J. J. PUTZ

(Redirected from J.J. Putz)

'Joseph Jason "J.J." Putz' (born February 22, 1977 in Trenton, Michigan) is a Major League Baseball player for the Seattle Mariners. J.J. Putz, 6’5” tall and 250lbs, attended the University of Michigan, and was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 6th round in 1999. Putz has been a relief pitcher for the Seattle Mariners since his debut August 11, 2003, and is the current closer for the Seattle Mariners.
He throws a fastball that tops out at 97 miles per hour, along with a slider and an excellent splitter. For the 2006 season, he served as the Mariners' closer, having taken over from Eddie Guardado early in the season; he converted 36 of 43 save opportunities while posting a 2.30 ERA and striking out 104 in 78.1 innings of work.
During the 2007 offseason, Putz signed a 3-year, $13.1 million deal with a $8.5 million team option for 2010.
Putz has been posting All-Star worthy numbers for the 2007 season, converting 29 saves in 29 opportunities with a 0.78 ERA, .127 OBA, 45 strikeouts and only 7 walks as of July 20th, 2007. On July 1st, 2007, Major League Baseball announced that Putz would represent the Mariners along with Ichiro Suzuki at the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
On July 6, 2007, Putz was named the June 2007 winner of the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award," recognizing the top relief pitcher for the month.
He currently enters to "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC. With each out of the inning, the song is replayed starting at "You've been thunderstruck" and lasts for several seconds.
On July 14, 2007, Putz broke Eddie Guardado's Mariners' consecutive saves record with 28 consecutive saves.
During the 2007 All-Star game, Putz came in during the ninth to save a 5-2 AL lead. Putz struckout Matt Holliday and got Brian McCann to popout to the infield for the first 2 outs. Dmitri Young then proceeded with a routine groundball to 2nd Baseman Brian Roberts who let it roll under his glove allowing Young to reach 1st, this play was later ruled a base hit. Putz immediately fell behind in the count to Pinch Hitter Alfonso Soriano, who took a fastball and crushed it over the right field fence making the score 5-4. He then proceeded to walk JJ Hardy to put the tying run on base. AL all-star manager Jim Leyland then chose to go to closer Francisco Rodriguez to get the last out. Rodriguez relieved Putz and immediately walked consecutive batters putting the tying and winning run into scoring position and loading the bases before finally getting Aaron Rowand to fly out to Right Fielder Alex Rios to end the all-star game with the AL lead intact.

Contents

High school

External links

High school

★ A 1995 graduate of Trenton High School (Trenton, MI).

★ Led Trenton High School to the 1994 Division 2 state championship.

External links

★ J.J. Putz career stats''

★ Baseball Reference

★ USA Today

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