Matt LaPorta #7

Full name MATTHEW VINCENT LaPORTA...Married, Dara...One daughter, Sienna (9/4/2011)...Father, Vince, played football at the College of DuPage and mother is now a teacher and is a graduate of the University of Florida... Member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes...Majored in recreation and event management...Played 4 years of baseball at Charlotte (FL) High School...Second-team all-state selection in Class 5A by the Florida Sports Writers Association his senior year after batting .455 w/53 RBI and a school-record 10HR... Selected in the 14th round of the 2003 draft as a catcher by the Chicago Cubs and in the 14th round by the Red Sox in 2006...Also played 2 years of football...Played in the Cape Cod League in 2004 and 2006... Matt participates in appearances at local businesses during the season...He and his wife, Dara, participate in the annual Shop With A Pro event...He is active in the Tribe's annual Faith Day and Youth For Christ programs...Visited Haiti to provide earthquake relief in the 2011-12 off-season.

2012

Spent virtually the entire season at AAA Columbus where he split time between first base (52 games) and left field (25 games)...Spent two stints with Cleveland, June 3-12, and August 24 thru the end of the season...Season got off to a hot start, hitting .304 (75-247) in 67 first half games with 14 2B, 17HR & 43 RBI (.968OPS) and ranked in the top 10 in the International League in slugging pct., homers, OPS, average, total bases, runs, on-base pct. and RBI...Hit .188 (24-128) in the second half with 5 2B, 2HR & 19RBI in 34 games and at the time of his second August 24th recall to Cleveland ranked 9th in the International League in slugging pct. (.472) and home runs (19), tied for 10th in RBI (62) and 11th in OPS (.822). Hit .294 off left-handed pitching at Triple-A (.252 off RHP) and had 14HR/37RBI in 49 home games in Huntington Park... Over his first June stint with Cleveland he was 2-for-11 with a RS in 3 games in over his August/September stint he was 12-for-47 (.255) with 2 2B, 1HR & 5RBI in 18 games (.647OPS)....With Cleveland he made 8 starts at first base (11 games) and 7 starts at DH...Collected a season-high 3 hits and only HR of the Major League season on September 13 at Texas...HR came off Derek Holland...On the year drew just 1 walk in 60 plate appearances for an on-base pct of .267. Underwent a left hip arthroscopy in Nashville, TN on October 18...The procedure was performed by Dr. Thomas Byrd of the Nashville Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center (debridement of the left hip joint,same hip as 2009 procedure)... Outrighted off the 40-man roster on November 20.

2011

Spent virtually the entire season in Cleveland and was the club's primary first baseman for much of the season...Made 89 starts at first base (97 games) and 7 starts at DH...Enjoyed his second career 4-hit game on May 16 at Kansas City and hit his second career walk-off HR on July 30 vs. Kansas City off Joakim Soria (2nd of his career)...Was on the 15-day disabled list for the first time in his career from June 18-July 6 after spraining his right ankle running the bases on June 17 vs. Pittsburgh...Optioned to AAA Columbus from August 30-September 8 after hitting .238 (76-319) w/11HR & 44RBI thru his first 97 games of the season (.694OPS)...Appeared in only 2 games at AAA Columbus, both multi-hit games (4-9, HR, 3RBI, 2RS), due to the birth of first child on September 4... After his September 9 recall he hit .333 (11-33) with 5 2B & 9 RBI in 10 games (9 GS at first base, .874OPS) and hit in a season-high 8 straight games from Sept. 10-26...Average went down 4 straight months from April thru July (.247; .240; .239; .217)...Hit .297 (35-188) batting 7th with 8 2B, 2HR & 15RBI in 33 starts (.741OPS)...Hit .250 (33-132) with runners on base.

2010

Spent most of the season in Cleveland save a 3 week stint in AAA Columbus in June...Was the Tribe's opening day first baseman at Chicago, his first career opening day start...Batted .218 (26-119) with 13 runs scored, 4 doubles, a home run and 7RBI in 35 games before being optioned to Columbus on June 7 to get more at bats. ...Recalled from Columbus on June 27 and spent the remainder of the season with Cleveland after Russell Branyan was traded to Seattle and was the club's primary first baseman over the last 3 months of the season...Homered in 3 straight games, June 29-July 1 upon his return. ...Hit .362 (25-69) with 7 runs scored, 4 doubles, 5HR and 16RBI in 18 games with the Clippers. LaPorta hit safely in 14 of the 18 games and had a .457 on-base percentage and a .638 slugging percentage (1.094 OPS) while with the Clippers. ...Was hot upon his return, hitting .286 (30-105) with 6 2B, 4HR & 16 RBI in 30 games from June 27-July 31...Cooled over the last 2 months, hitting .147 (19-129) from August 10 thru the end of the season...Hit .153 (11-72) in 22 Sept/ Oct games with 2 2B, 3HR, & 7RBI...Reached base safely via hit or walk in 80 of 110 games...In his 2nd stint with Cleveland from June 27th-on he hit .222 (57-257) with 11 2B, 11HR & 34RBI in 75 games but did record an OPS of .714 in those contests...Made 93 starts at first base and recorded a fielding % of (.997) at first...Also made 7 starts in LF and 8 starts at DH...Hit game-winning single on July 3 vs. Oakland in the 10th inning and a walk-off game winning on August 6th vs. Minnesota...Hit a grand slam, the first of his career, and collected a career-high 4RBI on Sept. 18 at KC off Sean O'Sullivan...Hit .235 (38-162) with runners on base, .271 (19-70) when batting 5th and .205 (9-44) with RISP-2outs.

2009

Split the season between AAA Columbus and Cleveland, his first taste at the Major League level in just his 2nd full professional season...LaPorta spent the majority of the 2009 season at AAA Columbus where he hit .299 (101-338) with 23 2B, 2 3B, 17HR & 60RBI in 93 games for the Clippers...He finished 4th in the International League in slugging % (.530), 5th in on-base % (.388), 2nd in OPS (.917) & T11th in HR (17) despite not playing at the Triple-A level after August 19...Was 12th in the league in batting average...He hit .307 (31-101) with runners in scoring position at Columbus and hit .309 (17-55) in August with 4 HR & 11 RBI in 16 games (.996OPS)...At AAA he appeared in 44 games in the OF and 46 games at first base (11GS in OF w/CLE, 1GS @1B)...Hit cleanup in all 93 games and hit at least .290 with an OPS over .800 in each of his four full months in Columbus (April, June, July, August)...Spent two stints with Cleveland from May 2-26 (.190, 8-42, HR, 4RBI) and then from August 19 through the end of the season...Made his Major League debut on May 3 at Detroit and collected his first hit/home run on May 4 at Toronto (Tallet)...Recalled a second and final time on August 19 and promptly hit in a career-high 10 straight games from August 20-29 (.410, 2 HR & 6 RBI)...Enjoyed a career-high 4 hits (4-4, 2B) on August 29 at Baltimore & career-high 3 RBI on August 20 vs. LA Angels...During his 2nd stint after August 19 he hit .273 (38-139) with 12 2B, 6 HR & 17 RBI in 39 games (.805 OPS)...Overall with Cleveland he made 29 starts in LF, 10 starts in RF and 10 starts at first base...Bothered by nagging hip and toe injuries late in the season (suffered in season's last game) that required surgery on October 14 in Vail, Colo., under the same anesthesia...The arthroscopic hip surgery was performed by Dr. Marc Philippon (debridement of a bony impingement in the joint) and the left great toe procedure was performed by Dr. Thomas Clanton, who stabilized the loose joint...Hit .286 (16-56) with 4 HR & 8 RBI (.923 OPS)...Was T8th among AL rookies in HR (7)...Named the 2nd best prospect in organization by Baseball America entering 2009 and the 14th overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com

2008

Acquired from Milwaukee on July 7 in 5-player trade that sent CC Sabathia to the Brewers...Combined on the season he hit .279 (101-362) with 24 2B, 22HR & 74RBI in 101 games (.386OB/.539SLG/924OPS) between AA Huntsville and AA Akron and also spent 3 ½ weeks in August in Beijing, China playing in the 2008 Olympics for Team USA...Finished 7th among all Double A hitters in slugging % and T11th in HR (22) in just 362 at bats...After the season was named to the Baseball America Minor League All-Star Team (all levels) and the Baseball America Double A All-Star Team...Entered 2008 as the #1 prospect & Best Power Hitter in the Brewers system by Baseball America and was designated in July as the 7th best prospect overall in the entire minor leagues & #4 Southern League and best power hitter prospect by BA...Played in the 2008 Futures Game in Yankee Stadium and was a Southern League All-Star...Started his first full professional season at AA Huntsville and quickly acclimated to Double A baseball, driving in 36 runs over his first 31 games...At the time of the trade he was leading Southern League in homers (20), is 2nd in RBI (66) and extra base hits (41), 3rd in slugging % (.576), 6th in on-base % (.402) and tied for 5th with 56 runs....Appeared in 79 games in OF and 2 games at 1B at Huntsville...Hit .299 (26-87) in April w/7HR & 26RBI (25G) and .305 (25-82) in June w/5HR & 15RBI (24G)...Hit .313 (51-163) w/runners on and .307 (31-101) w/RISP...His 20 HR were T2nd among all Brewers farmhands despite not playing at game w/them after July 5...Reported to Akron and played his first game on July 9 and was 6 for his first 16 (.375, HR, 4RBI) before leaving the team for 8 days after a death in the family...Played in 10 more games before leaving the team on July 28 for the Olympic games, where he hit .158 (3-19) w/2HR & 4RBI and missed 3 games after being hit in the head by a pitch vs. China...HR'd in bronze medal winning game vs. Japan...Reported back to Akron on August 28 and hit .320 (8-25) in 8 Eastern League playoff games w/a 2B, 3HR & 6RBI (.500OB%, 7BB)...Played 17 games for Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League after the season(12RBI)... Named the 2nd best prospect in organization by Baseball America entering 2009 and the 14th overall prospect in baseball by MLB.com

2007

Selected in the first round (7th overall) in the 2007 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Florida...Was the third time he was drafted...Ended 2007 w/a 14-game hitting streak at Class A West Virginia, batting .358 (19-for-53) with 8 HR and 20 RBI...Following the season played for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League (.241, 6HR, 22RBI)...Tied for the AFL lead in home runs.