Trivia Tuesday: Josh Outman
Though he did not spend the entire season in a Clearwater Threshers uniform in 2007, Josh Outman’s league-leading 2.45 ERA helped the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate to the postseason, culminating to a 3-1 win over the Brevard County Manatees in the Championship Series. The season started with a rocky beginning for
Though he did not spend the entire season in a Clearwater Threshers uniform in 2007, Josh Outman’s league-leading 2.45 ERA helped the Philadelphia Phillies affiliate to the postseason, culminating to a 3-1 win over the Brevard County Manatees in the Championship Series.
The season started with a rocky beginning for the then-23-year-old, with seven runs - six earned - in just 2.1 innings of relief against the Dunedin Blue Jays on April 6, but the southpaw rebounded with just four runs allowed over his next four starts to plummet his ERA down from 23.14 to 3.55 through the season’s first month.
May began with a quality start with three runs allowed across seven frames in a loss to the Sarasota Reds, but another loss with five runs in 4.1 against the Manatees jumped the starter’s ERA to 4.42.
The loss to the Manatees saw the start of a dominant run from the left-hander, as Outman won seven out of his next 10 starts while allowing 10 runs in 61 innings of work. The performances cut Outman’s ERA by almost two runs from 4.42 to 2.58 from May 8 through July 7.
While the ERA champion did take a loss to snap the string of seven consecutive decisions with a win on July 13 against the Palm Beach Cardinals, the Threshers starter allowed three runs - one earned - in six innings for his 12th quality start of the season.
During Outman’s final two starts with Clearwater, the Central Missouri product limited the St. Lucie Mets to just two runs across seven innings, while setting a season-high with 12 strikeouts in a no-decision on July 18. In his final start against the Tampa Yankees on July 23, Outman hurled his 14th quality start of the season with a lone blemish through 6.2 frames in a winning decision.
Outman made his final seven starts of the season with Double-A Reading from July 28 through the end of the season.
The 2005 10th-round draft pick made his Major League debut as an Oakland Athletic on September 2, 2008 against the Kansas City Royals, tossing two scoreless innings of relief with two punch outs.