Matt Nokes

Catcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1985-1995)

Matt Nokes was a catcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1995 for 5 teams, including the San Francisco Giants, a span of 11 seasons. In 902 career games, he hit .254 with 695 hits, 136 home runs, and 422 RBI. Matt Nokes was an All-Star and a Silver Slugger. His career PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of offensive impact — is 2,111.

AVG (Batting Average):
Hits divided by at bats. .300 is the traditional mark of an excellent hitter.
HR (Home Runs):
Hits on which the batter circled the bases and scored, almost always by clearing the outfield fence.
RBI (Runs Batted In):
Runs that scored as a direct result of a batter's plate appearance.
OPS (On-Base Plus Slugging):
On-base percentage plus slugging percentage, the quickest single summary of offensive value. .900 or better is star-level.

Data updated

AVG .254
HR 136
RBI 422
H 695
OPS .750
PIV 2,111
Position
Catcher
Bats / Throws
L / R
Height / Weight
6'1" / 185 lb
Born
10/31/1963 in San Diego, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1985-09-03
Last Game
1995-09-27
Awards
All-Star · Silver Slugger

Full name: Matthew Dodge Nokes

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Career Batting Statistics

Matt Nokes — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
902 2,735 310 695 96 4 136 422 8 200 395 .254 .308 .441 .750 2,111

Career AVG .254 vs. league average .260 across their career seasons — near league average.

Career OBP .308 vs. league average .327 across their career seasons — 5.6% below league average.

Career SLG .441 vs. league average .395 across their career seasons — +11.9% above league average.

Career OPS .750 vs. league average .721 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

Matt Nokes Stats, Bio & Career Records
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1985 SFN NL 19 53 3 11 2 0 2 5 0 1 9 .208 .257 (-19%) .323 (-27%) .390 (-8%) .714 (-17%) -150.5
1986 DET AL 7 24 2 8 1 0 1 2 0 1 1 .333 — — — — 0.0
1987 DET AL 135 461 69 133 14 2 32 87 2 35 70 .289 .262 (+10%) .331 (+4%) .415 (+29%) .746 (+18%) 1608.0
1988 DET AL 122 382 53 96 18 0 16 53 0 34 58 .251 .254 (-1%) .317 (-2%) .377 (+12%) .695 (+6%) 386.3
1989 DET AL 87 268 15 67 10 0 9 39 1 17 37 .250 .254 (-2%) .319 (-7%) .375 (+3%) .694 (-1%) -89.9
1990 DET AL 44 111 12 30 5 1 3 8 0 4 14 .270 .257 (+5%) .324 (-6%) .385 (+8%) .710 (+1%) -5.6
1990 NYA AL 92 240 21 57 4 0 8 32 2 20 33 .237 .257 (-8%) .324 (-5%) .385 (-8%) .710 (-7%) -5.6
1991 NYA AL 135 456 52 122 20 0 24 77 3 25 49 .268 .255 (+5%) .323 (-5%) .384 (+22%) .708 (+10%) 681.1
1992 NYA AL 121 384 42 86 9 1 22 59 0 37 62 .224 .255 (-12%) .322 (-9%) .377 (+13%) .699 (+3%) 82.8
1993 NYA AL 76 217 25 54 8 0 10 35 0 16 31 .249 .265 (-6%) .332 (-9%) .403 (+5%) .735 (-1%) -86.7
1994 NYA AL 28 79 11 23 3 0 7 19 0 5 16 .291 .269 (+8%) .338 (-3%) .424 (+40%) .763 (+21%) 257.9
1995 BAL AL 26 49 4 6 1 0 2 6 0 4 11 .122 — — — — -350.8
1995 COL NL 10 11 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 4 .182 — — — — -350.8
Career · 13 seasons 902 2,735 310 695 96 4 136 422 8 200 395 .254 — — — — 1,976

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Postseason Statistics

Playoff Career Batting

Matt Nokes — Playoff Career Batting
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
5 14 2 2 0 0 1 2 1 4 .143

Playoff Batting by Year

Matt Nokes — Playoff Batting by Year
Year Round Team G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG
1987 ALCS DET 5 14 2 2 0 0 1 2 1 4 .143

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (902 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

Matt Nokes — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home433127416333477221.262
Away469146114736159201.247

Last 10 Games — Batting

Matt Nokes — Last 10 Games — Batting
DateTmOppResABRH2B3BHRRBIBBSO
1995-09-27 COLLADL 100000000
1995-09-25 COLLADL 100000001
1995-09-21 COLSFGL 100000001
1995-09-16 COLMIAW 100000000
1995-09-13 COLATLL 100000000
1995-07-30 COLWSNL 000000000
1995-07-27 COLHOUL 100000001
1995-07-26 COLHOUL 401100001
1995-07-22 COLNYNW 000000010
1995-07-21 COLNYNL 111000000

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

Matt Nokes — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
1B 4 3 31 4 1 7
3B 2 0 0 0 0 0
C 689 598 3422 262 38 34
OF 5 4 6 0 0 0

Season-by-Season Fielding

Matt Nokes — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1985 SFN C 14 13 84 2 2 0
1986 DET C 7 7 43 2 0 2
1987 DET 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0
1987 DET C 109 94 595 32 5 2
1987 DET OF 3 3 5 0 0 0
1988 DET C 110 100 574 45 7 8
1989 DET C 51 45 235 26 6 3
1990 DET C 19 15 55 7 1 1
1990 NYA C 46 37 181 27 1 5
1990 NYA OF 2 1 1 0 0 0
1991 NYA C 130 112 690 48 6 7
1992 NYA C 111 101 552 47 4 6
1993 NYA C 56 47 245 19 2 0
1994 NYA 1B 4 3 31 4 1 7
1994 NYA C 17 13 75 2 2 0
1995 BAL C 16 12 83 5 1 0
1995 COL C 3 2 10 0 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

Matt Nokes Stats, Bio & Career Records
Position Games
Catcher 689
First Base 4
Third Base 2
Left Field 3
Right Field 3
Designated Hitter 131

Awards & Honors

Matt Nokes — Awards & Honors
Year Award Notes
1987 Silver Slugger C
1987 TSN All-Star C

Salary History

Matt Nokes — Salary History
Year Team League Salary
1995 BAL AL $700,000
1995 COL NL $109,000
1994 NYA AL $2,500,000
1993 NYA AL $2,500,000
1992 NYA AL $2,500,000
1991 NYA AL $887,500
1990 DET AL $650,000
1989 DET AL $195,000
1988 DET AL $165,000
1987 DET AL $68,000
Total Career Earnings $10,274,500

Award Voting History

Matt Nokes — Award Voting History
Year Award League Finish Points Won Points Max Votes First
1987 Most Valuable Player AL 24th 1.0 392 0
1987 Rookie of the Year AL 3rd 32.0 140 0

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

Matt Nokes (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Earl Williams
    .247 avg, 138 HR
  2. 87
    Gene Oliver
    .246 avg, 93 HR
  3. 87
    Welington Castillo
    .254 avg, 98 HR
  4. 80
    Travis d'Arnaud
    .243 avg, 130 HR
  5. 79
    Ozzie Virgil
    .243 avg, 98 HR
  6. 77
    Ryan Doumit
    .264 avg, 104 HR

Matt Nokes: the record in brief

September 3, 1985 and September 27, 1995 bracket Matt Nokes's time in the majors: the debut and the last game on record. The season rows list, in order, the San Francisco Giants (1985), the Detroit Tigers (1986 through 1990), the New York Yankees (1990 through 1994), the Baltimore Orioles (1995), and the Colorado Rockies (1995). Born on October 31, 1963, in San Diego, CA, USA, Nokes is listed as a catcher and hit left-handed while throwing right-handed. Nokes's listed size is 6 feet, 1 inch and 185 pounds. On the record, Matt Nokes was born Matthew Dodge Nokes.

Nokes collected 695 hits in 2,735 at bats across 902 games, good for a .254 batting average; the totals also include 136 homers and 422 RBI. On-base and slugging figures of .308 and .441 give Nokes a career OPS of .750. The .254 career average is close to the .260 the league hit across the same seasons. No season beat the 32 home runs Nokes hit in 1987.

Frequently Asked Questions about Matt Nokes

What years did Matt Nokes play?
Matt Nokes played in Major League Baseball from 1985 to 1995.
Was Matt Nokes a pitcher?
No. Matt Nokes was a position player (Catcher).
How many home runs did Matt Nokes hit?
Matt Nokes hit 136 career home runs with 695 hits.
What was Matt Nokes's career batting average?
Matt Nokes batted .254 over his career, with 695 hits in 2,735 at bats.
How many RBI did Matt Nokes have?
Matt Nokes drove in 422 runs in his career.
Is Matt Nokes in the Hall of Fame?
No. Matt Nokes has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.