Luke French

Lucas Stephen French (born September 13, 1985) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the eighth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball draft. French debuted with the Tigers in 2009, then played with the Seattle Mariners in 2009 and 2010.

Born in Kansas, French attended Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado, where he was a Louisville Slugger Preseason High School All-American in his senior year. Drafted by the Tigers, he spent the next several years in their minor league system before making his debut with the team in 2009. He won his first game in the major leagues on July 9, then was traded to the Mariners on July 31 as part of a deal that brought Jarrod Washburn to Detroit to help the Tigers try to win the American League Central Division.

With Seattle, French replaced Washburn in the starting rotation. He had more wins that year with them than he did in Detroit, but his earned run average (ERA) was higher. In 2010, he split the year between the Mariners and the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, though after Ryan Rowland-Smith was placed on the disabled list on July 28, he spent the rest of the year in the Mariners' starting rotation. Twice, he took a no-hitter through five innings. At Tacoma, he tied for fifth in the Pacific Coast League in wins despite only pitching half the season for them; in Seattle, he had a 5–7 record and a 4.83 ERA. French would never appear in a Major League Baseball game again after 2010. He spent all of 2011 with Tacoma, where his ERA was 6.27. Allowed to become a free agent after the season, he pitched one final season in the Minnesota Twins organization in 2012.

Early life Luke was born to Greg and Colleen French on September 13, 1985, in Salina, Kansas.

French was selected to play in the inaugural Aflac All-America High School Baseball Classic on August 23, 2003, at Hammond Stadium in Ft. Myers, Florida. He said this about the experience:

At the end of his senior year, French was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the eighth round of the 2004 Major League Baseball (MLB) Draft. In 11 games (10 starts), he had a 1–3 record, a 2.74 earned run average (ERA), 49 strikeouts, and 19 walks in innings pitched.

For the 2007 season, French spent the whole year with Lakeland. He finished second in the FSL with 14 losses (behind Zach Ward with 17), tied for second with 27 starts (tied with three others behind Tyler Norrick's 28), and finished fourth with 149 innings pitched (behind Norrick's , Drew Carpenter's 163, and Brandon Magee's ) in 2007.

French earned a promotion to the Double-A Erie SeaWolves in 2008. He went 9–11 with a 4.02 ERA in 27 games (26 starts). French led the Eastern League with 170 innings pitched and 195 hits allowed, while he tied Brad Bergesen and Magee for the lead with three complete games, finished second with the same amount of losses as four other starters (11, behind Magee's 13), and gave up the fifth-most walks in the league (60, tied for fifth with Kyle Aselton).

In 2009, French began the year with the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens of the International League. He was called up to the Tigers on May 14, 2009, when Nate Robertson was placed on the disabled list retroactive to May 6. He said he was very excited about the chance to pitch in the major leagues: I'm getting an opportunity to live out the dream, and it's surreal. You get to be on a card. And my friend who is really into fantasy baseball said, 'I'm picking you up in my league.' That's cool. Luke French, mlive.com, May 16, 2009 French appeared in one more game before being optioned back to Toledo on May 21 after Robertson returned from the disabled list.

At Toledo, French went 4–4 with a 2.98 ERA in 13 games (all starts). On July 3, he made his first major league start, holding the Minnesota Twins to two runs over innings. He got a no-decision, but the Tigers won 11–9. Six days later, he logged his first major league win, holding the Kansas City Royals to one run over innings in a 3–1 triumph, defeating Zack Greinke, who would go on to win the American League (AL) Cy Young Award in 2009. It was his only win in seven games (five starts) for the Tigers through the end of July, but French posted a 3.38 ERA in that span. On July 31, 2009, French and prospect Mauricio Robles were traded to the Seattle Mariners for Jarrod Washburn. The trade brought French to the team he rooted for as a kid:

French replaced Washburn in Seattle's rotation and won his first start for the Mariners. In his August 5 debut, he gave up four runs over five innings but again defeated the Royals in an 11–6 victory. On August 15, he was the losing pitcher in a 5–2 defeat by the New York Yankees, but all four runs French allowed were unearned, the result of a Franklin Gutiérrez error in the second inning. After he started for the Mariners on September 5, manager Don Wakamatsu moved him to the bullpen so the team could use Brandon Morrow in the starting rotation. French was only used once the rest of the year, on September 19. He made two relief appearances and started a game on June 14 in place of Ian Snell, who had not been pitching well. French allowed four runs in four innings in a 9–3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. Four days later, French was optioned back to Tacoma. He was briefly recalled on July 9, making a relief appearance against the Yankees before being sent back to Tacoma the next day. He remained in the rotation the rest of the year. Eleven days later against the Baltimore Orioles, he had a no-hitter going until Josh Bell had a single with one out in the sixth inning, but he allowed no runs in innings as the Mariners won 4–0. On August 29, he held the Twins to three hits in seven innings. One of the hits was a home run by Michael Cuddyer, but Seattle scored two runs to defeat Minnesota 2–1. Five days later, French carried a no-hitter through six innings before Shelley Duncan singled with one out in the seventh. He finished the game with seven scoreless innings and got the win as Seattle beat the Cleveland Indians 1–0. I'm aware of the game but I'm not trying to get a no-hitter by any means...No-hit stuff was not really what I'm going for. I'm going for keeping the team in the game, make my pitches and get better every time out there. Luke French, ESPN, September 4, 2010. French glumly reviewed his performance, saying, "All I can say is it wasn't my night. It's going to happen. It's not very fun, not the way you want to end the season." In 16 games (13 starts) with Seattle, he had a 5–7 record, a 4.83 ERA, 37 strikeouts, and 88 hits allowed in innings. On August 13, 2011, French was designated for assignment by the Mariners to allow Wily Mo Peña onto the team's 40-man roster. In 26 starts for Tacoma, he had a 9–9 record, a 6.27 ERA, and 81 strikeouts in innings. The Mariners allowed him to become a free agent after the season. When the Tigers played the Mariners in 2009, Griffey (back with the Mariners for his final season) gave French, who was a fan of his growing up, an autographed jersey. Griffey later became his teammate on the Mariners. "Mike Sweeney and I were talking when he walked up and stood there near us," Griffey recalled French's first day with the team. "We knew he wanted to introduce himself, so when we were done talking, both of us turned and started to walk away. Luke had his hand out and he just stared. Then I turned around and said, 'I'm just messin' with you.'"