Michael Patrick Barrett...Married with two
children...Is a 1995 graduate of Pace Academy in Atlanta...
As a senior was the Gatorade State Player of the
Year and was selected to the All-USA high school baseball
team...Played for the USA Baseball junior national team in
1994...Has worked with Make-A-Wish Foundation as well as
with local children's hospitals throughout his career...Was
originally drafted by Montreal as a shortstop in 1995 but
converted to a catcher at the end of the 1995 Instructional
League campaign.
2008
Appeared in 30 games with the San Diego
Padres & hit .202 (19-94) with three doubles, two home
runs, nine RBI & nine runs scored...BEHIND THE PLATE:
Played all 30 contests as the catcher including 29
starts...Threw out six base runners in 49 stolen base attempts...
Committed two errors in 223 total chances and finished
with a .991 fielding % in 252.1 innings behind the
plate...Hit his first home run of the season on June 7 vs.
NYM, marked his first long ball since June 10, 2007 at ATL
with the Cubs...ON THE SHELF: Missed 118 games while
on the disabled list...Suffered a sprained ligament in his
right elbow on Apr. 7 at SF...Placed on the 15-day DL on
Apr. 8 & reinstated on May 24...Placed on the 15-day disabled
list on July 4 (retro to July 3) with facial fractures...Suffered
the injury when he fouled a ball back off his face in the
top of the 3rd inning on July 2 at COL...Had surgery at
Scripps Clinic on July 13 & was performed by Doctors Andrew
Beros, Joel Berger & Asa Dan Morton to repair multiple
facial & nasal fractures...Did not play the rest of the
season & was transferred to the 60-day disabled list on
Sept. 11.
2007
SUMMARY: Started 31 games for the Padres behind the plate...acquired by the Padres on 6/20 along with cash considerations from the Cubs in exchange for catcher Rob Bowen and minor league outfielder Kyler Burke...hit .244 (84-for-344) on the season, going 30-for-133 (.226) in 44 game for the Padres...went 1-for-8 (.125) as a pinch-hitter on the year...finished the season with 95 career home runs...was placed on the disabled list 8/11 with concussion-like symptoms; reinstated 9/1...missed 19 games...pinch-hit 8/4 vs. SF, appearing in his 1,000th career game...ejected 7/22 vs. PHI after arguing a called strike...served a one-game suspension 7/27 at HOU after dropping his appeal.
IN THE WINDY CITY: Batted .256 (54-for-211) with nine doubles, nine home runs, 29 RBI and 23 runs scored in 57 games for the Cubs before being traded to the Padres...hit in a season-long eight straight games, 5/5-13 with Chicago, going 10-for-31 (.323) over the stretch.
2006
Barrett made a run for the batting title, but was unable to total enough plate appearances to qualify. He was sidelined in early September by a serious injury (intrascrotal hematoma), and finished the season on the disabled list. His 107 games played was a personal low, but he did match his season best with 16 home runs. Barrett also missed time when he served a 10-game suspension in June for punching White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski.
2005
Michael won his first career Silver Slugger Award in a season in which he batted .276 with 32 doubles, 16 home
runs and 61 RBI ... his 16 homers ranked second among National League catchers, as only New York's Mike Piazza hit more (19).
© tied his career mark in homers and appeared in the second-highest number of games in his career (133) ... fell 1 double shy and 4 RBI shy of his career mark in those categories ... finished fourth on the club with 22 two-out RBI ... batted .286 with 8 RBI when he came to bat with the bases loaded ... hit better than .300 in May, July and August ... his best month of the season was May, when he hit .348 with 11 RBI in 21 games ... recorded a .320 average off left-handed pitchers, going 40-for-125 with 13 doubles, 7 homers and 24 RBI ... had a season-best nine-game hitting streak from May 7-May 18 ... batted .387 with 2 doubles, a homer and 6 RBI ... recorded his third career 2-homer game June 7 against Toronto, hitting a pair of solo roundtrippers ... drove in a season-high 4 runs June 14 in a 14-0 defeat of Florida, hitting a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and a 3-run homer in the eighth inning ... tied his career mark in homers on the final day of the season, hitting a solo homer off Houston's Roy Oswalt in a 6-4 loss to the Astros.
2004
Michael had one of his most productive years at the plate in his first season with the Cubs, establishing
career marks in homers (16) and RBI (65) while batting .287 ... had 32 doubles and 6 triples ... struck out just 64 times in 506 plate appearances ... had 38 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI affairs ... ranked eighth in the National League among catchers
with a .994 fielding percentage ... hit safely in 12 straight games August 14-28 for his third career double-digit hitting streak ... batted .396 over the span ... was most productive in 46 games in July and August, batting .316 with 13 doubles, 4 triples, 4 homers and 18 RBI ... hit .300 or better for the months of April, May, July and August ... made his first Cubs Opening Day start (and the sixth of his big league career) April 5 at Cincinnati ... went 2-for-4 with a triple and 1 RBI ...
recorded his first career multi-homer game April 15 vs. Pittsburgh, taking Josh Fogg deep twice in a 10-5 Cub win ... had his second career 2-homer game just over a month later, hitting a pair of solo homers off St. Louis' Chris Carpenter in a 7-6 Cardinals victory on May 21 ... hit a pinch grand slam off Pittsburgh's Mike Johnston in the first game of a doubleheader on
May 28 ... it was his first career grand slam as well as his first career pinch homer.
2003
Michael was at his defensive best in his final season with Montreal, recording a .998 fielding percentage and committing just 1 error ... at the plate, he batted .208 with 10 homers and 30 RBI in 70 games...caught 4 of the 10 shutouts hurled by Montreal pitchers - and threw out 10 of the 26 baserunners who
attempted to steal off him...struck out just 37 times in 252 plate appearances...had his best stretch at the plate June 29-July 25, as he hit .370 with 4 homers and 15 RBI over a 16-game span.
on July 26, though, he strained his right hip flexor and was placed on the disabled list.
while on an injury rehab stint at Edmonton (AAA), he fractured his left index finger during a play at
the plate ... was not activated until September 10.
with 41 extra-base hits and 38 RBI.
2002
Batted .263 with 49 RBI in 117 games ... opened the season by homering in back-to-back games for the first time in his career ... on April 2 vs. Florida, he doubled and hit a solo shot, then followed up with another solo homer April 3 ... the Opening Day start was his fourth in as many years ... had one of the best months of his career in April, as he hit .348 (24-69) with 8 doubles, 4 homers and 17 RBI ... also scored 10 runs and had 8 multi-hit games in 21 contests ... was the N.L. co-Player of the Week for April 8-April 14 after batting .467 (7-15) with 2 doubles, 2 homers and 13 RBI ... kicked off the week April 8 at Florida by driving in 5 runs ... tagged A.J. Burnett for a 2-run double in the 4th inning, then followed up with a 3-run homer off Burnett in his next at-bat ... established his career RBI mark in his next game, driving in 6 runs April 10 at Florida ...
hit a sacrifice fly, a 3-run double and a 9th inning 2-run homer ... set a club record with his 2-game 11-RBI span ... had 29 multi-hit games ... hit safely in seven straight games August 15-August 24, homering twice and driving in seven runs ... saw action in his first six career games at first base - including two starts.
2001
Became Montreal's everyday catcher in his third season, playing in a career-high 132 games ... batted .250 with 41 extra-base hits and 38 RBI ... led all N.L. catchers with 33 doubles ... had a career-high 12-game hitting streak June 10-June 24, batting .340 (17-50) with 6 extra-base hits and 6 RBI ... had a .993 fielding percentage, committing 7 errors in 938 total chances ... made his first career Opening Day start as a catcher.
2000
Struggled in his sophomore season, bouncing between Montreal and Ottawa (AAA) ... hit .214 in 89 games for Montreal ... had 15 doubles and 22 RBI in three stints with the big league club ... saw action at both third base (55 games) and catcher
(28 games) ... batted .358 in 31 Triple-A games with 13 multi-hit contests.
1999
Spent his first full season with Montreal, where he batted .293 with 8 homers and 52 RBI ... led all N.L. rookies with 32 doubles ... also ranked among rookie leaders in hits (sixth), extra-base hits (third), RBI (eighth), runs (eighth) and multihit
games (sixth) ... struck out just 39 times in 469 plate appearances ... split the year defensively between third base and
catcher, appearing in 66 games (62 starts) at third and 59 behind the plate (51 starts) ... also saw action in two games at shortstop ... made his first career Opening Day start at third ... had an 11-game hitting streak August 20-September 3, batting .419 (18-43) with 2 homers and 9 RBI ... had his first career 4-RBI game August 23 vs. St. Louis, going 3-for-5 with a 3-run homer ... also drove in 4 runs September 12 at San Diego - including a 3-run roundtripper.
1998
Received a September call-up to Montreal, hitting .304 in 8 games in his first big league stint ... made his major league debut September 19 at Philadelphia, starting at third base ... recorded his first hit the next day - a single off
Philadelphia's Paul Byrd ... homered off Byrd in his next at-bat ... spent most of the year at Harrisburg (AA), where
he batted .320 with 32 doubles, 19 homers and 87 RBI ... was selected to the Eastern League all-star team.
1997
Hit .284 at Class A West Palm Beach and threw out 33% of opposing baserunners, up from 23% a year earlier... Made the Florida State League All-Star team then went on to star with the Honolulu Sharks in the Hawaii Winter League.
1996
The one-time shortstop switched positions in the off-season, spending the season as a catcher for Delmarva (A).
1995
Saw action at Gulf Coast (Rookie) and Vermont (A) during his first professional campaign.