Matt Manning


Matthew George Manning is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Detroit Tigers organization. The Tigers selected him in the first round of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft.

Career

Manning attended Sheldon High School in Sacramento, California. He played baseball and basketball in high school, and considered dropping baseball to focus on basketball after his freshman year. He began to focus on his pitching in his junior year. By his senior year, when he had a 1.91 earned run average and 77 strikeouts in innings pitched, his fastball could reach. He committed to attend Loyola Marymount University to play college baseball and college basketball.
The Detroit Tigers selected Manning with the ninth overall selection of the 2016 Major League Baseball draft. Manning signed with the Tigers rather than attend college, receiving a $3,505,800 signing bonus, the exact slot value for the ninth overall pick. After signing, the Tigers assigned Manning to the Gulf Coast Tigers of the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League, where he posted a 0–2 win-loss record with a 3.99 ERA in ten games started, pitching no more than three innings per start.
In 2017, Manning began the season in extended spring training, and spent time with both the Connecticut Tigers of the Class A-Short Season New York-Penn League and the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Class A Midwest League, pitching to a combined 4–2 record and 3.18 ERA in 14 total starts between both teams. In 2018, he played for West Michigan, the Lakeland Flying Tigers of the Class A-Advanced Florida State League, and the Erie SeaWolves of the Class AA Eastern League. He represented the Tigers at the 2018 All-Star Futures Game, striking out fellow Tigers' prospect Dawel Lugo. Manning had a 7–8 record with a 3.29 ERA and a 1.20 walks plus hits per innings pitched ratio in 22 total starts between the three clubs. He returned to Erie to begin 2019. Manning was named to the 2019 All-Star Futures Game. On August 28, Manning was named the 2019 Eastern League Pitcher of the Year. At the time of earning the honor, he had an 11–5 record with a 2.56 ERA while also leading the league in strikeouts and WHIP. His ERA and batting average against were also tied for second-best in the league.
On January 16, 2020 he was a non-roster invitee of the Detroit Tigers to Spring Training before the season was postponed due to the coronavirus.

Personal life

Manning is the son of Rich Manning, who played in the National Basketball Association. His older brother, Ryan, played basketball for the Air Force Falcons and his younger brother, Jake, plays volleyball at Georgetown College.