Jaret Samuel Wright (born December 29, 1975) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. He played all or parts of 11 seasons in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

, and

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

, primarily as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

Early life and education

Wright was born on December 29, 1975 in

Anaheim, California Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orang ...

, and is the son of Clyde Wright, who himself pitched for nine seasons in the major leagues and three seasons in

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

. Wright graduated from Katella High School in Anaheim, where he also played

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

and

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the line ...

for the football team. He was named league MVP and Orange County High School Player of the Year.

Professional career

The

selected Wright in the first round, with the 10th overall pick, of the

1994 Major League Baseball draft The 1994 Major League Baseball draft took place in June 1994. The draft saw the New York Mets select Paul Wilson first overall. First round selections The following are the first round picks in the 1994 Major League Baseball draft. Supplem ...

. Following the draft, Wright began his professional career with the Burlington Indians, the team's

rookie league Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

affiliate in the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

. The 18-year-old started in four games and had a 5.40

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). In 1995, Wright progressed to the Class A Columbus RedStixx in the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

, where he went 5–6 with a 3.00 ERA in 24 games. In 1996, he moved up to the Kinston Indians, the team's "High-A" affiliate in the

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. He went 7–4 in 19 starts, with a 2.50 ERA. ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' rated Wright as its #22 prospect and was regularly mentioned by the Cleveland front office as one of the organization's top prospects. The following year, 1997, was a breakout season for Wright. He started with the

Akron Aeros The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,63 ...

, the Double-A in the Eastern League, where he went 3–3 with a 3.67 ERA. He was quickly promoted to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

, going 4–1 in 7 starts and sported an impressive 1.80 ERA. On June 3, he pitched a 7-inning, 2-hit shutout against the

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

. That earned Wright a promotion to the big club when a spot opened up.

Major leagues

Wright made his major league debut in 1997 with the Indians. Wright found instant success. He posted an 8–3 record with a 4.38 ERA in 16 starts, and also pitched effectively in the postseason. In the deciding seventh game of the

1997 World Series The 1997 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1997 season. The 93rd edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League (AL) champion Cleveland Indians and the National ...

, the Indians opted to start Wright over the more experienced

Charles Nagy Charles Harrison Nagy (born May 5, 1967) is an American former Major League Baseball All-Star right-handed pitcher who played for 14 seasons in the major leagues from to . He played for the Cleveland Indians and San Diego Padres. He served as t ...

. Wright left the game after innings with a 2–1 lead; however, the Indians lost in 11 innings. Wright finished fifth in the

American League Rookie of the Year Award American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

voting. Wright had a 12–10 record and a 4.72 ERA in 1998. He suffered from a shoulder injury in 1999, when he went 8–10 with a 6.06 ERA in 26 starts. The injury required two surgeries to repair, costing him parts of the following three seasons. After Wright went 2–3 with a 15.71 ERA in 2002, the Indians decided not to re-sign him, and he became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Wright then signed with the

in early 2003. He went 1–5 with an 8.73 ERA in 39 games, all in

relief Relief is a sculpture, sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces remain attached to a solid background of the same material. The term ''wikt:relief, relief'' is from the Latin verb , to raise (). To create a sculpture in relief is to give ...

and was traded to the

in August. After going 1–0 with a 2.00 ERA and not allowing a run in 10 out of his 11 appearances, he was told that he was going to be made a starting pitcher again for the next season. Wright started 2004 in the minors to build up arm strength, but was called up by the Braves when it was discovered pitcher

Paul Byrd Paul Gregory Byrd (born December 3, 1970), is an American former professional baseball starting pitcher, who is currently a TV sports broadcaster for Atlanta Braves games on Bally Sports Southeast. While pitching in Major League Baseball (MLB), ...

needed more time to rehab his arm (he had missed the entire 2003 season due to

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body, ...

). Wright became the Braves best pitcher that season, going 15–8 with a 3.28 ERA in 32 starts while amassing 159

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It means the batter is out, unless the third strike is not caught by the catcher and the batter reaches first base safe ...

s in

innings pitched In baseball, the statistic innings pitched (IP) is the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of Batter (baseball), batters and baserunners that have been put out while the pitcher is on the Baseball field#Pitcher's mou ...

. In December 2004, Wright signed a three-year, US$21 million deal with the

. On November 12, 2006, the Yankees traded Wright to the

for Chris Britton and cash considerations. The Orioles were responsible for paying only $3 million of the $7 million left on Wright's contract. Wright's shoulder problems returned in the 2007 season and caused him to spend time on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

twice; he did make three starts in April, each five innings or less, but lost all three of them and accumulated a 6.97 ERA. Wright had started a rehab assignment in September and after 3 games he decided to go home ending the rest of the season. On October 1, 2007, the Orioles released Wright. On January 23, 2008, Wright signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates, which included an invitation to

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

. At the end of spring training, he declined his assignment to the minor leagues and elected to become a free agent. He went unsigned, and never pitched professionally again.

Coaching

In January 2023, Wright was named the Pitching Coach of the

Windy City ThunderBolts The Windy City ThunderBolts are a professional baseball team based in Crestwood, Illinois. The ThunderBolts compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the Midwest Division. The team is owned by Franchise Sports LLC, playing its home games ...

of the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

. It is his first professional coaching experience.

References

External links