Matt Hague

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Matthew Donald Hague

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Biographical Information[edit]

Infielder Matt Hague reached the majors with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2012. In spite of some excellent seasons in the International League, he only played a total of 43 major league games, spread over three separate seasons.

Hague hit .500 and had a 0.47 ERA as a high school senior in 2004, winning All-State honors just as he had done as a junior. As a senior, he broke the South Puget South League record with 31 RBI.

As a freshman at the University of Washington, Hague hit .419/.455/.710 and was 1-2 with a 6.52 ERA. He was named honorable mention on the All-Pacific-10 Conference team and was named a second-team Freshman All-American outfielder by Baseball America. Had he qualified, he would have led the Pac-10 in average, beating out Jacoby Ellsbury. Hague lost Freshman of the Year honors in the Pac-10 to Darwin Barney. He spent the summer with the Aloha Knights.

In 2006, he batted .381/.447/.544 with 53 runs in 60 games. He was third in the Pac-10 in average, led in sacrifice flies (7), was 5th in hits (86), 7th in runs (53) and 9th in OBP. He made first-team All-Pac-10 as an outfielder and Collegiate Baseball named him as a third-team All-American. Hague had surgery and sat out summer ball.

Hague produced at a .353/.446/.606 rate in 2007. He had 51 runs and 49 RBI in 56 games. The Cleveland Indians took him in the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft. Hague did not sign. In the Cape Cod League that summer, he hit .299/.396/.429 for the Falmouth Commodores. He was 10th in the circuit in average and tied for second with 3 triples.

He transferred to Oklahoma State University and hit .360/.442/.592 with 57 RBI in 62 games. He was a second-team All-Big 12 Conference pick at third base and was 8th in the conference in average. The Pittsburgh Pirates chose Matt in the 9th round of the 2008 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Matt Bimeal and made his pro debut that summer.

Hague made his pro debut with the State College Spikes, hitting .333/.400/.444 in 7 games. That earned him a quick promotion to the Hickory Crawdads, for whom he batted .321/.384/.470; defense was the lone problem, as he fielded .891 at third base. Had he qualified, he would have been 4th in the South Atlantic League in average.

Hague moved up to the Lynchburg Hillcats in 2009 but was moved to first base to make room for top prospect Pedro Alvarez. He hit .293/.356/.412 with 8 home runs and 50 RBI that year. In 2010, he played for the Altoona Curve, hitting .295/.375/.442 with 15 home runs and 86 RBI in 135 games. He played for the Indianapolis Indians in 2011, hitting .309/.372/.457 with 12 home runs and 75 RBI in 141 games.

Hague made his major league debut with the Pirates on April 7, 2012, when he went 0 for 3 as the starting first baseman against the Philadelphia Phillies, having made the team out of spring training. He only stayed in Pittsburgh for a week, going 1 for 9, then was sent down to Indianapolis. He returned in late May and stayed with the team for a month, seeing duty as a pinch-hitter and occasional starter at first base. He played a couple more games for the Bucs in mid-July and overall was 16 for 70 (.229) with 2 doubles, no homers and 7 RBIs. With Indianapolis, he hit .283 with 4 homers and 54 RBIs in 91 games. In 2013, he spent the whole season with Indianapolis, playing 142 games with a batting line of .285/.378/.407, with 37 doubles, 8 homers, 67 runs and 69 RBIs. He began the 2014 season back with the AAA Indians and hit .267 in 93 games with 16 doubles, 14 homers and 66 RBIs. He earned another shot at the big leagues in July, getting into 3 games as a pinch-hitter and going 0 for 2. He was placed on waivers in mid-August and picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays on August 18th. The Jays assigned him to the Buffalo Bisons, keeping him in the International League, where he hit a scorching .377 in 13 games. Combined between the two IL teams, his batting line was .282/.371/.465 in 106 games, with 23 doubles, 15 homers and 76 RBIs.

Hague began 2015 back in Buffalo, where he split his time between first and third base. He had the best season of his career, hitting .348/.427/.482 in 121 games, with 67 runs and 83 RBIs. On August 17th, the Blue Jays called him up to Toronto to give them a hand during the pennant race. His stay was brief, and he returned to finish the season in Buffalo, ending up being named the Player of the Year in the International League. He hit .338/.416/.468 in 136 games for the Bisons, with 33 doubles, 11 homers, 70 runs scored and 92 RBIs. He then headed back to Toronto for the last couple of weeks of the major league season, going 3 for 12 in 10 games in his last major league action.

He moved to Japan in 2016, signing with the Hanshin Tigers and splitting the season between the major team in the Central League, where he hit .231 in 31 games, and their minor league affiliate in the Western League for whom he hit .339 in 34 games. He was back in the U.S. in 2017, and in the familiar International League, suiting up with the Rochester Red Wings in the Minnesota Twins system. He had another solid year, hitting .297 with 30 doubles and 10 homers in 136 games. He led the 2017 IL with 149 hits. He then split 2018 between the Syracuse Chiefs, the AAA affiliate of the Washington Nationals, and the Tacoma Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League, in the Seattle Mariners organization. It was his 7th season in AAA, but his first appearing the PCL. However, at 32, he was at the end of the line, as he hit a combined .237 in 45 games, with just 1 homer and 20 RBIs. He retired after that season.

Hague began his post-playing career as a pro scout/hitting analyst for the Toronto Blue Jays in 2019. He was scheduled to be hitting coach for the Dunedin Blue Jays plus work as an organizational swing consultant in 2020 before the season was cancelled due to COVID-19. Hague continued the dual role of swing consultant and hitting coach in 2021-2022 while coaching the New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He was hitting coach of the Buffalo Bisons in 2023 as well as the organization's swing consultant. In 2024, he moved up to the major league team as one of two assistant hitting coaches.

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