Ryan Matthew Church...Wife's name is Tina...Two children; son Mason (3/14/08) and daughter Madison (10/2/09)...Is a
1996 graduate of Lompoc (CA) High School, where he played baseball, football and basketball...Attended the University of Nevada (1997-2000)...Was
used primarily as a pitcher before being converted to an outfielder during his final season with the Wolf Pack.
2009
Split season between New York (NL) and Atlanta
and batted .273 (98-for-359) with 28 doubles, four homers and 40 RBI in
111 games...Made a total of 86 appearances (71 starts) in right field and
23 appearances (21 starts) in center field with the two clubs...Was New
York's Opening Day starter in right field for the second straight season...Hit
safely in each of his first six games (11-for-23, .478) and batted .313 (21-
for-67) in 21 games during the month of April...Left game on 5/22 at
Boston with a sore right hamstring and was on the D.L. with a hamstring
strain from 5/26 (retroactive to 5/23) to 6/7...Hit safely in 10 of his last
12 games played in May...Had first career two-stolen base game on 6/19
vs. Tampa Bay...Produced a .307 (23-for-75) average in June, which included
his fifth career four-hit game on 6/29 at Milwaukee...Went 10-for-18 over
a four-game stretch from 6/29 thru 7/2, raising average from .267 to
.300...Was acquired by Atlanta on 7/10 and made debut with Braves as a
starter in right field the following night at Colorado...Homered as a pinch
hitter (third career PH home run) on 7/20 vs. San Francisco...Had three hits
and season-high four RBI on 8/7 at Los Angeles (NL)...Hit .306 (19-for-62) in 17 games during the month of August and led Atlanta with 10
doubles...Missed three games from 8/22-25 with lower back discomfort...Hit .229 (8-for-35) in final 14 games after returning to action on 8/26.
2008
On the Disabled List twice during the season with post-concussion syndrome...Went on the DL on June 10th, retroactive to
June 6th and was activated on June 29th...Returned to the Disabled List on July 8th...Activated on August 22nd...Suffered a mild concussion trying to break up a double play sliding into second base on the final play of the May 20th game
at Atlanta...Was treated locally at Piedmont Hospital and returned to action on May 22nd as a pinch hitter...Made his first start since the injury on June 1st vs. Los Angeles (NL) and went 3-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI...For the year, had 26 multiple-hit games: 22, two-hit games and four, three-hit contests...Had eight games with two RBI, two
games with three RBI and two games with four RBI...Was tied for second on the team with seven outfield assists...With runners on base, his average was .322 (48-149)...When hitting second in the batting order, he had a .307 (27-88) average with five home runs...Hit safely in 10 straight games, April 13th-April 24th (16-40, .400)...Hit .319 (30-94) in 24 games during the month of April...Collected six home runs during the month of May...The six home runs were the most home runs he hit in any month of his
career...Previously hit four home runs during three separate months, most recently in September 2007 with the Nationals...In 21 contests in May, he compiled a .299 (20-67) batting mark...Connected on the second grand slam of his career on September 3rd at Milwaukee (off Dave Bush)...His other grand slam
came on April 18, 2006 with Washington at Philadelphia (off Geoff Geary)...Appeared in eight games as part of a minor league rehabilitation assignment with New Orleans (AAA) of the Pacific Coast
League, Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League, Brooklyn (A) of the New York-Penn League and GCL Mets (R) of the Gulf
Coast League...He hit a combined .200 (5-25)...Sustained a concussion in a collision with Marlon Anderson in a spring training contest on March 1st vs. Los Angeles (NL).
2007
In first complete and healthy big league campaign, took step forward batting .272 (128-for-470) with 43 doubles, 15 home runs and 70 RBI in 144 games...career-high 43 doubles tied for 8th in the NL, tied for 12th on the franchise'ssingle-season list and matched Ryan Zimmerman for the team lead...batted .311 (23-for-74) with 5 home runs and 22 RBI in 29 games after Wily Mo Pena joined the Nationals on August 18...set career highs in most offensive categories including games, at-bats, runs (57), hits, total bases, doubles, home runs, RBI and walks...with the 43 doubles, ownsone of twenty-eight 40-double seasons in franchise annals...posted a vastly superior on-base and slugging percent-ages after the All-Star break (.354, .532 respectively) as opposed to before (.346, .418)...ranked 2nd among Nationals with a .813 OPS (OBP+SLG)...only Dmitri Young (.869) posted a higher number...among those with at least 100 plate appearances, led Washington with a .889 OPS after the All-Star break...started 127 games (87 in LF, 39 in CF, one at DH)...when in Manny Acta's starting lineup, Washington finished 53-74...when homering, the Nationals went 11-3...according to STATS, Inc., batted .309 in "close and late" situations...8 of 15 home runs came in 62 games against NL East foes...hit .317 with 4 home runs against NYM...went 15-for-40 (.375) with 6 doubles, 3 home runs and 6 RBI during a career-high 11-game hitting streak, April 3-14. Game-By-Game Highlights: Notched 3 hits, April 11 at ATL...doubled and homered in Washington's 6-2 win, April 14 at NYM...in 6-5 win, April 20 at FLA, singled, stole second and scored game-winning run in the 14th inning viaa 180-foot mad dash on Chris Snelling's infield single (Washington prevailed, 6-5)...walked a career-high 4 times on April 28 vs. CHI...laced 3-run double to erase a one-run deficit and propel Washington to a 6-4 win, May 16 vs. ATL...after missing previous 2 games with a left forearm contusion, went 3-for-5 with a double, 2 home runs and career-high 6 RBI in a 12-7 win at CIN on May 23...hit 2 home runs in a single game for the 3rd time...finished 3-for-3 with 2 doubles and a walk, June 5 vs. PIT...finished 2-for-4 with a double, homer and 2 RBI in a 6-2 victory, July 26 at NYM...game-tying 8th-inning 2-run shot off Doug Slaten on August 12 at ARI was first long ball off a left-handed pitcher since taking ATL's Wayne Franklin deep, August 14, 2006 at RFK...established career high by hitting 11th homer, a 2-run shot off Ramon Ortiz, August 26 at COL...matched career high with 4 hits, including adouble, on Aug. 29 at LAD...down 3-1, hit game-winning 3-run shot in 6th inning off Lance Cormier to trigger a 7-4 win, September 9 at ATL...posted 2 doubles, September 20 vs. PHI, to reach the 40-double plateau for the first time...blasted 2nd career pinch-hit homer on September 17 vs. NYM...went 3-for-5 with a double, homer and 4 RBI to trigger a come-from-behind 9-6 win, September 26 at NYM.
2006
Endured inconsistent first half to put up strong 2nd-half numbers for the Nationals...batted .276 with 17 doubles, 10 home
runs and 35 RBI in 71 games (52 starts)...despite posting 71 fewer plate appearances, posted career highs with 17 doubles,
10 home runs, 26 walks and 6 stolen bases...while battling part-time status, hit .305 (40-for-131) with 14 doubles, 6 home
runs and 24 RBI in 48 games after the All-Star break...in the season's 2nd half, ranked among the Nationals' top 3 in batting
average (first at .305), slugging percentage (2nd at .550) and on-base percentage (3rd at .376)...was optioned to New
Orleans on March 28 and began the season in Triple-A Pacific Coast League...hit 2 homers, including tie-breaking 2-run
shot in the 9th inning of an eventual 7-5 win at FLA, April 16...4 RBI in that game matched career high originally set on May
7, 2005 at SFG...homered again on April 19 at PHI to become just the 9th player in franchise annals-the first modern-day
Washington National-to hit at least one home run in 3 or more straight contests (the first since Tony Batista turned the trick
for the Expos, September 12-14, 2004)...joins a list comprised of Tony Batista (3 consecutive games), Brad Wilkerson (3),
Jose Vidro (3), Geoff Blum (3), Moises Alou (4), Mitch Webster (4), Andre Dawson (4) and Vladimir Guerrero (3 and 4)...was
optioned to Double-A Harrisburg on May 19...was recalled by Washington, for good, on July 22 after hitting .347 (17-for-49)
in 14 July contests for the Zephyrs...responded well, going 10-for-27 (.370) with 5 doubles, a homer, 8 RBI and 5 walks in
first 9 big league contests...closed strong, going 21-for-60 (.350) with 7 doubles, 3 home runs and 13 RBI in 22 games from
August 26 through the end of the season...batted .298 (28-for-94) with 6 home runs and 16 RBI in 36 games at RFK...in all, started 52 games (42 in CF, 10 in RF).
Game-By-Game Highlights: Back-to-back 4-RBI efforts, April 16 (at FLA) and 18 included first career grand slam,
which came off Geoff Geary in a 10-3 win on April 18 at PHI...down 6-1 in the 8th inning of afternoon tilt vs. ARI on
September 2, triggered eventual 11-inning 7-6 win with 3-run homer ...set new career high with 10th homer via 5thinning
solo shot off John Maine, Sept. 29 vs. NYM...notched season-high 3 hits in Oct. 1 season finale vs. NYM.
In Minor Leagues: Began the season in Triple-A after poor play in Grapefruit League...also spent one week in the
Double-A Eastern League...went 10-for-28 (.357) in 6 games from July 14-20 to earn final big-league promotion.
2005
Named the NL's Rookie of the Month for June. Hit .377 with one home run and 11 RBIs. ... Spent two stints on the disabled list. ... Was in the top 10 among rookies in on-base percentage, batting average and slugging percentage.
2004
Produced break-out season with Edmonton of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League...was named Expos Minor League
Player of the Year after batting .343 with 17 home runs and 78 RBI in 98 games for the Trappers (LHP Michael Hinckley
won the Expos Minor League Pitcher of the Year Award)...led all Expos minor leaguers in batting...ranked among Expos
minor league leaders in home runs (3rd) and RBI (4th)...hit above .300 every month of the Triple-A season...had never
played above Double-A...parlayed Triple-A performance into first trip to the big leagues... was recalled from Edmonton
on August 21 when Nick Johnson was placed on the 15-Day DL with a fractured right cheekbone...hit .175 with one
homer and 6 RBI in 30 games for the Expos...battled the lingering affects of the flu for the better part of a week at the end
of August and the beginning of September.
With Edmonton: Was named to the All-PCL Team along with teammate LHP Scott Downs...ranked among PCL leaders
in batting (3rd) and on-base percentage (tied for 2nd with Maicer Izturis at .428)...was rated as the No. 12 prospect in the
PCL by Baseball America...was placed on 7-Day DL on August 2 with a right piriformis strain...missed 8 games...played
in the Triple-A All-Star Game on July 14 in Pawtucket, RI...went 0-for-2...was named Trappers Player of the Month for
May (.31-4-13)...May 31-June 6, hit .471 with 10 RBI in 8 games and was named PCL Batter of the Week...recorded 4
or more hits 6 times....played RF (76 games), CF (10) and RF (9) for Dave Huppert.
Game-By-Game Highlights: Debuted in the big leagues on August 23 at COL as a pinch hitter...fouled out to the left
fielder...went 3-for-4 with a walk and 2 RBI in his first big league start, August 22 at COL...also made a diving catch and
threw out a runner at the plate in the Expos' 8-2 win...during a September 15 doubleheader sweep at FLA, Ryan,
Valentino Pascucci and Brendan Harris all hit their first big league home runs...according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the
last time 3 players on the same team hit their first major league homers in the same day was April 28, 1946, when the
New York Giants hosted the Brooklyn Dodgers for, ironically, a doubleheader (21,325 days prior)...Bill Rigney, Buddy
Blattner and Jess Pike all homered as the Giants took 2 from their cross-town rivals, 7-3 and 10-4.
With Edmonton: Posted career-high 5 hits on April 9 vs. Sacramento...posted back-to-back 4-hit efforts, June 1-2 at Las
Vegas...3 of the 8 hits were home runs...homered twice and posted 5 RBI on June 21 at Las Vegas.
2003
Split the season between Class A Kinston and Double-A Akron, finishing tied for first in the organization in homers (22), second in RBIs (81) and third with 145 hits ... Began the season at Kinston, hitting .340 (48-141) over the first two months of the season. He had nine home runs and 24 RBIs in 41 games ... Church had a pair of homers on May 11 at Potomac, and he went 4-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI on May 23 at Myrtle Beach ... He was promoted to Akron on June 14.
With Akron he had a 10-game hitting streak from July 26-Aug. 5 and also had a pair of eight-game hitting streaks ... From July 26 through the end of the season, he hit .318 (47-148) with 10 doubles, two homers and 20 RBIs in 35 games ... Hit safely in 31 of those 35 games ... Drove in five runs on July 4 at Erie
and drove in four runs on Aug. 31 versus Erie ... Hit a pair of homers on June 22 vs. New Britain ... Hit .250 (5-for-20) in the Eastern League playoffs with a home run in five games ... Hit .322 (29-90) with runners in scoring position at Akron.
Had 15 outfield assists combined on the year ... He appeared in 71 games in right field and 48 games in center field ... Hit .294 (106-361) with 15 homers and 59 RBIs off right-handers and .351 (39-111) with seven homers and 22 RBIs off left-handers ... His combined average
of .307 (145-472) was the fourth-best mark in the system ... Was added to the 40-man roster on Nov. 20.
2002
Split the season between A Kinston and AA Akron, finishing
tied for first in the organization in homers (22), 2nd
in RBI (81) and 3rd with 145 combined hits...Began the
season at Kinston, hitting .340 (48-141) over the first two
months of the season with 9HR & 24 RBI in 41 games...Had
a pair of homers on May 11 at Potomac and went
4 for 5 w/2 2B & 1 RBI on May 23 at Myrtle Beach...Was
promoted to AA Akron on June 14.
With Akron he had a 10-game hitting streak from July 26 to
August 5 and also had a pair of 8-game hitting
streaks...From July 26 until the end of the season he hit .318
(47-148) w/10 2B, 2HR & 20 RBI in 35 games that
raised his AA average from .273 to .296...Hit safely in 31 of
those 35 games...Drove in 5 runs on July 4 at Erie
and drove in 4 on August 31 vs. Erie (4-6, 2 2B)...Hit a pair of
homers on June 22 vs. New Britain...Hit .250 (5-
20) in the Eastern League playoffs w/1HR & 1 RBI in 5
games...Hit .322 (29-90) w/RISP at Akron.
Had 15 outfield assists combined on the year...On the year
he appeared in 71 games in RF and 48 games in CF...Hit
.294 (106-361) w/15HR & 59 RBI off RHP and .351 (39-111)
w/7HR & 22RBI off LHP...His combined average
of .307 (145-472) was the 4th best mark in the system...Was
added to the 40-man roster on November 20.
