Jake Peavy
Peavy's 2004 Cy Young season represents one of the most dominant pitching performances of the early 2000s. That 2.27 ERA in pitcher-friendly Petco Park still translated to an ERA+ of 196, meaning he was nearly twice as effective as the average National League pitcher that year.
The Alabama native carved out a solid 15-year career primarily on the strength of a devastating slider that helped him strike out 2,207 batters. His 3.63 career ERA and 118 ERA+ mark him as consistently above average, though he never again approached that peak 2004 form.
Peavy's career arc tells the story of early brilliance followed by steady productivity. After winning the Cy Young at age 23, he remained a reliable mid-rotation starter for over a decade, finishing with a respectable 152-126 record across multiple franchises.
Career · Hitting
15 seasons| Year | Team | G | AB | HR | RBI | AVG | OPS | OPS+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | SD | 17 | 33 | 0 | 2 | .212 | .515 | 69 |
| 2003 | SD | 32 | 55 | 0 | 1 | .073 | .223 | 30 |
| 2004 | SD | 27 | 59 | 0 | 3 | .169 | .409 | 54 |
| 2005 | SD | 30 | 53 | 0 | 2 | .189 | .466 | 62 |
| 2006 | SD | 32 | 60 | 2 | 9 | .167 | .497 | 65 |
| 2007 | SD | 37 | 73 | 0 | 7 | .233 | .565 | 74 |
| 2008 | SD | 29 | 49 | 0 | 2 | .265 | .608 | 81 |
| 2009 | SD | 16 | 23 | 0 | 0 | .087 | .212 | 28 |
| 2010 | CWS | 17 | 7 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .286 | 39 |
| 2011 | CWS | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .500 | 69 |
| 2012 | CWS | 32 | 5 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2013 | BOS | 23 | 15 | 0 | 0 | .067 | .200 | 28 |
| 2014 | SF | 32 | 23 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | 0 |
| 2015 | SF | 19 | 36 | 1 | 3 | .194 | .550 | 76 |
| 2016 | SF | 31 | 27 | 0 | 3 | .185 | .427 | 58 |
| Career | 393 | 519 | 3 | 33 | .168 | — | — | |
Career · Pitching
15 seasons| Year | Team | G | IP | W | L | ERA | ERA+ | SO | WHIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | SD | 17 | 97.7 | 6 | 7 | 4.52 | 94 | 90 | 1.423 |
| 2003 | SD | 32 | 194.7 | 12 | 11 | 4.11 | 107 | 156 | 1.310 |
| 2004 | SD | 27 | 166.3 | 15 | 6 | 2.27 | 196 | 173 | 1.196 |
| 2005 | SD | 30 | 203.0 | 13 | 7 | 2.88 | 149 | 216 | 1.044 |
| 2006 | SD | 32 | 202.3 | 11 | 14 | 4.09 | 111 | 215 | 1.231 |
| 2007 | SD | 34 | 223.3 | 19 | 6 | 2.54 | 176 | 240 | 1.061 |
| 2008 | SD | 27 | 173.7 | 10 | 11 | 2.85 | 152 | 166 | 1.180 |
| 2009 | SD | 16 | 101.7 | 9 | 6 | 3.45 | 125 | 110 | 1.121 |
| 2010 | CWS | 17 | 107.0 | 7 | 6 | 4.63 | 88 | 93 | 1.234 |
| 2011 | CWS | 19 | 111.7 | 7 | 7 | 4.92 | 80 | 95 | 1.263 |
| 2012 | CWS | 32 | 219.0 | 11 | 12 | 3.37 | 119 | 194 | 1.096 |
| 2013 | CWS | 23 | 144.7 | 12 | 5 | 4.17 | 93 | 121 | 1.147 |
| 2014 | BOS | 32 | 202.7 | 7 | 13 | 3.73 | 100 | 158 | 1.278 |
| 2015 | SF | 19 | 110.7 | 8 | 6 | 3.58 | 110 | 78 | 1.120 |
| 2016 | SF | 31 | 118.7 | 5 | 9 | 5.54 | 75 | 102 | 1.433 |
| Career | 388 | 2377.2 | 152 | 126 | — | — | 2207 | — | |
Each pitch type this pitcher throws regularly, placed by how the ball moves — sideways break across, rise or drop down the side. Each dotted ring holds about the middle 85% of the league’s pitches of that type, so a cluster sitting outside its ring is movement most pitchers don’t have.
The dots — a sample of this pitcher’s regular-season pitches, placed by movement: left–right is horizontal break, up–down is induced vertical break (what the pitch does beyond gravity). The view is handedness-neutral — positive break is toward the pitcher’s arm side for lefties and righties alike, so every sinker runs right and every sweeper breaks left, whoever throws it.
The dotted rings — about the middle 85% of where each pitch type lands league-wide (a 2-standard-deviation spread), measured from 7.5 million regular-season pitches since 2015. A cluster sitting well outside its ring is movement most of the league doesn’t get. Spring training and the postseason are excluded.
Matchups, projections, comps — grounded in Lahman, Retrosheet, and Statcast.