the Marlins' #1 prospect in Baseball America's annual rankings.

Volstad started his second full pro season with the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League (Class A-Advanced). He struggled somewhat compared to his first season and a half, going 8-9 in 21 games (20 starts) with a 4.50 ERA. However, in later action with Florida's AA affiliate, the Carolina Mudcats of the Southern League, he improved to a 4-2 record and a 3.16 ERA.

In 2008, Volstad continued at Carolina, posting a 4-4 record, 3.36 ERA in 15 starts before being promoted to the major leagues.

Major league career

On July 6, 2008, the Marlins purchased Volstad's contract and added him to the active roster. He made his major league debut the same day in a game against the Colorado Rockies, earning the win with 2 scoreless innings from the bullpen.^[1]

On July 11, 2008 Volstad started his first major league game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning the win and baffling the Dodger hitters with a 94 mph fastball and sharp 12-6 curveball. Volstad pitched 8⅔ innings, and gave up 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 6. Volstad added his first major league hit in this game: a single off the Dodgers starter Eric Stults.

On August 7, 2008, Volstad delivered a masterful performance against the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies to reduce their lead in the division to 1½ games. He pitched 6 innings of shutout baseball, outdueling Cole Hamels of the Phillies.

On July 9, 2009, Volstad pitched what many could argue as the best game of his career. Against the San Francisco Giants, he pitched his first career complete game allowing only five hits and no runs. His win helped the Marlins avoid a sweep in San Francisco.

In late August 2009 he was sent to the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs^[2] after a 1⅔ inning start against the San Diego Padres.

In September 2010, Volstad was involved in a bench clearing brawl against the Washington Nationals. In the day's previous game, the Nationals' Nyjer Morgan intentionally ran into Marlins' catcher Brett Hayes on a play at home plate where Morgan was called out. Hayes separated his shoulder and it was determined later that night that he would miss the remainder of the season. In Morgan's first at-bat, Volstad threw at Morgan, hitting him. Morgan proceeded to steal two bases when the Marlins had an almost double digit lead, breaking an unwritten rule of ethics in the game. Offended by Morgan once again, Volstad threw another pitch at Morgan in his next at-bat, with it going behind Morgan's back. Morgan quickly charged the mound, despite the fact that Volstad stood nearly a foot taller than him. Morgan's punch at Volstad missed, and Morgan was promptly clotheslined by Marlins' first baseman Gaby Sanchez, resulting in the bench clearing brawl. Volstad was suspended for 6 games because of the incident.

References

1. ^ Frisaro, Joe (2008-07-06). "Volstad goes in rotation following debut". MLB.com. http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080706&content_id=3076446&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 
2. ^ Frisaro, Joe (2009-08-28). "Volstad optioned to Triple-A after loss". MLB.com. http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090828&content_id=6671638&vkey=news_fla&fext=.jsp&c_id=fla. Retrieved 2009-11-13. 

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)

Persondata
Name	Volstad, Chris
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 23, 1986
Place of birth	Palm Beach Gardens, Florida
Date of death
Place of death