Josh Towers

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Josh Towers

Toronto Blue Jays — No. 7
Starting Pitcher
Bats: Right Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
May 5, 2001 for the Baltimore Orioles
Selected MLB statistics
(through 2006)
Innings pitched     619
ERA     4.89
WHIP     1.38
Former teams

Joshua Eric "Josh" Towers (b. 26 February 1977 in Port Hueneme, California) is an American right-handed starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Toronto Blue Jays. Towers stands at 6'1" tall, and weighs 180 lbs.

Towers, who wears uniform number 7, is one of few pitchers to wear a single digit number in the history of Major League Baseball.

Towers is also noted for his dedication to charity work, particularly in and around Toronto where he volunteers with the Toronto Blue Jays Kids Club. Towers also frequently donates autographed gloves to the Toronto United Way.[citation needed]

Towers is a control pitcher with good command of the strike zone, with a fastball that tops out at 90 mph.[citation needed] While he has no overpowering pitches or deceptive late movement to his pitches, his consistent ability to locate any pitch to any part of the plate means that he rarely walks batters. Towers' approach means opposing hitters often put the ball in play, and so he relies heavily on his defense.

Contents

[edit] Professional career

Towers was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 15th round of the 1996 Major League Baseball Draft.

[edit] 2001-2002

Josh Towers made his debut for Baltimore in 2001, compiling eight wins and ten losses while posting an ERA of 4.49 in 140.1 innings.

He would start 2002 with three straight losses along with two no-decisions in his first five games, giving up eleven home runs during that span. He would finish the year in the Orioles minor-league system.

[edit] 2003-2005

Towers signed with the Blue Jays as a minor-league free agent for the 2003 season. Joining the team midway through the season, he would go on to have a very successful run, appearing in 14 games (eight starts). He would finish the year 8-1 with a 4.48 ERA.

He became the team's fifth starter in 2004, going a mediocre 9-9 with a 5.11 ERA in 21 games started.

In 2005, after ace Roy Halladay's leg was broken by a line drive, Towers was quite possibly Toronto's most dependable pitcher. Stepping up when the Blue Jays starting rotation seemed impossibly thin, he would finish the season with 13 wins, tied for the club lead (along with rookie Gustavo Chacín). Towers set career highs with a solid 3.71 ERA, 33 games started, and 208.2 innings pitched.

[edit] 2006

Having been signed to a two-year, $5.2 million contract during the off-season as a reward for his impressive 2005 year, Towers started the new season in horrifying fashion, going 0-7, with an ERA of 10.09 in his first seven starts.

On May 14 Towers pitched an outstanding game against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, throwing eight innings and allowing just two earned runs, leading the Jays to an 8-3 victory. It was his first victory of 2006, but it would not translate into renewed confidence. Towers would go on to lose his eighth game of the season against the Colorado Rockies. The next game would be a truly forgettable one. Appearing against the Devil Rays just ten days after a masterful performance, he would leave the game after just one and two-thirds innings completed, giving up four earned runs. While he would end up with a no-decision in this start, it became clear to the Blue Jays that action was required. On May 24, the Blue Jays outrighted Towers to the Syracuse Chiefs.[citation needed]

Towers would be recalled from Triple-A on June 20, but Towers' struggles continued, and he was once again outrighted to Syracuse on June 27.[citation needed]

[edit] 2007

Following his disastrous 2006 season, Towers decided to train with teammate and fellow Las Vegas off-season resident Reed Johnson. Towers, along with John Thomson, Tomo Ohka, and Victor Zambrano was one of the leading contenders to land one of two open spots in the Blue Jays rotation.

During Spring Training, Towers was simply dominant, with only one bad outing during the spring. On March 31, it was announced that Towers had won the final spot in the Blue Jays' 2007 rotation to begin the season, although Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Ricciardi admitted that Towers would be "on a short leash".[citation needed]

[edit] External link

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