Jaret Wright

Jaret Samuel Wright (born December 29, 1975 in Anaheim, California) is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who currently is a free agent. He is the son of former major league pitcher Clyde Wright. He attended Katella High School. As a youngster with the Cleveland Indians, Wright threw a two-seam fastball that topped out at 98MPH, along with a hard curveball and a changeup. Currently, after battling shoulder injuries, his fastball tops out in the low 90s. Wright made his major league debut in 1997 with the Cleveland Indians and was an instant success, going 8-3 with a 4.38 ERA in 16 starts and pitching masterfully in the post-season that year at the age of 21. Wright left game 7 of the 1997 World Series after 6 1/3 innings with a 2-1 lead, however the Indians would lose in 11 innings. He would follow that up with a .500 season (12-12 with a 4.72 ERA) in 1998. He never got the chance to reach his potential in Cleveland due to a chronic shoulder injury that would first crop up in 1999, when he went 8-10 with a 6.06 ERA in 26 starts, and would later require two surgeries to repair, costing him parts of the following three seasons. After going 2-3 with a 15.71 ERA in 2002, the Indians decided not to re-sign him and Wright became a free agent. He signed with the San Diego Padres in early 2003. He did not fare well in San Diego, going 1-5 with an 8.73 ERA in 39 games, all in relief. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves in August. He was unscored upon in all but one his 11 appearances with the Braves, going 1-0 with a 2.00 ERA, and was told that he was going to be made a starting pitcher again for the next season. Wright started 2004 in the minors to build up arm strength, but was called up by the Braves when it was discovered pitcher Paul Byrd needed more time to rehab his arm (he had missed the entire 2003 season due to Tommy John surgery). Wright became the Braves best pitcher, going 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 starts that season while amassing 159 strikeouts in 186.1 innings. On December 7, 2004, Wright signed a three-year, US$21 million deal with the New York Yankees. On November 12, 2006, the Yankees traded Wright to the Baltimore Orioles for Chris Britton and cash considerations. The Orioles will be responsible for paying only $3 million of the $7 million left on Wright's contract. Wright's shoulder problems returned in the 2007 season and have caused him to spend time on the disabled list twice; he did make three starts in April, each five innings or less, but lost all three of them and accumulated a 6.97 ERA. The Orioles reported that Wright's velocity was also down. Wright had started a rehab assignment in September and after 3 games he decided to go home ending the rest of the season and maybe his career. On October 1, 2007, the Orioles released Wright. When registering for hotel stays, Wright used the alias Turd Ferguson to avoid unwanted fan attention [1].

See also

• List of second generation MLB players

External links

• Player stats on baseball-reference.com
• Jaret Wright: Behind the Dugout