Former Red Sox pitcher, Cy Young Award Winner and 2 time World Series champion, Jake Peavy, has endured a rather up and down last few years. Bouncing around the MLB, the star has touched down to boos and missed pitches in multiple cities before suddenly finding unexpected success in San Francisco midway through this season.
Peavy was traded to Boston back in 2013 where he soon pitched an ERA of 4.04 while also proving himself to be a tire-easy kind of pitcher. He logged just 62 innings pitched in his 10 starts. Nevertheless, the already mistrusted subject of Bostonian fandom proved his worth in a pivotal World Series game for the Sox in which he held the Cardinals scoreless for the entirety of his 5.2 inning night.
After the Red Sox jumped out to a rather unsatisfactory first half of 2014 though, the team parted ways with Peavy tossing his name into the trade deadline chaos the enveloped Boston this past July. He was traded to San Francisco for Edwin Escobar and Heath Hembree.
Though he started 2014 a harsh 1 and 9 with an ERA of 4.72, Peavy came to San Francisco with a kind of drive many never expected to see out of him again. He turned his season around with 6 wins in 10 decisions to go along with a stunning 2.17 ERA. Peavy started playing longer into games, playing more innings and tossing more and more strikes.
Yet like last year’s World Series dominance, Peavy proved his own in the biggest way with another huge playoff win. Friday afternoon’s NLDS Game One saw Peavy start his first Divisional Series game in years. Though before the game, the question was whether or not he would revert to his Red Sox form or play decently, he soon proved that he is back.
Going 5 and 2 thirds innings and tossing in excess of 100 pitches, Peavy kept his control throughout. He walked just three batters and struck out three. He faced 21 batters and was eventually credited with the win over the Nationals.
Peavy is a baseball player in name but a relentless worker at heart. After one of the worst first halves had by any starting pitcher, Jake has turned it around post All-Star Break pitching the Giants into a playoff spot and winning a huge Game One for them.
Jake Peavy has revived the work ethic and powerful baseball IQ that made him great in the mid to late 2000’s. The result has been spectacular and has dragged the Giants into a place where they could very well win their 3rd world series in 5 years.
“You can’t give in,” he said Friday of his play in Game One; and that is what he has done.
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