NEW YORK – Matt Tuiasosopo is getting a chance to play in the major leagues again for the first time since 2013, and getting it with the Braves, the opponent when he had the best game of his career.
The Braves purchased the contract of the left fielder from Triple-A Gwinnett, one of a series of roster moves they announced Monday before their series opener against the Mets at Citi Field.
Tuiasosopo, who’ll turn 30 on May 10, hit .218 (19-for-87) with four home runs, 13 RBIs, a .324 OBP and .425 slugging percentage in 25 games for Gwinnett, and will serve mainly as a pinch-hitter for the Braves. After Gwinnett manager Brian Snitker called Sunday night to tell him he was going to the majors, Tuiasosopo became emotional.
He caught a flight from Atlanta late Monday morning along with two other Gwinnett teammates, outfielder Chase d’Arnaud and utility man Reid Brignac, who were also called up by the Braves.
“You just keep believing in the dream, you keep fighting for it,” said Tuiasosopo, who played in 152 games in parts of four seasons with the Seattle Mariners (2008-2010) and Tigers (2013). “You just keep going and keep believing and expecting great things to happen. Never lose hope.
“It’s been three years since I’ve been here. It’s been a fight. My wife and I were talking about it last night. We were in tears. I fought hard to get back up here, and I’m excited to be here and to help the team.”
His only season in the major leagues during the past six years was with Tigers in 2013, and it was on April 26 that season when he went 2-for-4 with a home run and a career-high five RBIs in a 10-0 rout of the Braves in Detroit. Anibal Sanchez had a career-high 17 strikeouts in eight innings for Detroit.
“I remember that series,” he said, smiling. “It was a fun series. That was up there as one of my best (days).”
Tuiasosopo’s father, Manu, was an NFL defensive end with the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers, and two older brothers played football at the University of Washington, with oldest brother Marques going on to play quarterback in the NFL for eight seasons with the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets.
Matt, too, was a standout high school football quarterback who signed a letter of intent to play at Washington, but opted to play baseball after the Mariners took him in the third round of the 2004 draft.
Tuiasosopo has a .207 career average with 12 home runs, 45 RBIs and a .646 OPS in 401 career plate appearances. The former Mariners corner-infield prospect has toiled for much of 13 seasons in the minors, where he’s collected 114 home runs in just over 4,000 at-bats in 1,122 games.
Now that he’s back in the major leagues after three years away, he said he would appreciate it more.
“Absolutely,” he said. “I always remember what my brother told me when he retired from the NFL – when you have a jersey on your back, you never take it for granted. You compete every day. Every day that you’re here at work, you compete. That’s one thing that he misses. So every day when I was down at Triple-A I competed every day, just kept believing in my dream, that I could get back up here and play at the highest level.”
