Steve Delabar
| Steve Delabar | |
|---|---|
 Delabar in 2012 |
|
| Toronto Blue Jays – No. 50 | |
| Relief pitcher | |
| Born: July 17, 1983 Fort Knox, Kentucky |
|
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 11, 2011 for the Seattle Mariners | |
| Career statistics (through May 21, 2013) |
|
| Win–loss record | 8–5 |
| Earned run average | 3.25 |
| Strikeouts | 128 |
| WHIP | 1.14 |
| Teams | |
|
|
| Career highlights and awards | |
|
|
Steven Edward Delabar (born July 17, 1983) is an American Major League Baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. A native of Kentucky, Delabar attended Central Hardin High School and Volunteer State Community College. He was selected late in the 2003 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres and began his minor league career in 2004. He played in the low minor leagues for several seasons until he sustained a severe elbow injury in 2009.
In 2010, Delabar worked as a substitute teacher and then became an assistant high school baseball coach. Delabar helped to implement an arm conditioning program for pitchers at the high school and found that his own pitching velocity improved significantly. After a tryout with the Seattle Mariners in early 2011, Delabar was assigned to the team's class A affiliate. He progressed to Classes High A, Double-A, and Triple-A, then to the major leagues. His MLB debut came late in 2011 at the age of 28. He was traded to Toronto in 2012.
Baseball career
Amateur career
Steve Delabar went to Central Hardin High School in Cecilia, Kentucky.[1] where he was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 43rd round of the 2002 MLB Draft, but elected to go to college. He attended Volunteer State Community College.[1] After one year there, he was drafted in the 29th round, 851st overall, in the 2003 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres.
Minor league career
Delabar did not play professionally in 2003. He started the 2004 season with the Arizona League Padres, going 3–4 with a 4.37 ERA before earning a promotion to the Single-A Short-Season Eugene Emeralds. He played all of 2005 with Eugene, going 4–6 in 16 starts with a 4.76 ERA. He played 2006 with the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps, then the Wizards, earning an 8–9 record with a 3.41 ERA in 27 starts with 118 strikeouts. He started 2007 with Single-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm, but was demoted back to Fort Wayne after registering a 5.59 ERA out of the bullpen. He started 2008 with Fort Wayne, but was cut after a 5.27 ERA as a relief pitcher.
On June 7, he signed a deal with the independent Florence Freedom of the Frontier League, where he played four games before signing with the independent Brockton Rox of the Canadian-American Association, going 3–3 in 11 starts with a 3.01 ERA. He played all of 2009 with Brockton, where he had a 3.36 ERA in 12 appearances. His 2009 season ended when he suffered a fractured right elbow.[2] The injury was so serious that a steel plate and nine screws were embedded to stabilize the elbow during the surgery.[3]
He did not play professionally in 2010, working as a substitute teacher in his hometown of Elizabethtown, Kentucky at John Hardin High School. He also played slow pitch softball, where he won the 2010 Louisville Invitational Tournament Miken Homerun Derby.[4] He began working as an assistant baseball coach at the high school. While introducing an arm conditioning program to his high school players, Delabar's own fastball returned to the 92-97 mph range.[5] Delabar signed a minor league deal with the Mariners for 2011. He was assigned to Single-A Advanced High Desert Mavericks before being promoted to the Double-A Jackson Generals and the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.
Major league career
Delabar was called up by the Seattle Mariners from the minor leagues on September 6, 2011. He made his MLB debut on September 11 against the Kansas City Royals. Delabar recorded his first major league win on September 15, 2011 against the New York Yankees.
He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays on July 30, 2012, for outfielder Eric Thames.[6]
On August 13, 2012, Delabar struck out 4 men in the 10th inning, and recorded the win in a 3-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.[7] Delabar is the first pitcher in major league history to record four strikeouts in an extra inning.[8]
Pitching style
Delabar throws three pitches: a hard four-seam fastball at an average of 95 mph, a slider from 85–88 mph that he throws occasionally to right-handed hitters, and a split-finger fastball that registers speeds in the mid-to-upper 80s. All three pitches are excellent strikeout pitches, with well above-average whiff rates of 25% on the fastball, 33% on the slider, and 48% on the splitter.[9] The high whiff rates contribute to a K/9 rate of over 11 for Delabar's career.[1]
See also
↑Jump back a section.jpg){kind=small}
References
- ^ a b c "Steve Delabar Statistics and History - Baseball-Reference.com". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
- ^ Baker, Geoff (2011-09-06). "Mariners | Mariner Steve Delabar goes from classroom to majors". Seattletimes.nwsource.com. Seattle Times. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^ Baker, Geoff. "Coming soon to a theatre near you: the Steve Delabar story," Mariners Blog (The Seattle Times), Wednesday, September 7, 2011.
- ^ Caple, Jim (2011-09-14). "Steve Delabar, Alex Liddi, Austin Romine exemplify great MLB stories of September - ESPN". Espn.go.com. Retrieved 2011-09-15.
- ^ Baker, Geoff. "Coming Soon to a Theatre Near You: The Steve Delabar Story". SeattleTimes.com. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
- ^ "Snider, Thames traded for Lincoln, Delabar in separate moves". TSN.ca. July 31, 2012. Retrieved July 31, 2012.
- ^ Macleod, Robert (August 13, 2012). "Delabar makes history in Blue Jays' walkoff win". TheGlobeandMail.com. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
- ^ "Cooper drives in winning run as Jays beat White Sox in 11th". TSN.ca. August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 14, 2012.
- ^ "Brooks Baseball · Home of the PitchFX Tool - Player Card: Steve Delabar". Brooks Baseball. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
