Clint Barmes

Clint Harold Barmes

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.
• School Indiana State University, Olney Central Community College
• High School Lincoln High School
• Debut September 5, 2003
• Final Game October 4, 2015
• Born March 6, 1979 in Vincennes, IN USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Barmes signs his autograph for a fan.

Clint Barmes played over 1,000 games in the majors. He is the nephew of Bruce Barmes.

College and Minors

Clint tied an Indiana State Sycamores record with a 30-game hitting streak in 2000. He led the Missouri Valley Conference with 7 triples and 146 total bases (tied with Ryan Howard, stole 20 bases and scored 63 runs. He tied for 10th in NCAA Division I in triples, made All-Conference at shortstop and was named the Conference Newcomer of the Year (he had transferred from junior college). He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 10th round of the 2000 amateur draft, one round before Brad Hawpe. He was signed by scout Ty Coslow and made his pro debut that summer.

He began his career well with the Portland Rockies (.282/.361/.392, 37 runs scored in 45 games) and was promoted to the Asheville Tourists (.173/.269/.222 in 19 games) to finish 2000. In 2001, he played for Asheville (.260/.314/.368, 21 steals in 28 attempts in 74 games) and the Salem Avalanche (.248/.350/.322 in 38 games) with 35 errors combined. He was 5th in the Rockies farm chain with 25 steals (between Chone Figgins and Ender Chavez). He continued to develop with the 2002 Carolina Mudcats, producing at a .272/.329/.436 rate with 15 home runs and 15 steals (caught 11 times) while making 33 errors and fielding .940. Despite missing three weeks with a hand fracture, he was 8th in the Rockies chain in dingers and tied Nick Green for 7th in the Southern League. Clint was named the SL's All-Star shortstop, joining Dave Kelton, Aaron Miles and Donny Leon on the infield. He played for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League. Barmes hit .276/.316/.394 for the 2003 Colorado Springs Sky Sox, cutting his error total to 28 and fielding .953. He trailed only Jayson Nix and Bernie Gonzalez for doubles (35) in the Rockies system. In the 2003 PCL, he tied ex-big leaguers Phil Hiatt and Adam Riggs for the doubles lead and his 385 assists led all shortstops.

2003-2010: Rockies

A September call-up to the majors, Clint hit 8th and played short in his debut for the 2003 Rockies. He flew out and singled against Kazuhisa Ishii and fanned versus Guillermo Mota before exiting for pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney. He had his first RBI the next day, doubling off Odalis Perez to score Garrett Atkins. For the season, he was 8 for 25 with 2 runs, 2 RBI and 2 doubles in the majors. Colorado picked up Royce Clayton to be their shortstop in 2004 and Barmes was back in Triple A. He excelled for Colorado Springs (.328/.376/.505, 42 doubles, 16 homers, 20 steals, 104 runs scored, .964 fielding percentage). He went 0 for 3 in the PCL's 4-3 loss in the 2004 AAA All-Star Game; Erick Almonte replaced him at shortstop. He was among the 2004 PCL leaders in runs scored (tied with Adam Riggs for second behind Nick Swisher), hits (175, 1st by 11 over Royce Huffman), doubles (tied with Tracy for 2nd, one behind Garrett Atkins), average (8th, between Trent Hubbard and Jason Conti). He was named the PCL All-Star shortstop. Among Rockies farmhands, he led in hits (6 more than Danny Sandoval), was second to Jeff Salazar in runs, tied for 7th in both steals and runs scored and tied Tracy for second in doubles behind Atkins. He was 6th in the affiliated minors in hits behind Erick Aybar, Brandon Moss, Jhonny Peralta, Brian Stavisky and Wilson Valdez. Baseball America ranked him the PCL's 5th best prospect that year. Colorado called him up and he hit .282/.320/.437 for the 2004 Rockies. He got his first MLB homer, off Carl Pavano, as well as his second.

Barmes began his 2005 in superb form. On Opening Day, he went 4 for 6 with a game-winning homer off Trevor Hoffman to break a 10-10 tie; he was the first rookie to hit a walk-off homer on Opening Day in MLB history. It was also Clint's only walk-off dinger in the majors. He was hitting .410/.467/.639 through the end of April and was named the NL Rookie of the Month. His season was derailed when he was injured carrying deer meat up stairs to his apartment June 5; at the time, he was 7th in the 2005 NL with a .329 average. After 7 rehab games in the minors in late August, he returned in September, but struggled (.216/.256/.288 in 27 games) the rest of the way. He finished the 2005 Rockies season with a .289/.330/.434 batting line, 10 home runs and 55 runs scored in 81 games; his OPS+ was 90. He fielded .958 and his 17 errors tied Felipe Lopez for second among shortstops in the league despite missing half the year, one behind Jose Reyes.

As the regular shortstop for the 2006 Rockies, Barmes put up miserable offensive numbers (.220/.264/.335, 47 OPS+) while fielding .969. He tied Cory Sullivan for second in the 2006 NL with 19 sacrifice hits, one behind Roy Oswalt. His glove may have made up for his bat according to some metrics, as his Defensive Wins Above Replacement was 3.2, second to Adam Everett in the league. He only hit into two double plays, the lowest rate in the league. With uber-prospect Troy Tulowitzki up with the 2007 Rockies, Barmes was back in the minor leagues. He had three stints with the major league club (8 for 37, 3 doubles, a walk, 5 runs scored, RBI) while hitting .299/.364/.451 with 11 homers for the Sky Sox. He laid down 22 sacrifice hits, easily leading the 2007 Pacific Coast League by 10 over Val Pascucci. He was 0 for 1 with a RBI in the 2007 AAA All-Star Game before being replaced by Robert Andino; the PCL fell, 7-5. He began 2008 back on the Rockies' bench and wound up their most used second baseman; he hit .290/.322/.468 for a career-high 98 OPS+; he fielded .978 while missing some time with a right knee injury.

Barmes was the starting second baseman for the 2009 Rockies and hit .245/.294/.440 with 32 doubles, 23 home runs and 76 RBI while fielding .982. His OPS+ was down to 82. He set franchise single season records for home runs and RBI by a second baseman, topping Eric Young Sr.'s mark for RBI (74, set 13 years prior) and Jose Ortiz's homer mark (13 in 2001). He was among the 2009 NL leaders in defensive wins above replacement (4th), caught stealing (tied for 6th with 10 despite just 12 successes) and assists (462, 2nd, 13 behind Miguel Tejada). He went 0 for 14 in the NLDS. In 2010, Barmes was again the regular second baseman for Colorado, filling in at short for over a month when Tulowitzki was injured. His offensive performance declined further (.235/.305/.351, 8 homers, 67 OPS+) while he fielded .986 at second base and .974 at shortstop.

2011-2015: Astros and Pirates and Padres

Colorado dealt Barmes to the Houston Astros for Felipe Paulino and he returned to being a regular major league shortstop for the first time in five years. His batting line for the 2011 Astros was .244/.312/.386; in a lower offensive environment, his OPS+ was much better at 93. He had 27 doubles and 12 home runs while fielding .978. The 12 homers were the sixth-best total for a shortstop in Astros history. He was 5th in the 2011 NL in fielding percentage at shortstop and second to Chris Young in defensive wins above replacement. A free agent, he was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates to replace fellow light-hitting Ronny Cedeno. Pittsburgh, under manager Clint Hurdle, was bringing in some of Hurdle's former Rockies, as they also signed Rod Barajas. The two players whose surnames started with Bar both bombed at the plate, though Barmes at least provided defense. He hit .229/.272/.321 with 8 home runs, 34 runs, 45 RBI, 20 walks and no steals for a 64 OPS+. He was among the 2012 NL leaders in defensive wins above replacement (5th, between Andrelton Simmons and David Wright), third in assists at shortstop (399, between Reyes and Brandon Crawford), tied Everth Cabrera for 5th in errors at short (16) and tied Tejada for 5th in double plays at short (72).

With the 2013 Pirates, Barmes' offensive woes resulted in a decrease of playing time as Jordy Mercer was hitting much better; Barmes still saw regular time due to his sharper fielding as the two shared the position much of the year. Clint finished with 91 starts at short, hitting .211/.249/.309 for a 58 OPS+ with just 22 runs scored and 23 RBI, while fielding .968; his OPS+ was 58 to Mercer's 118. Accepting a role as Mercer's pure backup, Clint signed a one year deal to return to Pittsburgh in 2014. He only saw action in 48 games, batting a meager .245/.328/.294 (77 OPS+) while floating all over the infield. He completed his big league career after one season roaming the infield for the San Diego Padres in 2015. An attempt to catch on with the Kansas City Royals in 2016 saw him log some time with the Omaha Storm Chasers before retiring in the middle of May.

Notable Achievements

• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2009)

Related Sites

• Clint Barmes at the SABR Bio Project
• Clint Barmes on mlb.com