Matthew Chou Bowman
Matthew Chou Bowman (born May 31, 1991) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut on April 6, 2016. Bowman attended St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. As a senior he was All-Met Player of the Year and All-Conference as a shortstop and right-handed pitcher, and had a 0.70 ERA as a pitcher and a .419 average as a batter. He played college baseball for the Princeton Tigers at Princeton University from 2010 to 2012. He was both a pitcher and shortstop for the Tigers. He had a low-90s fastball that ran as high as 95 mph, a hard slider, a curveball, and a changeup. He was second-team all-Ivy League at shortstop as a sophomore. He batted .308 in 2012 with one home run in 33 games. The New York Mets selected Bowman in the 13th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft. He made his professional debut that season for the Brooklyn Cyclones.
He had a 2.45 earned run average (ERA) in ?29 1/3 innings pitched. Bowman started 2013 with the Savannah Sand Gnats and was promoted to the St. Lucie Mets during the season. Over 21 starts he had a 10–4 win–loss record with a 3.05 ERA and 116 strikeouts. Bowman started 2014 with the Binghamton Mets and was promoted to the Las Vegas 51s in July; in 24 games (23 starts) between the two teams, he was 10-8 with a 3.21 ERA. He spent 2015 back with Las Vegas where he pitched to a 7-16 record and 5.53 ERA. The St. Louis Cardinals selected Bowman in the 2015 Rule 5 draft.
He made his MLB debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 6, 2016, throwing two innings with one hit allowed and two strikeouts. He earned his first MLB win on June 8, 2016 in relief against the Cincinnati Reds. Bowman finished his first MLB season with a 2–5 win–loss record along with a 3.46 ERA. In 2017 he was 3-6 with two saves and a 3.99 ERA in 58.2 innings pitched.