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Boof Bonser (born John Paul Bonser) was born on October 14, 1981 in St. Petersburg, Florida, USA. Bonser is a right-handed pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. Boof is his legal name.
High school career
Boof attended Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg, Florida. In four years he compiled a record of 24-9 and a 1.99 ERA. In his senior year, he went 7-3, 1.88 and hit .523 with 11 home runs. He was named the 2000 Pinellas County (FL) High School Player of the Year and played in the 2000 Florida State All-Star game.
Bonser was selected out of high school by the San Francisco Giants in the first round (21st overall) of the 2000 amateur draft and was subsequently signed by Alan Marr. Bonser made his proffesional baseball debut at age 18 for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes. In 2001 he had a breakout season for the Hagerstown Suns, leading the South Atlantic League league in wins (16), and finishing second in the league in strikeouts (178). This stellar performance earned Bonser South Atlantic League Most Valuable Pitcher and Post-Season All-Star honors, as well as the distinction of being one of baseball's best prospects.
From 2002 to 2003 Bonser cooled down, but nonetheless progressed steadily through the Giants' system, reaching the AAA level at the end of the 2003 season with the Fresno Grizzlies.
On November 14, 2003, Boof was traded to the Minnesota Twins organization along with pitchers Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano for catcher A.J. Pierzynski and cash. Boof was assigned to AA New Britain for 2004, and was promoted to AAA Rochester for a spot start at the end of the season.
In 2005 Boof spent the entire season at Rochester, where he led the International League in strikeouts (168) and tied for the league lead in games started (28).
It was thought that Bonser was no longer one of baseball's elite pitching prospects, and that he only has the potential to make the majors as a back-of-the-rotation starter, but that opinion is quickly changing based on his success at Rochester thus far this season. After posting an ERA of 2.01 with Rochester to start the 2006 season, Boof was promoted to the majors.
Major league career
On May 17, 2006, Boof was called up to the Twins to replace struggling starter Kyle Lohse in the rotation, with Lohse going to AAA. Bonser made his major league debut on May 21, 2006, as the starting pitcher for the Twins against the Milwaukee Brewers. In his first start, Boof went 6.o innings, gave up 1 run ,and had 8 strikeouts.
Scouting Report
Bonser throws a low-to-mid-90's fastball and a fairly good curveball. He also will occasionally throw a changeup.
Statistics
Pitching Stats
| Year | Team | G | GS | W | L | ERA | K | R | ER | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | HR | BB | IB | WP | HBP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | MIN | A | 18 | 18 | 7 | 6 | 4.22 | 84 | 50 | 47 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100.1 | 104 | 18 | 24 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Fielding Stats
| Year | Team | POS | G | GS | INN | PO | A | ERR | DP | TP | PB | SB | CS | PkO | AVG | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | MIN | A | P | 18 | 18 | 100.1 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1.000 |
Batting Stats
| Year | Team | G | AB | R | H | HR | RBI | AVG | OBP | SLG | 2B | 3B | BB | SO | HBP | SH | SB | IBB | GDP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | MIN | A | 18 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Transactions
- Selected by San Francisco Giants in the 1st round (21st pick overall) of the free-agent draft (June 5, 2000 - signed July 3, 2000).
- Traded by San Francisco Giants with Joe Nathan and Francisco Liriano to Minnesota Twins in exchange for A.J. Pierzynski and cash (November 14, 2003).
Trivia
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