Jake Peavy

Jacob Edward Peavy is a professional baseball player currently signed as a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was born on May 31, 1981 in Mobile, Alabama. He won a Cy Young Award in 2007.

2004

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. He became the youngest pitcher to win an ERA title since Dwight Gooden in 1985.


2005

On March 5, 2005 he signed a four-year 14.5 million contract and holds a club option for 2009 extension with the Padres. 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 the key to 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.

Peavy was the captain 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.


2006

In 2006, Peavy got off to a rocky start, in part due to mechanical adjustments brought on by various off-season 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.


2007

On July 1, 2007, for the second time in his career, Peavy was named to the 2007 NL All-Star Team (along with Trevor Hoffman and Chris Young). On July 9, he was named as the starting pitcher for the NL.

On August 2, 2007 Peavy struck out Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Jeff DaVanon, for his 1000th career strikeout. Peavy won the pitching Triple Crown in 2007, leading the National League with 19 wins, 240 strikeouts, and a 2.54 ERA. Since the divisional play era started in 1969, Peavy is only the eighth player to accomplish this feat.

On October 23, Peavy won the Players Choice Award for Outstanding NL Pitcher. He added the NL Cy Young -- as a unanimous choice -- on November 15, becoming just the 10th National League player in history to win the Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote (Sandy Koufax was unanimously selected three times). The completion of the 2007 campaign represented Peavy's sixth year in the league. Over that six-year period Peavy collected two strikeout champion awards, two major league ERA titles, and a unanimous, triple-crown Cy Young Award.

On December 12, 2007, he signed a 4 year extension, worth $52 million with the Padres. At the time the contract was the largest in Padres history. The contract includes a $22 million option for 2013.


2008

On April 5, 2008, Peavy pitched a two-hit complete game over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The following day, still-images from FOX sports video feed from the game showed a dirty, brown substance on the index and middle fingers, along with his thumb. Manager Bud Black defended Peavy saying that "it was a mixture of dirt and rosin". In the two games immediately following the report, Peavy posted a 1-0 record with a 1.92 ERA.

In May he went on the DL with a sore throwing elbow. He returned on June 12 and pitched six shutout innings with four strikeouts. He ended 2008 with only a 10-11 record, but had one of the lowest run support per start of any pitcher in the league, and finished the season with a 2.85 ERA.

Peavy has been the subject of numerous trade rumors during the 2008 offseason, amidst reports that the Padres were looking to reduce salaries and build on young players for the future. In November 2008, Peavy added the New York Yankees to the list of teams he would accept a trade to. The list includes several teams from the NL including the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, the Chicago Cubs and the Houston Astros. Peavy preferred to be in the NL, so the Yankees would not be involved. The Astros and Cardinals decided they wouldn't pursue Peavy after talking with GM Kevin Towers on what they would have to give up. However, there were in fact two teams who were in deep talks of acquiring Peavy: the Cubs and the Braves.

In November 2008, the Padres were working with the Braves on a Peavy trade, in which Peavy would be traded to Atlanta for SS Yunel Escobar, OF Gorkys Hernandez, P Blaine Boyer and one of P Charlie Morton or P Jo-Jo Reyes.  The Padres also wanted the two top prospects in the organization as well: P Tommy Hanson and OF Jordan Schafer, but after a few weeks, the Braves decided to move on to bring in a few free agents.


2009

Peavy was almost perfect in spring training, pitching 14 total innings with no runs allowed, 10 strikeouts, no walks and ERA of 0.00.