Drew Hutchison

Drew Hutchison

Hutchison in April 2015
Toronto Blue Jays – No. 36
Starting pitcher
Born: August 22, 1990
Lakeland, Florida
Bats: Left Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 21, 2012 for the Toronto Blue Jays
Career statistics
(through April 28, 2015)
Win–loss record 18–16
Earned run average 4.73
Strikeouts 254
WHIP 1.31
Teams

Andrew Scott "Drew" Hutchison (born August 22, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays of Major League Baseball. He was considered one of the Blue Jays top prospects before the start of the 2012 Major League Baseball season.[1]

Minor league career

Hutchison was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 15th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft from Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Florida.[2] He made his minor league baseball debut with the Auburn Doubledays in 2010, and was later promoted to the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts. In 682⁄3 innings that year, Hutchison pitched to a 2–3 record with a 2.49 ERA and 63 strikeouts.[3] He began the 2011 season with Lansing, and later made starts with the High-A Dunedin Blue Jays and the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. In 2011 Hutchison posted a record of 14–5 with an ERA of 2.53 and 171 strikeouts over 1491⁄3 innings.[3]

Before the 2012 season, Baseball America ranked Hutchison as the Blue Jays' ninth best prospect.[4] He made 3 starts with New Hampshire in 2012, and posted a 2–1 record with a 2.16 ERA.[3]

Major league career

2012–2013

Hutchison in April 2012

The Blue Jays purchased Hutchison's contract from the Fisher Cats on April 19, 2012.[5] He made his first MLB start on April 21, 2012 against the Kansas City Royals in Kansas City, pitching 5 1⁄3 innings and yielding 5 earned runs, with 4 strikeouts and 3 walks in a 9–5 win. After making 11 starts, Hutchison was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a right ulnar collateral ligament sprain.[6] Hutchison was later transferred to the 60-day disabled list, and on August 7 it was announced that he would require Tommy John surgery to repair his injured elbow. Hutchison posted a 5–3 record with a 4.60 ERA and 49 strikeouts over 11 starts (582⁄3 innings) in his first professional season.[7][8]

The Blue Jays placed Hutchison on the 60-day disabled list on March 22, 2013 to make room for Todd Redmond on their 40-man roster.[9] On May 7, 2013, it was reported that Hutchison was on track to return in early August, one year since undergoing surgery.[10] The Blue Jays announced on August 8 that Hutchison would start for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on August 9 as part of his rehab assignment.[11] He was activated from the disabled list on August 10, and optioned to Buffalo. Hutchison did not appear for the Blue Jays in 2013, and posted a 0–4 record and 4.84 ERA in 10 minor league appearances that year.[3]

2014–present

Fully healthy, Hutchison entered 2014 Spring Training and earned a spot in the starting rotation. He recorded his first 2 hits in an interleague game against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 6, 2014.[12] In a game against the Texas Rangers on May 16, Hutchison pitched his first career complete game shutout, giving up just 3 hits and 1 walk with 6 strikeouts.[13] He established a then career-high in strikeouts, with 10, in a 4–1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on July 1, 2014.[14] Hutchison experienced inconsistency in his performance from June 13 to early August, posting a 6.64 ERA over 8 starts in that time span. On August 6, he pitched 82⁄3 innings and took the win against the Baltimore Orioles 5–1, yielding only 1 hit (a solo home run by Chris Davis. In doing so, he joined Dave Stieb and Roy Halladay as the only Toronto pitchers to retire 26 of 27 batters faced in a start.[15] Hutchison struck out a career-high 11 in a game on September 16 against the Baltimore Orioles.[16] He would record the win in his final start of the season on September 26, finishing the 2014 campaign with an 11–13 record, 4.48 ERA, and a 1.26 WHIP over 1842⁄3 innings pitched.[8] Hutchison finished 8th in the American League in both strikeouts and K/9, with 184 and 8.97 respectively.[17]

On March 31, 2015, Hutchison was named the Opening Day starter for the Blue Jays, and became the youngest Opening Day starter in franchise history.[18][19] After taking the win on Opening Day, Hutchison struggled in his next two starts. On April 23, took a perfect game into the 6th inning against the Baltimore Orioles. He finished the day with 8 innings pitched, and yielded 2 runs on 4 hits, while striking out 8, as the Blue Jays won 7–6.[20]

References

  1. ↑ Chisholm, Gregor (January 20, 2012). "Prospect Hutchison may make another big leap". Toronto: Major League Baseball. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ Gilbert, Erika (June 11, 2009). "Day 2 of Jays' Draft filled with connections". Major League Baseball. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Drew Hutchison Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  4. ↑ Rode, Nathan (December 19, 2011). "Baseball America Blue Jays top 2012 prospects". Baseball America. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ Griffin, Richard (April 20, 2012). "Griffin: Blue Jays' off-season failure to land starting pitcher opens door for Hutchison". Toronto Star. Retrieved April 20, 2012.
  6. ↑ Drew Hutchison's injury 'clearly' less serious than Kyle Drabek's: Jays' manager
  7. ↑ Drellich, Evan (August 7, 2012). "Hutchison, McGowan to undergo surgery Thursday". Bluejays.com. Retrieved August 7, 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Drew Hutchison Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Blue Jays claim Redmond". March 22, 2013. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  10. ↑ Chisholm, Gregor (May 7, 2013). "Drabek, Hutchison on schedule in recovery". MLB.com. Retrieved May 7, 2013.
  11. ↑ Nicholson-Smith, Ben (August 8, 2013). "Jays' Hutchison to start for Bisons Friday". Sportsnet. Retrieved August 8, 2013.
  12. ↑ Doyle, Shaun (May 6, 2014). "Blue Jays Game Recap: Drew Hutchison Shows Grit". jaysjournal.com. Retrieved May 6, 2014.
  13. ↑ Kennedy, Brendan (May 16, 2014). "Blue Jays starter Drew Hutchison superb in victory over Rangers". thestar.com. Retrieved May 16, 2014.
  14. ↑ Chisholm, Gregor (July 1, 2014). "Hutchison's 10 K's pave way in Canada Day win". MLB.com. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
  15. ↑ Wilner, Mike (August 7, 2014). "Hutchison flirts with Blue Jays history". Sportsnet. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  16. ↑ Griffin, Richard (September 16, 2014). "Orioles beat Blue Jays to wrap up AL East crown: Griffin". thestar.com. Retrieved September 17, 2014.
  17. ↑ "2014 American League Pitching Leaders". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ Chisholm, Gregor (March 31, 2015). "Hutchison named Blue Jays' Opening Day starter". MLB.com. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
  19. ↑ Griffin, Richard (April 5, 2015). "Hutchison leads Jays into the fray on opening day: Griffin". thestar.com. Retrieved April 6, 2015.
  20. ↑ Toman, Dan (April 24, 2015). "Hutchison flirts with perfecto, settles for gem". MLB.com. Retrieved April 24, 2015.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
R.A. Dickey		 Opening Day starting pitcher
for the Toronto Blue Jays
2015 - Present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent