Jason Simontacchi

Infobox MLB player
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width=300
name=Jason Simontacchi
position=Starting pitcher
team=Long Island Ducks
number=--
bats=Right
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1973|11|13
debutdate=May 4
debutyear=2002
debutteam=St. Louis Cardinals
statyear=2007
stat1label=Win-Loss
stat1value=26-17
stat2label=Earned run average
stat2value=5.09
stat3label=Strikeouts
stat3value=191
teams=
*St. Louis Cardinals (by|2002-by|2004)
*Washington Nationals (by|2007)

Jason William Simontacchi (born November 13, 1973 in Mountain View, California) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. He has played four years in the major leagues, from by|2002-by|2004 and by|2007. He pitched in the minors from by|1996-by|1999 and from by|2001-2004, in the minor league organizations of the Kansas City Royals (1996-by|1997), Pittsburgh Pirates (1999), Minnesota Twins (2001), and St. Louis Cardinals (2002-2004), where he made his debut.

Minor Leagues

He was pitcher of the year in by|1998 for the independent Frontier League champions, the Springfield Capitals, going 10-2 with an ERA of 2.95. He also played in the Italian Professional League and went 12-1 with a 1.17 ERA in by|2000, where he played well enough to make the roster for Italy at the 2000 Sydney Olympics where he was the winning pitcher vs. South Africa, pitched in relief vs. USA and was the losing pitcher vs. The Netherlands with a 1.17 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 15.1 innings.

The Majors - Rookie Year: 2002

He had an ERA of 2.34 and a record of 5-1 in 2002 for the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds, a year in which he was mostly up with the 2002 St. Louis Cardinals as a 28-year-old rookie. Through his first 13 starts with the Cardinals, he went 7-1 with a 2.82 ERA. He finished the season with an 11-5 record in 24 starts, and ninth in Rookie of the Year voting. In by|2003, he was 9-5, as a part time starter with 16 starts, with an ERA of 5.56.

2004-2006

Simontacchi suffered right shoulder problems from a torn labrum in 2004, and was released by the Cardinals at the end of the year and he missed the by|2005 season.

Simontacchi considered playing for Italy at the 2006 World Baseball Classic, but didn't. He signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago Cubs for the by|2006 season, but his contract was voided. However, he pitched 10 games in the independent Atlantic League for the Bridgeport Bluefish with an ERA of 0.84. He then pitched for the Estrellas Orientales in the Dominican Winter Baseball League and in his five starts went 3-1 with a 2.02 ERA over 27 innings.

2007

In 2007, he was a non-roster invitee to the Washington Nationals in spring training, and was projected to be in the Nationals starting rotation, until a groin injury sidelined him. He rehabbed in AAA, and when starters Jerome Williams and John Patterson both went on the 15-day disabled list in the space of 10 days, he was called up and started against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 8, a game he pitched well until giving up a 3 run home run in the sixth inning and getting tagged with the loss. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIL/MIL200705080.shtml] In his second start, on May 13, 2007, Mother's Day, he pitched 5-1/3 innings, and collected his first major league win since 2003. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/13/AR2007051300818.html] By mid-July, he was 6-7 with an ERA of 6.37. He experienced elbow soreness after a start on July 15, and five days later landed on the disabled list due to right elbow tendinitis. Simontacchi became a free agent at the end of the season.

External links

* [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=5113/ ESPN Player Card]
* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/simonja01.shtml/ Baseball-Reference Page]
* [http://www2.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/players/Jason_Simontacchi/ Sportsnet Page]
* [http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/S/Jason-Simontacchi.shtml Baseball Cube player stats]