Jake Peavy
| Jake Peavy | |
|---|---|
| San Diego Padres – No. 44 | |
| Starting Pitcher | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| June 22, 2002, for the San Diego Padres | |
| Career statistics (through July 30, 2007) | |
| Win-Loss | 67-50 |
| Earned Run Average | 3.36 |
| Strikeouts | 1004 (as of Aug. 2, 2007) |
| Teams | |
| |
Jacob "Jake" Edward Peavy, (born May 31, 1981, in Mobile, Alabama, USA) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the San Diego Padres. He bats and throws right handed.
Peavy stands 6'1" tall (1.85 m) and weighs 182 pounds (82.72 kg).
Career in baseball
He was developed by the San Diego Padres minor league system after being drafted out of high school, where he attended St. Paul's Episcopal School. Peavy declined an offer to pitch for Auburn University in order to accept the Padres' contract offer. In 2001 Jake was promoted to the Padres' Class Double-A team, which also made its home in Mobile, Alabama. He spent parts of both the 2001 and 2002 seasons playing for the Mobile BayBears.
During his third year of major league experience in 2004, Peavy emerged as the Padres' ace starting pitcher and one of the best pitchers in baseball. He compiled a 15-6 record, struck out 173 in 166 innings and led the Major Leagues with a 2.27 ERA.
On February 28, 2005 Jake signed a four-year contract extension with San Diego.
During the 2005 season, Peavy was selected for the National League All-Star team and ended the regular season leading the National League in strikeouts with 216 (in 203 innings). He was second in the Majors to Minnesota's Johan Santana who had 238 strikeouts. In addition he finished the season with a 13-7 record, 2.88 ERA, a strikeout-to-walk ratio of over 4:1 and WHIP of 1.044.
After the Padres won the National League West in 2005, Peavy was widely considered their key for upsetting the St. Louis Cardinals, whom they faced in the National League Division Series. However, Peavy gave up eight runs in the first game, and afterwards it was announced that he would miss the rest of the season with a broken rib, which he apparently suffered while celebrating the Padres clinching the NL West Championship [1].
Peavy was a member of Team USA in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. He started the opening game for the U.S., a 2-0 win over Mexico, giving up just one hit and no runs over three innings. He did not factor in the decision in the second round game against Japan, as he gave up three runs in five innings in a game that the U.S. won, 4-3.
In 2006, Peavy got off to a rocky start, in part due to mechanical adjustments brought on by various offseason injuries. Although Peavy would go only 11-14 with a 4.09 ERA, he still managed to finish second in the National League in strikeouts with 215, one shy of both his 2005 league-leading total and of the 2006 NL strikeout leader, Aaron Harang who logged 32 more innings than Peavy. In the playoffs, the Padres again faced the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round. As the game one starter, Peavy had a much stronger outing than his 2005 playoff game, but the Padres again lost to the Cardinals.
Peavy's repertoire includes two-seam and four-seam fastballs (95-99 mph), a changeup (80-84 mph), a hard slider (83-88 mph), and sports an occasional curveball (74-76 mph). Many players around the game point out Peavy's tremendous ability to maintain his composure in high-pressure situations and locate his pitches down as the key to his success against hitters.
On April 25, 2007, Peavy was one strike away from tying Tom Seaver's record for most consecutive strikeouts in a game. Seaver's record, set in 1970, stands at 10. In the fifth inning, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, Peavy had struck out nine in a row and was facing lead off batter Eric Byrnes. With two strikes, Byrnes checked his swing, and upon appeal, it was deemed a non-swing and a ball. After the call, the camera panned on Peavy and players in the Padres' dugout. Peavy chuckled in disbelief while manager Bud Black shook his head. The following pitch was called a ball by the home plate umpire, so Byrnes was issued a walk. Peavy ended up with 16 strike outs in seven innings pitched, allowing no runs, but did not get the win as the Diamondbacks scored three runs in the last two innings to win 3-2.[1]
On July 1, 2007, Peavy was named to the 2007 NL All-Star Team along with Trevor Hoffman and Chris Young for the second time in his career. On July 9, he was named along with Oakland's Dan Haren to start the All-Star Game. .
On August 2, 2007 Peavy struck out Jeff DaVanon (Arizona Diamondbacks), for his 1000th career strikeout.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ARI/ARI200704250.shtml Box Score, San Diego v Arizona, April 25, 2007
External links
- Template:Espn mlb
- Career statistics and player information from Baseball Reference
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| Preceded by | National League Pitcher of the month August 2004 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League ERA Champion 2004 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League Strikeout Champion 2005 |
Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | National League Pitcher of the month May 2007 |
Succeeded by |