Ty Allen Wigginton (born October 11, 1977 in San Diego, California) is a Major League Baseball infielder and right-handed batter who plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The 6-foot-0, 200-pound Wigginton was drafted by the New York Mets in the 1998 amateur draft.

Career

Wigginton was brought up to the major league Mets for the first time in 2002 as a third baseman and had a promising partial rookie season with the Mets, batting .302 with a .354 on base percentage (OBP) and .526 slugging percentage (SLG) in 116 at bats. He slumped somewhat in his first full season in 2003, with a batting line of .255/.318/.396 in 573 at bats, but started the 2004 season hot. In his first 312 at-bats, Wigginton hit .285/.334/.487, hitting 12 home runs and 23 doubles with 42 runs batted in (RBIs). On July 30, the Mets traded him to the Pirates in a six-player deal for pitcher Kris Benson. Wigginton slumped badly after he was traded before recovering somewhat in September. He will start at third base for the Pirates in 2005.

Wigginton has shown slightly below-average power for a major league third baseman, though he is a good hitter as a second baseman. He does not hit many home runs, but he has good doubles power. He cut down on his strikeouts in 2004 and increased his walks, but his plate discipline is still no better than average. He hits fastballs well but struggles a little bit with good breaking balls. Wigginton has about average speed; he stole 12 bases in 2003, but has never duplicated that before (even in the minor leagues) or since. On the field, he is adequate at third base and first base, but is limited at second base.

In 346 major league games, Wigginton has hit .262 (310-1183) with a .324 OBP, .424 SLG, 34 home runs, 74 doubles, 155 RBIs, and 21 steals.

External links

• Complete career statistics at Baseball Reference
• 2004 statistics at ESPN
• Pittsburgh Pirates official Wigginton page