Nicholas Paul Punto (born November 8, 1977) is an American former professional baseball infielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Oakland Athletics. With the Cardinals, he won the 2011 World Series over the Texas Rangers. He has also played for the Italian national baseball team in the World Baseball Classic.
Career
Early career
Punto attended Trabuco Hills High School in Mission Viejo, California. He was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 33rd round (993rd overall) of the 1997 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign. He stayed in Mission Viejo to attend Saddleback College before being drafted in the 21st round (614th overall) of the 1998 Major League Baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies. Punto played in the Phillies system for the Single-A Clearwater Phillies, Single-A Batavia Muckdogs, Double-A Reading Phillies and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons before his promotion to the majors.
Philadelphia Phillies (2001-2003) Punto made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on September 9, 2001. He singled to right field off Bob Scanlan of the Montreal Expos as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. He had two hits in five at-bats (.400) in just four games with the Phillies that season. In 2002 with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons, Punto played in 115 games and hit .271 with a home run, 29 RBI and 42 stolen bases, earning a selection as an International League All-Star.
In three years with the Phillies, Punto played in a total of 77 games and hit .223. His first, and only, home run with the Phillies was hit off Steve Trachsel of the New York Mets on July 10, 2003.
Minnesota Twins (2004-2010) After playing in 64 major-league games in , Punto was acquired by the Minnesota Twins on December 3, 2003 along with Carlos Silva and Bobby Korecky for Eric Milton. He started the season with the team, but he was injured twice and spent the majority of his time in 2004 on the disabled list. In , he competed for the starting job at second base, which he eventually won, and in became the starting third baseman.
Punto was one of four Twins players nicknamed "The Piranhas" by then Chicago White Sox manager, Ozzie Guillén. The other Piranhas were Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett, and Luis Castillo.
In 2005, Punto batted .239 with a career-high four home runs and 26 RBI in 112 games.
Punto had his best full season in Minnesota during the 2006 season when he batted .290 with a home run, 45 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 135 games.
In , Punto experienced his statistically worst full season with Minnesota, batting .210 with a home run and 25 RBI 150 games. He posted the lowest slugging percentage (.271) of any major league player with at least 200 at-bats in a single season. This was the lowest slugging percentage by a player with over 400 at-bats since José Lind recorded a .269 slugging percentage for the Pittsburgh Pirates in . Punto also posted a −27.1 VORP in 2007, 8.5 runs worse than the second-worst position player in baseball, White Sox infielder Andy González. However, he has always played excellent defense and believed in his defensive abilities which the Twins are so keen on. On May 27 during an MPR broadcast Punto said, "I take too much pride in my defense to ever let (offensive struggles) affect me or affect my team. The one thing I can control is how I play defense."
After being injured most of the first half of the season, Punto was activated from the DL on June 25, 2008, and finished the season batting .284 with two home runs and 28 RBI in 99 games. Punto spent most of the 2008 season as the Twins' primary shortstop.
On December 11, 2008, Punto signed a two-year, $8.5 million deal with the Twins that included a club option for 2011 worth $5 million.
Punto represented Team Italy in the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
After struggling as the Twins regular shortstop in 2009, Punto began losing time in the lineup to fellow Twin Brendan Harris. After returning from the disabled list, Punto was re-inserted into the regular lineup at second base, following the struggles of infielders Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert. He finished the season batting .228 with a home run and 38 RBI in 125 games.