Matt Chico

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**Matt Chico**

Washington Nationals — No. 47
Starting Pitcher
Born: June 10, 1983 (1983-06-10) (age 25)
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
Major League Baseball debut
April 4, 2007 for the Washington Nationals
Selected MLB statistics (through May 23, 2008)
Win-Loss	7-15
Earned Run Average	4.98
Strikeouts	125
Teams
Washington Nationals (2007-Present)

Matthew Bryan Chico (born June 10, 1983 in Fullerton, California) is a left-handed starting pitcher for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. A graduate of Fallbrook Union High School, Chico attended Palomar College and was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third round of the 2003 amateur draft. On August 7, 2006, he was acquired by the Nationals along with fellow minor league pitcher Garrett Mock in a trade for veteran right-handed pitcher Liván Hernández.

Chico began the 2006 season pitching for Lancaster of the high Class A California League, where he accrued a 3-4 record and a 3.75 ERA in 10 starts. Immediately prior to the trade for Hernández, he was pitching for Tennessee of the Class AA Southern League, accumulating a win-loss record of 7-2 and an ERA of 2.22 in 13 starts. After joining the Nationals organization, Chico pitched for the Harrisburg Senators of the Class AA Eastern League, winning 2 and losing none of his first 4 starts and compiling a 3.27 ERA.

1 2007 season
2 Wild pitch
3 References
4 External links

[edit] 2007 season

At the end of 2006, Chico had made it onto the Nationals' 40-man protected roster. Coming out of 2007 spring training, Chico had made the club's starting rotation, and he made his major league debut on April 4, 2007, at RFK Stadium versus the Florida Marlins. His first major league win came on April 16, in a Nats 5-1 victory over the Atlanta Braves. He got off to a rocky start, on a cold and bitter windy night, walking the bases loaded in the first inning, but escaping unscathed. He went on to pitch five innings, before walking two in the sixth and getting relieved, allowing just one run.^[1]

Chico ended up becoming a mainstay for the Nationals in the first half of the season. By Mid-May, four of the Nats' five starting pitchers were out with injuries, but by July 4, Chico had not missed a turn, and was second in the league with 18 starts. From June 23 to July 4, he pitched 20 innings allowing only one run.

During the offseason, Chico resides in Fallbrook, California.

[edit] Wild pitch

On April 21, 2007, Matt Chico was starting a game against the Florida Marlins, and in the bottom of the first inning, Chico was attempting to throw a changeup to Josh Willingham and missed the plate badly and the ball went over the away team dugout, the Nationals