Joe Blanton

Infobox MLB player
name = Joe Blanton

---

width = 200
caption =
team = Philadelphia Phillies
number = 56
position = Starting pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1980|12|11
birthplace = city-state|Nashville|Tennessee
bats = Right
throws = Right
debutdate = September 21
debutyear = 2004
debutteam = Oakland Athletics
statyear = 2008 season
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 51-46
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 4.24
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 480
teams =
*Oakland Athletics (by|2004–by|2008)
*Philadelphia Phillies (by|2008–present)

Joseph Matthew Blanton (born December 11, 1980 in Nashville, Tennessee) is a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball.

College career

He graduated from Franklin-Simpson High School (Kentucky) in 1999. He pitched three seasons for the University of Kentucky. He posted a 13–12 record from by|2000 to by|2002 and led the Southeastern Conference with 133 strikeouts in his final season, finishing with a 4.59 ERA. [cite web|url=http://thebaseballcube.com/players/B/Joe-Blanton.shtml|title=Joe Blanton Statistics|publisher=Baseball Cube|accessdate=2008-07-18]

Minor league career

2002–2003

Blanton was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the New York Yankees' first round pick (24th overall) in the 2002 Major League Baseball Draft, [cite web|url=http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7461|title=Joe Blanton|publisher=Yahoo! Sports|accessdate=2008-07-18] acquired as compensation for the loss of free agent Jason Giambi. [cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=430599|title=Player Information: Biography and Career Highlights|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-18] In by|2003, while pitching for the Kane County Cougars and the Midland RockHounds,cite web|url=http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=17294|title=Joe Blanton Statistics (Minor Leagues)|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-18] he ranked second in all of minor league baseball with a combined 174 strikeouts.

2004

The next season, Blanton helped the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats win the Pacific Coast League with an 11–8 record and a 4.19 ERA. He struck out 143 batters in 176 innings, tossing one complete game in 26 starts. At the end of the Triple-A season, he was called up to the Athletics big league roster on September 18, mlby|2004.

Major league career

Oakland Athletics

2004

Blanton made his debut in 2004, making three appearances and pitching eight innings. He posted a 5.63 ERA, but did not get a decision in any of his games.

2005

In mlby|2005, Blanton joined a rotation that had lost pitchers Mark Mulder and Tim Hudson to trades. [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1949157|title=A's acquire Haren, two other Cardinals|date=2004-12-20|publisher=ESPN|accessdate=2008-07-18] Blanton was third on the team in innings pitched, but still exceeded 200 innings in his first full season. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/2005.shtml|title=2005 Oakland Athletics Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-18] He posted 12–12 with a 3.53 ERA in 33 starts, and his 33 starts set an Oakland rookie record for most games started which had broken the previous mark of 32 set by Matt Keough in mlby|1978. His ERA was best among all rookies with 100 or more innings pitched. He also tied the Oakland rookie record for most wins in a season with 12.cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=430599&y=2005|title=2005 Career Highlighits|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-18] His first career complete game came as a 1-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim on April 24, 2005; [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/pi/gl.cgi?n1=blantjo01&t=p&year=2005|title=Joe Blanton 2005 Pitching Gamelogs|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-18] he was the only rookie to post two complete games in 2005. Blanton's high loss total was attributed to poor run support, as the A's only posted six runs total in all twelve of his losses combined, while posting 62 runs in his 12 wins. Blanton was also named the American League Rookie of the Month for June, as he tied with teammate Dan Haren for the AL lead in wins and finished third in ERA in June.

2006

In mlby|2006, Blanton's ERA rose over a full point to 4.82 and gave up the fifth highest number of hits in the American League with 241,cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=430599&y=2006|title=2006 Career Highlights|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-18] resulting in a .309 batting average against. However, he had four more wins than the previous year, posting a 16–12 record, striking out 107 batters and walking 58. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/2006.shtml|title=2006 Oakland Athletics Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-18] He pitched his first career complete game shutout against the Kansas City Royals on May 31. Blanton did not pitch in the ALDS for the Athletics, but was named to the roster for the ALCS, where he pitched two innings in one appearance, allowing no hits or runs. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/2006_ALCS.shtml|title=2006 AL Championship Series|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-18]

2007

In mlby|2007, Blanton, Haren, and Rich Harden briefly formed the A's second "Big Three" for the season, though Harden's season was cut short by injuries. Meanwhile, Blanton went on to post a 14–10 record in 230 innings pitched. He struck out 140 batters, walked 40, and gave up 101 earned runs, resulting in a 3.95 ERA for the year. [cite web|url=http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/OAK/2007.shtml|title=2007 Oakland Athletics Statistics|publisher=Baseball Reference|accessdate=2008-07-18] Though Blanton's road and home records were the same (7–5), his home ERA was 2.69 compared with 5.11 on the road.cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=430599&y=2007|title=2007 Career Highlights|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-18] He also pitched three complete games in 2007, but his first one of the season was his third career complete-game loss, on April 25. Blanton made his 100th career appearance at the end of the season, posting a 7–3 win against the Texas Rangers on September 15. At the end of the 2007 season, the A's broke up their "Big Three" yet again by trading Haren to the Diamondbacks [cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/14/SPQTTUU9P.DTL|title=A's trade signals start of rebuilding|last=Slusser|first=Susan|date=2007-12-15|work=San Francisco Chronicle|accessdate=2008-07-18]

2008

The new "Big Three" breakup continued when Rich Harden was traded to the Cubs in mlby|2008. [cite web|url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3478902|title=Cubs trade four players to A's for pitchers Harden, Gaudin|date=2008-07-09|publisher=ESPN|accessdate=2008-07-18] The A's completed their dealing by trading Blanton, who had posted a 5–12 record and a 4.96 ERA to the Philadelphia Phillies for second baseman Adrian Cardenas, pitcher Josh Outman, and outfielder Matthew Spencer. [cite web|url=http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_9919943|title=A's trade Blanton to Phillies for 3 prospects|last=Stiglich|first=Joe|coauthors=Bay Area News Group|date=2008-07-18|work=San Jose Mercury News|accessdate=2008-07-18]

Philadelphia Phillies

In Blanton's first start for the Phillies, he pitched six innings and allowed five runs; however, he did not factor in the decision as the Phillies scored six runs off the Mets' bullpen in the ninth inning to win. [cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080723&content_id=3178703&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi|title=Blanton, shaky in debut, celebrates win|last=Horan|first=Kevin|date=2008-07-22|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-23] On August 2, Blanton recorded his first win as a Phillie against the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 2-1 in his third Phillies start.

couting

Blanton throws a low-90's fastball, along with a 12–6 curveball, a slider, and a straight changeup. [cite web|url=http://philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080721&content_id=3166705&vkey=news_phi&fext=.jsp&c_id=phi|title=Blanton a 'Money' move for Phillies ball|last=Mandel|first=Ken|date=2008-07-21|publisher=Philadelphia Phillies|accessdate=2008-07-22] His curveball is his best secondary pitch, drawing comparisons to former teammate Barry Zito's 12–6 curve.

tatistics

References

External links