Chris Young (baseball starting pitcher)
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| San Diego Padres — No. 32 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
|---|---|
| August 24, 2004 for the Texas Rangers | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through October 2, 2006) |
|
| Wins | 26 |
| Strikeouts | 328 |
| Earned run average | 3.93 |
| Teams | |
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Christopher Ryan Young (born May 25, 1979 in Dallas, TX, USA) is a Major League Baseball player.
Contents |
[edit] Affiliations
Chris Young was drafted by baseball's Pittsburgh Pirates (3rd round of the 2000 amateur draft). Young played minor league baseball in the Montreal Expos organization in 2003 after 3 years in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Then just prior to the 2004 season the Expos traded him to the Texas Rangers where he debuted late in 2004. The San Diego Padres acquired Chris Young from the Rangers in a 6 player deal on January 5, 2006.
[edit] Collegiate Career
He was the first male athlete to be named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in two sports (basketball and baseball 1999). When he signed a $1.65 million contract with Pittsburgh after the August 2000 draft he surrendered his amateur status and his college athletic career in both sports at Princeton University. His athletic career was not entirely on hold because he was able to get some low minor league experience before completing his degree at Princeton in June 2002 and becoming a full-time professional athlete.
[edit] 2004 & 2005 Season
Chris debut with the Rangers on August 24, 2004 with a 5 2/3 IP, 4 H, 4 SO, 3 BB, 3 ER performance. He became part of the rotation making 7 starts and compiling a 3-2 record with a 4.71 ERA. He made 31 starts the following season with the Rangers, compiling a 12-7 record with a 4.26 ERA.
[edit] 2006 Season
[edit] Regular Season
2006 marked Chris Young's breakthrough season. His ERA continued its downward trend falling to 3.46 over 31 starts, and he recorded a career high 169 strikeouts. He finished at 11-5.
End of June talk was vociferous about his strong late bid for an All-Star nod. In his first 6 starts after Memorial Day, he improved his record from 3-3, 4.32 ERA to 7-3, 2.97 allowing only 4 earned runs over 38 2/3 innings. He was one of five NL players selected for the fan "Final Vote" to determine the final official selection for the 2006 All-Star game, which he lost to Nomar Garciaparra. His strong June performance earned him the National League Pitcher of the Month by only allowing 16 hits over 30 2/3 June innings and maintaining a 1.17 E.R.A.
On September 22, 2006, Chris had a no-hitter through 8 1/3 innings of the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates before pinch hitter Joe Randa hit a 2-run home run. This would have been the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history. Chris left the game to a standing ovation and the relief staff closed out the 6-2 Padres victory. This was the 20th one-hitter in Padres history and the 12th time a Padre took a no-hitter into the 9th inning.[1] Young also took a no-hitter into the eighth inning earlier in the season.
[edit] Postseason
He concluded his season by winning his first and only post season start in an October 7, 2006 3-1 victory in the 2006 National League Divisional Series Game 3 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched 6 2/3rds shutout innings facing 25 batters and throwing 102 pitches (63 strikes). He struck out 9, walked 2 and allowed 4 hits. The Padres lost the series 3 games to 1.
[edit] Trivia
At 6'10", the only player in Major League Baseball as of 2006 who overshadows Young along the vertical dimension is Jon Rauch, at 6'11". Both Randy Johnson and Andy Sisco are each 6'10".
[edit] External links
- Baseball-Reference.com - career statistics and analysis
- ESPN Profile
