Cy Young Profile: Jake Peavy, 2007

Pitcher, San Diego Padres

Age:  26 (May 31)

6^th season with Padres

Bats – Right, Throws – Right

Height: 6’1”    Weight: 195

Prior to 2007:

An Alabama native, Peavy early displayed all-around athletic ability and became a star pitcher at St. Paul’s Episcopal School in Mobile. With an outstanding fastball and change-up, he went 13-0 as a senior and the team won a state championship. Originally intending to continue to college, Peavy signed with the Padres, who selected him in the fifteenth round of the 1999 amateur draft. Initially assigned to the Padres rookie-level team in the Arizona League in ’99, the 18-year-old went 7-1 with a 1.34 ERA and 90 strikeouts over 73.2 innings pitched and moved on to Idaho Falls of the Pioneer League where he continued to dominate, winning his two starts and not giving up any runs. Peavy moved on to the Fort Wayne Wizards of the Class A Midwest League in 2000 and was 13-8 with a 2.90 ERA and a league-leading 164 strikeouts over 133.2 innings. He also overcame a bout with viral meningitis. Peavy split 2001 with Lake Elsinore of the advanced Class A California League and Mobile of the Class AA Southern League and produced a combined record of 9-6 with a 2.97 ERA and 188 strikeouts. He started the 2002 season with Mobile and was called up to the injury-depleted Padres in June to make an emergency start and stayed in the rotation the rest of the way. He posted a 6-7 record and 4.52 ERA with 90 strikeouts over 97.2 innings pitched. He continued his development with the Padres in 2003 by going 12-11 with a 4.11 ERA and 156 strikeouts. Dealing with a sore arm in 2004, which had him spend some time on the disabled list, Peavy produced a 15-6 record and NL best 2.27 ERA along with 173 strikeouts. He was an All-Star for the first time in 2005 on his way to a 13-7 tally and 2.88 ERA while leading the NL with 216 strikeouts. The Padres topped the NL West and fell to St. Louis in the NLDS. Peavy compiled an 11-14 mark in 2006 with a 4.09 ERA and 215 strikeouts. His pitching repertoire primarily consisted of a fastball, slider, curve and change-up.

2007 Season Summary

Appeared in 37 games

P – 34, PH – 2, PR – 1

[Bracketed numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]

Pitching

Games – 34

Games Started – 34 [2, tied with ten others]

Complete Games – 0

Wins – 19 [1]

Losses – 6

PCT - .760 [2]

Saves – 0

Shutouts – 0

Innings Pitched – 223.1 [4]

Hits – 169

Runs – 67

Earned Runs – 63

Home Runs – 13

Bases on Balls – 68 [19, tied with four others]

Strikeouts – 240 [1]

ERA – 2.54 [1]

Hit Batters – 6

Balks – 0

Wild Pitches – 4

League-leading wins were +1 ahead of runners-up Brandon Webb & Carlos Zambrano

League-leading strikeouts were +22 ahead of runner-up Aaron Harang

League-leading ERA was -0.47 lower than runner-up Brandon Webb

Midseason Snapshot: 9-3, ERA - 2.19, SO - 125 in 119 IP

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Most strikeouts, game – 16 (in 7 IP) at Arizona 4/25

10+ strikeout games – 9

Fewest hits allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 7 IP) at Florida 5/6

Batting

PA – 84, AB – 73, R – 8, H – 17, 2B – 4, 3B – 1, HR – 0, RBI – 7, BB – 2, SO – 14, SB – 0, CS – 0, AVG - .233, GDP – 1, HBP – 0, SH – 8, SF – 1

Fielding

Chances – 48

Put Outs – 21

Assists – 27

Errors – 0

DP – 1

Pct. - 1.000

Awards & Honors:

NL Cy Young Award: BBWAA

NL Pitcher of the Year: Sporting News

All-Star (Starting P for NL)

7^th in NL MVP voting (97 points, 22% share)

NL Cy Young voting (Top 5):

Jake Peavy, SD: 160 pts. – 32 of 32 first place votes, 100% share

Brandon Webb, Ariz.: 94 pts. – 59% share

Brad Penny, LAD: 14 pts. – 9% share

Aaron Harang, Cin.: 10 pts. – 6% share

Carlos Zambrano, ChiC.: 3 pts. – 2% share

Padres went 89-73 to finish tied for second in the NL Western Division with the Colorado Rockies, which necessitated a season-extending one-game playoff in Denver to determine the league Wild Card playoff entry. They lost to the Rockies 9-8 in 13 innings as Peavy started and gave up 6 runs in 6.1 innings, to finish third in the division with a final record of 89-74. The pitching staff led the league in ERA (3.70), shutouts (20), fewest runs allowed (666), and fewest earned runs allowed (611).

Aftermath of ‘07:

Peavy followed up in 2008 with a 10-11 record and 2.85 ERA with 166 strikeouts as the Padres dropped to fifth place. During the 2009 season he was dealt to the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline for four players. He spent time on the disabled list as the result of an ankle injury and was a combined 9-6 with a 3.45 ERA and 110 strikeouts over the course of 101.2 innings pitched. A season-ending shoulder injury in July of 2010 limited Peavy to 17 starts and a 7-6 mark with a 4.63 ERA and 93 strikeouts over 107 innings. He began the 2011 season on the disabled list as he recovered from shoulder surgery. Peavy ended up starting 18 games and went 7-7 with a 4.92 ERA and 95 strikeouts over 111.2 innings pitched. In 2012 he was selected as an All-Star in a season in which he compiled an 11-12 record with a 3.37 ERA and 194 strikeouts. He also received a Gold Glove for his fielding performance. Peavy started 2013 with the White Sox and was 8-4 with a 4.28 ERA when he was traded to the Boston Red Sox at the end of July. He finished with a combined record of 12-5 with a 4.17 ERA and 121 strikeouts. He started three games in the postseason and was 0-1. Peavy was once again traded in July in 2014, moving from the Red Sox to the San Francisco Giants. 1-9 with a 4.72 ERA for Boston, he was 6-4 with a 2.17 ERA for the Giants the rest of the way. San Francisco qualified for the postseason as a Wild Card entry and won the World Series. Peavy was 1-2 in the postseason, losing both of his World Series starts. He spent time on the disabled list due to back and hip problems in 2015 and ended up at 8-6 in 19 starts with a 3.58 ERA. Peavy spent one last season with the Giants in 2016. Overall for his career, he posted a 152-126 record and 3.63 ERA with 2207 strikeouts over 2377 innings pitched. He hurled 15 complete games and 6 shutouts. With the Padres he was 92-68 with a 3.29 ERA and 1348 strikeouts. In postseason play he was 1-5 in 9 starts with a 7.98 ERA and 21 strikeouts. He was a three-time All-Star, twice with San Diego.      

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Cy Young Profiles feature pitchers who were recipients of the Cy Young Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (1956 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from its inception through 1966 and from 1967 on to one recipient from each major league.