Graduated from McNeil (Texas) High School...attended Concordia Lutheran College before transferring to Texas State...led the Bobcats to the 1997 NCAA Regional and earned All-Conference honors...is involved with the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod World Mission and the ALS Foundation for Life...was featured on a CD titled "Oh Say Can You Sing?" along with 10 other Major League players in 2005...his great aunt, Esther Pieper, played pro baseball during World War II...he and his wife, Kelly, have two daughters: Ellie Jane and Abigail.
2011
Appeared in 64 games for the Braves, his highest total since 2007. Was disabled from August 1-14 with lower back strain...Had season-high 11.2 scoreless innings streak over 11 appearances (5/13-6/11) with two wins and a save...Posted a 1.50 ERA in 13 appearances in June and followed it with a 1.74 ERA in 13 appearances in July...Recorded his 600th career appearance on 9/5 at PHI...Finished 27 games, ranking second on the Braves staff and T18th in the National League...Stranded 23-of-33 inherited runners (30.3% IRS pct.) ranking 24th in the National League and 2nd best on Braves staff...Recorded seven Holds, T3rd among Braves relievers...Held Interleague opposing batters to a .217 BA (5-23) and posted a 1.35 ERA in seven appearances (6.2 IP)...Suffered loss, allowing 13th inning run, in the season's final game 9/28 vs. PHI that helped Cardinals gain Wild Card berth.
2010
Was 3-2 with a 4.40 ERA (28 ER/57.1 IP) in 52 appearances in his third season with the White Sox ...Lowered his opponents average from .304 in 2009 to .262 (59-225)...Posted a 3.86 ERA (12 ER/28.0 IP) in the second half of the season, compared to a 4.91 ERA (16 ER/29.1 IP) pre-All-Star break...Registered his 500th career strikeout on 6/11 at CHI. Made his 500th career appearance 5/5 vs. KC...Recorded at least 1.0 inning in 42 of his 52 outings...Limited opponents to a .203 (15-for-74) average with runners in scoring position and a .083 (1-12) ledger
with the bases loaded...ERA by months: 1.13 ERA (1 ER/8.0 IP) in April; 6.35 (8 ER/11.1 IP) in May; 7.88 (7 ER/8.0 IP) in June,
1.35 (1 ER/6.2 IP) in July, 4.38 (12.1 IP/6 ER) in August and 4.09 (11.0 IP/5 ER) in September...His first batters faced went 12-for-48 (.250)...Allowed 20.7 percent (6-of-29) of inherited runners to score...Failed to convert his only save opportunity on 5/1 at NYY, but did earn the win (1.1 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB,
0 K, 1 HR)...Registered only one hold, his fewest in a full season...Surrendered 11 home runs, his most since a career-high 12 in 2007...From 6/7-8/8 allowed one earned run over 12.1 innings (0.75 ERA) in 12 appearances...Right-handers hit .234 (25-for-107) off him, while left-handed hitters batted .288 (34-for-118).
2009
Went 3-7 with a 4.66 ERA (29 ER/56.0 IP) in 57 appearances in his second season with the White Sox...the seven losses marked a career high, and the 4.66 era was his highest since posting a 7.03 era in 22 games in 2002...struck out 55 batters, his most since 2006 (68), and walked 23, compared to nine in 2008...posted a 1.93 ERA (7 ER/32.2 IP)
with a .242 (30-124) average against in the first half, and an 8.49 ERA (22 ER/23.1 IP) with a .377 (40-106) mark after the All-Star Break...the 8.49
ERA in the second half was the highest among all pitchers (min. 20 games)...was scored upon in 11 of his 25 second-half appearances with 11 walks
and 40 hits...his .304 average was the fifth-highest among AL relievers...registered a 2.16 ERA (2 ER/8.1 IP) in interleague play...opponents
were successful in 11 of 12 stolen-base attempts...earned the save on 5/26 at Angels (sixth career), his first since 7/6/08 vs. Oakland...allowed four unearned runs on three hits (two homers) on 6/18 at Cubs (entered with a 5-1 lead)...established season bests with 2.0 IP and four strikeouts on 6/28 vs. Cubs...earned his second save on 7/3 at Kansas City with 1.2 scoreless IP.
2008
Was limited to 50 appearances in his first season with the White sox due to a midseason back injury ... his string of four straight seasons with at least 70 relief outings came to an end ... 41 of his appearances came before the all-star Break (nine in second half) ... was leading the al
in holds as late as 6/17 ... averaged 7.8 strikeouts per 9.0 ip (40 so/46.1
ip) and posted a 4.4:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (9 BB) ... was 1-4 in save
situations ... era was 10.80 in save situations (4 er/3.1 ip), compared to
3.14 (15 er/43.0 ip) in non-save opportunities ... limited left-handers to
a .200 (16-80) average, while righties batted .263 (25-95) ... fi rst batters
faced hit .222 (10-45) ... stranded 8-10 inherited runners ... 37 of his 50
appearances were scoreless ... was 2-0 at home and 0-2 on the road ...
appeared with no rest 15 times, posting a 1.98 era (3 er/13.2 ip) ...
made his white sox debut on 4/3 at cleveland ... tossed a season-high
2.0 ip on 4/28 vs. Baltimore before the game was suspended due to rain
... earned his fi rst win with the White Sox on 5/21 vs. Cleveland ... made a
season-high 14 consecutive scoreless appearances from 5/3-28 (13.1 ip)
... compiled a season-best 0.68 era (1 er/13.1 ip) in May ... gave up game-ending home runs to cliff floyd
on 5/30 at tampa Bay and aramis ramirez on 6/20 at the cubs ... struck out two batters in four consecutive
outings from 6/4-13 (8 so/4.0 ip) ... did not walk a batter in 22 straight games from 5/9-6/28 (21 so/19.0 ip)
... posted a 0.93 era (3 er/29.0 ip) in 31 outings from 4/16-7/1 ... moved into closer role with Bobby Jenks on
the disabled list in early July and converted one of three save opportunities ... save on 7/6 vs. oakland was his
fi rst since 5/27/07 vs. Milwaukee (with San Diego) ... was scored upon in four of fi ve games (5 ER/5.0 IP) before
landing on the disabled list with infl ammation of the right posterior on 7/26 (retro to 7/23) ... was reinstated from
the disabled list on 9/1 and allowed nine runs in his fi nal eight games (7.1 IP).
2007
Went a combined 5-6 with a 3.71 ERA and 1 save in 71 relief appearances between the Padres and Brewers...Retired 52 of 71 first batters faced (73.2%)...Stranded 12 of 16 inherited runners (75%)...Began the season with San Diego, where he went 3-3 with a 3.80 ERA and 1 save in 44 appearances...His only save of the season came on 5/25 vs. Milwaukee...Was acquired by Milwaukee on 7/25 in exchange for
LHP Steve Garrison, RHP Will Inman and LHP Joe
Thatcher...Went 2-3 with a 3.55 ERA in 27 appearances with the
Brewers...Wore #40 in his first 2 games as a Brewer.....switched to
#71 in honor of Padres' bullpen catcher Mark Merila, who
was battling a brain tumor...Made his Brewers debut on 7/27 at St. Louis, tossing a
scoreless inning (1bb, 1k)...Earned his first win as a Brewer on 8/11 at Houston
2006
SUMMARY: Paced the Padres bullpen with seven wins and 68 strikeouts in relief...led the National League with 36 holds...tied for the club lead with 73 appearances (also Embree)...finished with a 7-4 record and a 3.57 ERA (30 ER/75.2 IP) with two saves...notched at least one strikeout in 16 consecutive appearances from May 17-June 19...tallied 16 strikeouts and a team-high six holds in June while going 3-0...made 11 appearances
(11.2 IP) in the month, allowing only four earned runs (3.09 ERA) while holding opponents to a .167
(4-for-24) average...worked a season-high 2.0 innings three times (May 9 vs. Milwaukee, May 17 at Arizona
and Sept. 9 at San Francisco).
WORKHORSE: Appeared in 73 games for the Padres in 2006...with 262 career appearances for the Friars,
he is now sixth on the club's all-time list.
AVERAGES: Held batters to a .190 average (29-for-153) before the All-Star break and limited left-handed
batters to .208 (33-for-159) on the year.
PLAYOFF PERFORMANCE: Made two postseason appearances, allowing one run on a solo home run
(Taguchi) over 1.1 innings of work...his postseason ERA now stands at 3.86 (1 ER/2.1 IP) after having worked in
three games over the last two years with the Padres.
2005
Tallied an 8-1 record while posting a career-best 1.83 ERA (15 ER/73.2 IP) out of the bullpen...his eight wins established a new career high...matched
his career high in appearances with 73 and
notched 70 strikeouts...his eight wins in relief
were the most by a Padre since Dan Miceli
(10) in 1998...allowed only four home runs
in 73.2 IP, the lowest ratio of his career...was
3-1 with a 1.90 ERA in 33 games vs. NL West
opponents...allowed only 15 of 66 hitters
to reach base when leading off an inning
(11 hits, four walks) and did not allowed an
earned run in 63 of his 73 appearances...
the Padres were 44-29 in games in which
he pitched...tossed 1.0 inning of scoreless
relief in September 30 win over Los Angeles,
earning the fi rst save of his career...Linebrink
fi nished the season by not allowing an earned
run in 23 straight outings, covering a span of
24.0 innings dating back to August 12...his
1.83 ERA was the second-lowest mark by a
reliever making at least 70 appearances in franchise history...Ranked among league leaders in several categories including: tied for first in relief
wins (8), fourth in holds (26), fifth in relief ERA (1.83), 12th in batting average against (.209), tied for 14th in
appearances (73) and 16th in innings pitched (73.2)...Did not allow a run in the final month of the season (16.2 IP)...in the 14 games
in which he appeared, he struck out 17 while walking just two on his way to a 3-0 record...
Posted a 0.66 ( 3 ER/41.0 IP) road ERA while going 2-0, including holding
opposing hitters to a .144 batting average against...was a perfect 5-0 with one save and a 1.59 ERA in 33
games after the All-Star break...held hitters to a .197 batting average with runners in scoring position and
.186 with runners on base...Earned his first career save after tossing 1.0 inning of relief (one hit; one strikeout)
September 30 vs. Los Angeles.
2004
Appeared in 73 games out of the bullpen this season and logged a bullpen-high 84.0 innings... struck out 83 on his way to posting a 2.14 ERA (20 ER/84.0 IP)... tallied seven wins, all in relief, matching Akinori Otsuka in becoming the first Padre reliever to do so since Kevin Walker posted seven in 2000... posted a 1.86 ERA (8ER/38.2 IP) over his final 34 outings of the season, including a 0.82 ERA (1 ER/11.0 IP) in July and a 1.88 ERA (3 ER/14.1 IP) in August with 17 strikeouts.
CAREER SEASON: Established new career highs in wins (seven), games (73), strikeouts (83) and his 2.14 ERA marks the best tally in his five-year career... his 84.0 innings were second only to his 2003 season where he logged a combined 92.1 between Houston and San Diego... prior to his seven wins in 2004, he had three career victories.
IN THE ZONE: Did not allow an earned run in 15 consecutive appearances (16.0 IP) from July 3-August 12... during the span he struck out 19 hitters while walking just two.
NUMBER CRUNCHING: Along with posting a 0.82 ERA in July, he held opposing hitters to a .088 (3-for-34) average and struck out 13 while walking just two... in bases loaded situations held the opposition to 1-for-9 (.111)... allowed just five hits in 41 at-bats (.122 average) with runners in scoring position with two outs... allowed just 15 of his 54 inherited runners to score... tallied 28 holds, tied for sixth in the National League... posted a 1.78 ERA (6 ER/30.1 IP) over the first two months of the season, including striking out 25 while walking just five.
GIVING A LITTLE EXTRA: Pitched a season high 2.0 innings on 14 occasions... posted a 1.29 ERA (4 ER/28.0 IP) in those outings while striking out 30 in 28.0 innings... made 17 appearances from June 19-July 29 with the Padres earning wins in 16 of those contests, including a stretch of 10 straight from July 3-July 29... in that span posted a 2-0 record with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/10.0 IP).
2003
HIGHLIGHTS: Was claimed off waivers from the Houston Astros on May 29...finished the season with a combined 3-2 mark with a 3.31 ERA (34 ER/92.1 IP)...established new career-highs in games pitched (52), wins (three), innings pitched (92.1) and strikeouts (68)...started six games (all with Houston), going 1-0 with a 4.03 ERA (13
ER/29.0 IP)...registered the first win of his big league career after tossing 5.0 IP, allowing eight hits and four
runs in a 7-5 win over the Chicago Cubs May 23...struck out a career-high four on three separate occasions:
May vs. Pittsburgh, June 13 at Chicago (AL) and July 29 at Pittsburgh...tossed more than 1.0 IP of relief in 18
of his 46 relief appearances while not allowing an earned run in 32 of those appearances...had a 3.99 ERA in
home games (21 ER/47.1 IP) where he registered all three of his wins and a 2.60 ERA (13 ER/45.0 IP) on the
WITH THE PADRES: Appeared in 43 games, all in relief...went 2-1 with a 2.82 ERA (19 ER/60.0 IP)...got his first
Major League hit, a single, July 13 at St. Louis off Danny Haren..knocked a double, the only extra-base hit
of his career, August 12 at Atlanta...won his first game with the Padres after throwing 1.0 scoreless inning of
relief in a 3-2 win over the New York Mets August 19.
WITH THE ASTROS: Opened the season at Triple-A New Orleans where he went 0-2 with a 2.70 ERA (3 ER/10.0
IP) in two starts with the Zephyrs...had his contract purchased by the Astros on April 17...began the season
with three straight appearances out of the bullpen before starting six consecutive games...went 1-1 with a
4.26 ERA (15 ER/31.2 IP) before being designated for assignment of May 22.
2002
Appeared in 22 games for the Astros...finished with a 7.03 ERA (19 ER/24.1 IP) and had no decisions...optioned to Triple-A New Orleans on June 27, recalled on July 2, optioned on July 17...activated from the
disabled list on June 17...allowed no runs and no hits in 0.1 innings at Milwaukee...placed on the 15-day
DL on May 25, retroactive to May 20, with a strained right elbow...held opposing teams scoreless through
six appearances in May, allowing only two hits over 6.1 innings on the mound...first appearance came on
Opening Day...gave up one earned run on two hits in three innings, including a solo home run...appeared in
11 games with New Orleans...posted a 1-1 record, while accumulating a 6.75 ERA (10 ER/13.1 IP), walked
nine and struck out 14.
2001
Had three stints with the Astros this season (April 3-18; July 29-August 1; Sept. 9-October 7)...finished with no decisions and a 2.61 ERA (3ER/10/1IP).
- spent the majority of the year at Triple A New Orleans...was 6-5 with six saves and a 3.99 ERA (25ER/56.1IP) in 34 games (five starts) at Triple A.
- did not allow an earned run in his first 8.1 innings pitched over seven outings for the Astros before yielding two earned runs without recording an out on October 3 vs. San Francisco.
- began the season with the Astros and pitched in four games in relief, allowing no earned runs in 5.0 innings before being optioned to New Orleans on April 18 when Shane Reynolds was activated from the 15-day disabled list...recalled on July 29, optioned on August 1, recalled on September 9.
2000
Spent the majority of the season at Triple A, but did reach the majors for the first time, pitching for both San Francisco and Houston.
- made his Major League debut in April with San Francisco...allowed three runs over 2.1 innings for the Giants in three appearances before the July trade that sent Doug Henry to San Francisco.
- was on the Giants' 40-man roster for the first time...began the season at Triple A Fresno, where he appeared in 28 games.
- was optioned to Fresno on April 1 prior to the start of the season...recalled on April 14 and made his big league debut vs. Arizona, allowing two hits over one inning of reliefb&returned to Fresno on April 17 when Shawn Estes was taken off the disabled list.
- recalled from Fresno again on July 14b&pitched on the road twice, July 23 at Los Angeles and July 29 at Wrigley Field against the Cubs.
- again optioned to Fresno on July 19 only to be recalled the next dayb&traded to Houston on July 30.
- did not appear in game for the Astros in his first stint with Houston prior to his option to Triple A New Orleans on August 6 when Jay Powell was removed from the disabled list.
- pitched in 11 games for the Zephyrs, going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA (3ER/15IP) with 22 strikeouts and seven walks.
- recalled from Triple A on September 5 and spent the remainder of the season at Houston, working 9.2 innings over eight relief appearancesb&made his Astros debut on September 6 vs. Florida.
- did not allow a run in thee consecutive outings September 20-26 over five innings...worked three scoreless frames on September 22 at Cincinnati.
1999
Limited to 10 appearances while recuperating from shoulder surgery after the 1998 season ... spent the first half of the season rehabbing his shoulder ... joined Double A Shreveport for the final 1 1/2 months of the season ... suffered through a three-game losing streak to open his season before picking up his lone win on August 3 vs. El Paso, allowing just one hit over six innings ... worked six innings twice in his 10 starts ... pitched for Grand Canyon in the Arizona Fall League ... was 2x4 with a 3.68 ERA in eight starts ... fanned 30 in 36.1 innings.
1998
Was 10-8 with a 5.02 ERA (63 ER/113.0 IP) in 21 starts with Shreveport (AA)...Led the team in wins
and strikeouts (128)...Named to the Texas League All-Star team and twice named the league's Howe
Sportsdata Pitcher of the Week...His season was cut short due to tenderness in his right shoulder...Underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right shoulder performed by Dr. Gary Fanton following the season.
1997
Combined to go 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA (15 ER/38.1 IP) in nine starts between Rookie-level Salem-Keizer and Class A San Jose in his first professional season.
