Jamey Wright

Jamey Alan Wright (born December 24, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played for 10 different teams in Major League Baseball (MLB): the Colorado Rockies, Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Tampa Bay Rays. Wright batted and threw right-handed.

An Oklahoma City native, Wright was a first round draft pick of the Rockies in 1993. He reached the majors with them in 1996 and was part of their starting rotation through the 1999 season. Traded to Milwaukee before the 2000 season, he became the Brewers' Opening Day starter in 2001, winning a career-high 11 games. After being traded to St. Louis during the 2002 season, he spent most of 2003 in the minor leagues, then pitched for the Rockies again in 2004 and 2005. He was named the fifth starter for the Giants and the Rangers in 2006 and 2007, respectively, but both times he was removed from the rotation during the year. After the 2007 season, he served almost exclusively as a reliever.

With the Rangers in 2008, Wright tied for third in the American League (AL) with 75 games pitched. He spent 2009 with the Royals, split 2010 between the Indians and Mariners, and spent 2011 with the Mariners. After a year with the Dodgers in 2012, he reached the playoffs for the first time in his 18th season, with the Rays in 2013. He pitched one final year for the Dodgers in 2014, then retired after failing to make an MLB roster in 2015 and 2016. In 719 appearances (248 starts), he had a 97–130 record and a 4.81 earned run average.

Early life Jamey Alan Wright was born on December 24, 1974, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Growing up, he was part of three Little League Baseball championship teams. As a senior that year, he had a 7–2 record and an 0.57 earned run average (ERA), with 94 strikeouts in 62 innings pitched, leading Westmoore to a third-place finish in the state tournament.

Professional career Colorado Rockies, first stint Wright was drafted in the first round of the 1993 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft by the Colorado Rockies, the 28th overall pick. According to sportswriter Larry Stone, he "dominated" in the minor leagues. He recorded his first major league win with a seven-inning start against the Giants on July 17, where he allowed only one earned run. The pitcher also recorded his first major league hit that day, a double against Osvaldo Fernández, though he injured his knee when sliding into second base.

Recovered by 1997, Wright made the Rockies roster out of spring training. He spent most of the season with Colorado, other than a stretch from May 15 through June 8 when he was on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation and a stint from June 18 through July 2 when he was demoted to Colorado Springs. He had a 9–14 record, a 5.67 ERA, and 86 strikeouts.

After posting a 7.58 ERA in his first four starts of 1999, Wright was demoted to Colorado Springs. In 17 games (16 starts) for Colorado Springs, he had a 5–7 record, posting a slightly lower ERA at 6.46. He began the 2000 season on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff tear, but he joined the starting rotation after being activated on May 23. In 26 games (25 starts), he had a 7–9 record and a 4.10 ERA. Wright led the NL with 18 hit batsmen. He threw his first shutout on April 29, allowing just two hits in a 10–0 triumph over the Montreal Expos. He struck out a career-high 12 batters over innings on August 31 against the Houston Astros, though he took the loss in a 3–2 defeat. From July 19 through September 5, Wright hit a batter in 10 straight starts, the longest streak in the major leagues since 1970. Wright had a career-high 11 wins in 2001 and struck out over 100 batters (129) for the first time, posting an 11–12 record and a 4.90 ERA. His 20 hit batsmen tied Chan Ho Park for the league lead and set a Brewers single-season record. After the season, on October 30, he had arthroscopic surgery to remove a bone spur from his right elbow. He was placed on the disabled list with a right rotator cuff tear after his first start of the year on April 4; Wright did not return until May 24. On July 1, he allowed just three hits in a 2–0 shutout of the Pirates. Through August 30, he had a 5–13 record and a 5.35 ERA. Wright had a 2–0 record in four appearances (three starts) for the Cardinals, with a 4.80 ERA. In 23 games (22 starts) total in 2002, he had a 7–13 record and a 5.29 ERA. After the season, he became a free agent. He spent most of spring training with them but was released on March 18, the last player cut prior to the regular season. and he made seven starts for the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks, where he was 2–1 with a 4.12 ERA. With Kansas City, he was 1–2 with a 4.26 ERA in four starts. After the season, he became a free agent. Making his MLB season debut on July 24, he held the Arizona Diamondbacks to one run in five innings, earning his first victory since September 13 of the previous season. However, he won just one more game all season, holding the Giants to one run in seven innings on September 1 in a 4–1 triumph. After posting a 6–16 record and a 5.71 ERA, the Rockies moved Wright to the bullpen at the end of August to make room for Zach Day and Sunny Kim in Colorado's rotation. "This could be the beginning of the second half of my career, and I would like it to be here," Wright said of the move. He was 8–16 with a 5.46 ERA in 34 appearances (27 starts) in 2005. After the season, he became a free agent. On May 16, he allowed three runs in seven innings, earning the win against the Astros in a 14–3 triumph. The win was his first ever victory against Houston after 12 losses, the most by a starting pitcher to start his career against any team since Don Sutton lost his first 13 decisions against the Cubs from 1966 to 1969. On August 11, Giants' manager Felipe Alou announced that Hennessey would replace the struggling Wright in the rotation. At the time, Wright was 6–10 with a 5.18 ERA, but since May 22 his record had been 1–7 with a 6.40 ERA. Trouble locating his pitches and a flat sinkerball contributed to his struggles. Overall, he appeared in 34 games, making 21 starts in 2006 with a 6–10 record and 5.19 ERA.

Texas Rangers

On January 25, 2007, the Texas Rangers signed Wright to a minor-league contract with an invitation to spring training. He competed with Kameron Loe and Bruce Chen for a spot in the starting rotation. Winning the fifth spot, Wright made one short start for the Rangers on April 10 before being placed on the 15-day disabled list with right shoulder inflammation. After four rehab starts, he was activated on June 15. "My arm strength is good. I'm ready to go and to get back out there," he said. He rejoined the rotation upon being activated on June 15, posting a 3–4 record and a 4.57 ERA through August 3. Wright also had the second-most wins of AL relievers and the third-most innings pitched . He was the only non-roster invitee that year to be named to the team's Opening Day roster. He made the team and was 1–2 with a 5.48 ERA. He was released six days later. In 28 games for the Mariners, he had an 0–1 record and a 3.41 ERA. From July 29 to the end of the year, he had a 1.37 ERA in 19 games. He was added to the roster before the start of the season on March 27. Wright pitched better at Dodger Stadium than on the road, posting a 5–0 record and a 1.71 ERA at home versus an 0–3 record and a 5.50 ERA in away games. By this time, he was one of three players in the last three decades to play for at least 17 years and never make the playoffs. On September 1, with the Rays facing a predominantly left-handed Oakland lineup, Rays manager Joe Maddon elected to skip right-handed starter Roberto Hernández's start in favor of a bullpen game handled mostly by left-handers. Wright, making his first start since 2007, allowed one run in innings and left with the game tied, but Oakland won 5–1. He finished the season with a 2–2 record in 66 appearances, and his 3.09 ERA was the lowest of his career. He made two appearances in the AL Division Series (ALDS) against the Red Sox. He relieved Jeremy Hellickson with no outs and the bases loaded in the second inning of Game 4, getting out of the inning with no runs scoring by striking out Jarrod Saltalamacchia and inducing Stephen Drew to hit into a double play. However, Tampa ultimately lost the game 3–1 and was eliminated from the playoffs. After the season, he became a free agent. He pitched better in the first half of the season than the second half, posting a 3.50 ERA prior to the All-Star break and a 5.74 ERA thereafter. Wright appeared in 61 games, posting a 5–4 record and a 4.35 ERA. After the season, he became a free agent. However, he was released on March 31 when he was unable to make the roster during spring training. He sat out the rest of the season, then signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers on February 24, 2016. Unable to make the Dodgers Opening Day roster, he announced his retirement on March 28, 2016.

Wright pitched for 19 seasons in the major leagues. Of his 719 appearances, 248 were starts. He had a 97–130 record, a 4.81 ERA, 1,189 strikeouts, 978 walks, and 2,168 hits allowed in innings.

After retiring, Wright worked for his agent for a few years before rejoining the Dodgers organization in 2020 as a special assistant. In 2021, Wright was hired as the pitching coach for the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers. He was replaced in 2022 by Dave Borkowski.

Pitching style Wright was a sinkerballer, throwing the pitch at 90–93 mph with an average speed of approximately 92 mph. He also threw a cut fastball at 88–90 mph and an occasional four-seamer in the low 90s. His main breaking ball was a sharp curveball which travelled around 77–81 mph. Wright had a tendency to get ground ball outs. "I followed that guy around like a puppy dog. He helped me more than anybody else could," Wright said after Kile's untimely death in 2002. "He was a great person and a great friend." The Wrights currently live in Dallas, Texas. An Oklahoma native, the Oklahoma Sooners are his favorite college team; he wore the same gray "Oklahoma Sooners" shirt for many years during his career.