Jeremy Bonderman
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Detroit Tigers — No. 38 | |
| Starting Pitcher | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
|---|---|
| April 2, 2003 for the Detroit Tigers | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2006) | |
| Win-loss | 45-53 |
| Strikeouts | 623 |
| Earned run average | 4.72 |
Jeremy Allen Bonderman (born October 28, 1982, in Kennewick, Washington) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers. Bonderman is six feet and two inches tall and weighs 220 pounds. He bats and throws right-handed.
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[edit] High School Years
Bonderman attended Pasco High School in Pasco, Washington. In his last year of high school baseball, he went 5-2 and recorded a 3.60 ERA. He is the only junior ever to be drafted in baseball history despite not being a senior at the time in 2001. He was selected by the Oakland Athletics as their first round pick in 2001.
[edit] Professional career
[edit] The Draft
Bonderman was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in his junior year of high school with the 26th pick in the 2001 MLB draft.
[edit] Criticism of Bonderman
Bonderman was considered to be a bad draft pick by Billy Beane. In Michael Lewis's book Moneyball, Lewis mentions Bonderman as an example of an unwise first round draft pick since he was a high school pitcher. While he may have been a risky pick, Bonderman has developed into a fine ballplayer in his own right.
[edit] The Trade
On July 6, 2002, he was traded along with Franklyn German and Carlos Peña to the Detroit Tigers from the Oakland Athletics as the player to be named later for pitcher Jeff Weaver.
[edit] Detroit Tigers
He debuted in the major leagues when he was 20 years old. While many felt this was a bad move by the Tigers, Bonderman seemed ready and the Tigers didn't have much to look forward to as they were in a rebuilding stage. Considering how well he worked out in the end, many feel the Tigers should have delayed his arbitration clock, thereby getting more of his prime years at a low price.
In his first season he had a 6-19 record. He was benched for the final week of the 2003 season to avoid becoming the first pitcher in 23 years to lose 20 or more games in a single season. However, the feat was accomplished by his teammate Mike Maroth.
He did better in 2004 by going 11-13 with a 4.89 ERA. Bonderman had a season of contrasts due to injury in 2005, as evidenced by his season splits, but on the year showed improvement with a 14-13 Won-Loss record and a 4.57 ERA and a 4.10 xFIP.
Bonderman was the Tigers' Opening Day starter for the 2005 season. At 22 years old, he was the youngest pitcher to start on Opening Day since Dwight Gooden started for the New York Mets at the age of 20 in the 1986 season.
In 2006 he posted a career best 14-8 4.08 ERA record. He started Game 4 of the American League Division Series against the Yankees. He pitched 5 perfect innings before giving up a hit. He pitched 3.1 more innings surrendering only 1 run. Bonderman was the winning pitcher which won the Tigers the series. He would pitch again in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series. He pitched 6 innings giving up 3 runs before being pulled. The Tigers would go on to win the game and series for the American League Pennant. In the World Series, he pitched 6 innings giving up only 2 runs. He left the game with the Tigers in the lead. However, the Tigers would ultimately lose the game and the series the following day.
[edit] Fact
- Bonderman became the first United States native to be drafted after his junior year in high school.
[edit] External links
- Detroit Tigers player information
- ESPN.com profile
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
