Matt Koperniak

Matthew Hayden Koperniak

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 200 lb.

• School Trinity College
• High School Hoosac Valley High School

• Born February 8, 1998 in London United Kingdom

BR register page

Biographical Information

Matt Koperniak has played as high as AAA and has been on the British national team.

Koperniak played baseball, basketball and football in high school. He hit .310/.417/.460 as a college freshman with 23 walks and 32 runs in 31 games, stealing 17 bases in 20 tries. He was third in the New England Small College Athletic Conference in steals, walks and triples (4). He improved to .388/.483/.620 as a sophomore, going 9-for-9 in steals. He tied for second in the NESCAC in slugging and was second in average; he won All-NESCAC honors. He spent the summer with the North Adams SteepleCats, producing at a .318/.390/.419 clip with 10 doubles in 36 games.

During his junior year, he was at .394/.476/.625 with 36 runs and 22 steals (caught only 3 times) in 39 games. He led the conference in slugging and was among the leaders in many departments. He was again All-Conference. He spent the summer with North Adams (.376/.442/.589, 15 2B, 37 RBI in 38 G) and the Harwich Mariners (0 for 3, BB, R). He was 7 for 13 with two doubles and a homer in 2020 when the college season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Matt signed with the St. Louis Cardinals that summer, though the minors were shut down as well. He split 2021 between the Palm Beach Cardinals (.322/.443/.570 in 58 G), Peoria Chiefs (6 for 14, 3 2B, 2 BB) and Springfield Cardinals (.271/.326/.391 in 33 G). He was 4th among Cards farmhands in average (between Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan), 4th in OBP (between Raul Guzman and Nootbaar), tied Jhon Torres and Jordan Walker for third in doubles (25) and 8th in OPS (between Donovan and Mike Antico.

In 2022, he appeared for Springfield (.288/.359/.442, 14 HR, 11 SB) and the Memphis Redbirds (2 for 3, BB, 2B). The corner outfielder tied Antico and Todd Lott for 10th in the Cards chain in dingers. Having been born in London, he was able to play for Great Britain in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In their opener against France, he was the DH and batted second. He grounded out his first time up, facing Kevin Canelon and later hit a RBI single off Robinson Maestre, part of a 1-for-4 day. He was 1 for 13 in the qualifiers, but with a .294 OBP, two runs and the RBI in three games. The last run was a biggie. Starting on base as part of the extra innings rules in the 10th inning of a tie game against Spain, he scored the winner on a sacrifice fly from Alex Crosby. That won Britain a spot in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic.