Appleton Baseball All Decade Teams: Pitchers 1998-07
Appleton Baseball All Decade Teams
1998-2007: Pitchers
Gil Meche (1997, 1998)
Gil Meche was the 22nd overall selection in the 1996 draft by the Seattle Mariners. After signing, Meche made a brief professional debut with the Arizona League Mariners, throwing 3 innings. The following season saw Meche go to Everett to begin the year, where he went 3-4 with a 3.98 ERA in 12 starts. He got his feet wet in the Midwest League at the end of the year, making two starts for Wisconsin. He returned to the Timber Rattlers in '98, going 8-7 with a 3.44 ERA and 168 strikeouts in 149 innings. He moved quickly the following year, skipping High A out of the gates and heading straight to Double A New Haven. After 10 starts there, and 6 more in Tacoma, the Mariners promoted the 20 year old to the Majors. He took the hill against the Anaheim Angels on July 6, 1999 and went 5.2 innings, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five.
Meche had a very solid rookie season, going 8-4 with a 4.73 ERA. Injuries would derail the youngster however, as Meche would not make a start in the Majors between July 4, 2000 and April 5, 2003. He would win 15 games for the 2003 Mariners that used the same five starters for the entire season. Gil won double digit games in both 2005 and 2006, earning him a big free agent contract with the Kansas City Royals in 2007. He pitched well for the Royals. going 9-13 with a 3.67 ERA and earning his first All Star selection.
Joel Pineiro (1998)
Joel Pineiro was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 12th round of the 1997 draft. The Puerto Rican native pitched one game for the Arizona League Mariners before moving on to Everett, where he went 4-2. Assigned to Wisconsin to begin '98, Joel went 8-4 with a 3.19 ERA in 16 starts prior to promotions to Lancaster and Orlando. With Double A New Haven in 1999, Pineiro went 10-15, the only time in his Minor League career (13 teams) that he had a losing record. He would start the 2000 season back in New Haven, but would end the season in Seattle. Pineiro started, and won, against the Chicago White Sox on August 20th. He threw 6 innings and allowed 2 runs in a 12-4 victory, out-pitching Jon Garland in the first game of a doubleheader. He would spend the remainder of the season in the bullpen.
Pineiro pitched very well in his second stint in the Majors, going 6-2 with a 2.03 ERA over 17 appearances in 2001, 11 of them starts. Becoming a full member of the rotation the following season, Joel went on to win 30 games over the next two years, striking out 287 batters in the process. But as the team began to falter, so did Pineiro, losing double digit games each year from 2004 through 2006 with an ERA that escalated each season. Needing a change of scenery, he signed as a free agent with the Red Sox, who used him exclusively out of the bullpen, with less than favorable results. Cut loose by Boston, Joel was given a starting role with St. Louis during the end of the 2007. His six wins in eleven starts earned him a two year contract extension to stay with the Cardinals.
J.J. Putz (2000)
Joseph Jason Putz was drafted in the 6th round of the 1999 draft by the Seattle Mariners out of the University of Michigan. He reported directly to Everett and appeared in 10 games. The Michigan native felt right at home in the Midwest League in 2000, going 12-8 with a 3.15 ERA in 25 starts for the Timber Rattlers. It was rated the 8th best season in Wisconsin team history, and was highlighted by a no-hitter against Kane County on April 29th, 2000. He posted sub-4.00 ERAs as a starter the next two seasons with San Antonio and Tacoma before making the transition to the bullpen for the Rainiers in 2003. He would make his Major League debut that season, throwing a scoreless 1 2/3 in relief of Joel Pineiro on August 11th, with the first batter he faced being Menasha native Eric Hinske. The Mariners lost to the Blue Jays 5-3, with his former Timber Rattlers teammate Aquilino Lopez picking up the save for Toronto.
Putz would earn a spot in the Mariners pen in 2004, appearing in 54 games. Each season, Putz became more and more dominant, lowering his ERA from 4.71 in '04, to 3.60 in '05, to 2.30 in '06, and then to a miniscule 1.38 in 2007, earning him his first trip to the All Star Game. During that time, J.J. took over Seattle's closer job, saving 36 games in '06. During the '07 season, he actually allowed less hits (37) than games saved (40), while striking out more than a batter an inning. He continues to be one of the most feared pitchers in the Major Leagues.
Rafael Soriano (2000)
Rafael Soriano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Seattle Mariners in 1996 out of the Dominican Republic. He spent two years with the Arizona League Mariners as an outfielder, but hit a combined .220 in over 200 at bats. Still just 19, the Mariners decided to move Soriano to the mound in 1999 and began the transition with Everett. Positive results (5-4, 3.11 ERA) got him moved up to Wisconsin in 2000, where he started 21 games, going 8-4 with a 2.87 ERA. He started to move very quickly then, beginning the 2001 season in High A ball and reaching the Majors by the middle of the 2002 season. He made his big league debut on May 10th against the Red Sox at Safeco Field. He threw three scoreless innings of relief to save a Joel Pineiro victory.
Soriano has been very effective as a reliever in the Majors (career ERA under 3.00) but has struggled to stay healthy, suffering from multiple injuries, including undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing the majority of the 2004 and 2005 season. Following an outstanding and healthy 2006 season (1-2, 2.25 ERA), Rafael was traded by the Mariners to Atlanta for pitcher Horacio Ramirez. After a solid first season with the Braves (3-3, 3.00 ERA, 9 save), Soriano has again been bitten by the injury bug in 2008.
Matt Thornton (1999, 2000)
Matt Thornton was the Seattle Mariners first round pick (22nd overall) in the 1998 draft out of Grand Valley State. A bit of a surprise first rounder (including to Matt himself), Thornton opened his career auspiciously, allowing 4 earned runs in 1.1 innings with Everett before being shut down for the year. Working out of the Timber Rattlers bullpen in 1999, the lefty struggled to a 4.91 in 25 appearances. He returned to Wisconsin in 2000, this time spending half the time in the rotation and got better as the year went on, finishing with a 4.01 ERA. Thornton put it all together the following year in the notoriously hitter friendly California League, going 14-7 with a 2.52 ERA while striking out 192 batters in 157 innings. But injuries slowed his progress and it would be 2004 before he made his Major League debut. The 27 year old threw 4 scoreless innings of relief against the San Diego Padres on June 27th.
Thornton had an inconsistent 2005 season in the Mariners pen, finishing with a 5.21 ERA. Prior to the start of the following season, Matt was traded to the White Sox for outfielder Joe Borchard. Thornton quickly became a key piece of the Chicago pen, throwing 54 innings with a 3.33 ERA in 2006. He has appeared in at least 55 games each season with the Sox, becoming a dependable reliever for Manager Ozzie Guillen.
Felix Hernandez (2003)
Felix Hernandez signed with the Seattle Mariners as an amateur free agent in 2002. The Venezuelan would make his stateside debut in 2003 at the age of 17, going 7-2 with a 2.29 ERA. Showing he could dominate the Northwest League, the Mariners challenged him with an end of season promotion to Wisconsin. He made two starts for the Timber Rattlers, striking out 18 batters in 14 innings pitched with a 1.93 ERA. Despite his youth, Hernandez kept proving himself, including skipping Double A and going straight to Tacoma in 2005 at age 19. When he made his Major League debut on August 4th, 2005, he became the youngest player in the Majors. He allowed one earned run in five innings, taking the loss against the Detroit Tigers.
Hernandez quickly showed he was ready for the big time, throwing 8 scoreless innings in his second start, picking up his first Major League victory against the Tigers. He was the first teenager to win a Major League game since 1984. In his third start, Felix struck out 11 Royals to pick up his second win. In all, he went 4-4 with a 2.67 ERA in 12 starts, earning the phenom the nickname "King Felix". The following season, Felix won 12 games, even though he was still the youngest player in the Majors. Hernandez followed that up by winning 14 games in 2007, establishing himself as one of the best young pitchers in baseball.
Special Mention - Clint Nageotte (2001)
Clint Nageotte set the Timber Rattlers strikeout record in 2001 with 187 punchouts, besting Gil Meche's 168 from 1998. No Rattlers pitcher has come within 20 strikeouts of Nageotte's record since. The following season, Clint led all of the Minor Leagues with 214 K's. Unfortunately, Nageotte has only struck out 26 batters in the Major Leagues in his career.
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