Kason Gabbard
Encyclopedia
Kason Ronald Gabbard is a starting pitcher
Starting pitcher
In baseball or softball, a starting pitcher is the pitcher who delivers the first pitch to the first batter of a game. A pitcher who enters the game after the first pitch of the game is a relief pitcher....

 who is a free agent. He bats and throws left-handed
Left-handed
Left-handedness is the preference for the left hand over the right for everyday activities such as writing. In ancient times it was seen as a sign of the devil, and was abhorred in many cultures...

.

High school

Gabbard played high school baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 at Royal Palm Beach High School
Royal Palm Beach High School
-English:Four Credits of English are required. English 1 is offered all the way up to AP English Language and AP English Literature.-Social Studies:...

 in Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Royal Palm Beach, Florida
Royal Palm Beach is a village in southeast Florida, located in Palm Beach County. The population was measured at 21,523 in the 2000 census. As of April 2008, the recorded population was 31,864...

. His teammates included his former Rangers teammate, catcher
Catcher
Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player. When a batter takes his turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. This is a catcher's primary duty, but he is also called upon to master many other skills in order to...

 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Jarrod Saltalamacchia
Jarrod Scott Saltalamacchia , nicknamed "Salty" is an American professional baseball catcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball.His last name is the longest in Major League Baseball history...

.

2006

A 29th-round draft pick by the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 in 2000
2000 Major League Baseball Draft
-First Round Selections:-Compensation picks:- Background :The Florida Marlins made Adrian Gonzalez of Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, CA the first overall selection in the 2000 First-Year Player Draft...

, Gabbard started the season with Boston's Double-A affiliate Portland
Portland Sea Dogs
The Portland Sea Dogs are the Double-A minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Established in 1994 and based in Portland, Maine, the Sea Dogs play in the Northern Division of the Eastern League....

 and posted a 9-2 record with a 2.57 ERA
Earned run average
In baseball statistics, earned run average is the mean of earned runs given up by a pitcher per nine innings pitched. It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number of innings pitched and multiplying by nine...

 in 13 starts. Promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox are the minor league baseball Triple-A affiliates of the Boston Red Sox and belong to the International League...

 on June 23, he went 1-3 with a 4.97 ERA in five starts. He earned a promotion to the Boston Red Sox on July 21 to replace Tim Wakefield
Tim Wakefield
Timothy Stephen Wakefield is an American professional baseball pitcher. Wakefield began pitching with the Red Sox in 1995, making him the longest-serving player currently on the team. Wakefield is also the oldest current active player in the majors, and one of two active knuckleballers, the other...

, who was placed on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...

. In his major league debut on July 22, he allowed two earned run
Earned run
In baseball, an earned run is any run for which the pitcher is held accountable . Any runner who tags his base and reaches home plate is scored against the pitcher as an earned run...

s in 5 2/3 innings to the Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...

 and was charged with a loss. Gabbard's first major league win
Win (baseball)
In professional baseball, there are two types of decisions: a win and a loss . In each game, one pitcher on the winning team is awarded a win and one pitcher on the losing team is given a loss in their respective statistics. These pitchers are collectively known as the pitchers of record. Only...

 was on September 5 against the Chicago White Sox
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are a Major League Baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois.The White Sox play in the American League's Central Division. Since , the White Sox have played in U.S. Cellular Field, which was originally called New Comiskey Park and nicknamed The Cell by local fans...

. Gabbard pitched seven shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....

 innings, surrendering three hits
Hit (baseball)
In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

 and striking out
Strikeout
In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

 six in a 1-0 Red Sox win.

Gabbard became the ninth rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...

 to pitch for the Red Sox in the 2006 season, joining Abe Alvarez
Abe Alvarez
Abraham Alvarez, , is an American former professional baseball pitcher with the Palfinger Reggio Emilia of Italy's Serie A1. He bats and throws left-handed.-College career:...

, Craig Breslow
Craig Breslow
Craig Andrew Breslow is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Oakland Athletics. He throws left-handed, and is considered a lefty specialist....

, Manny Delcarmen
Manny Delcarmen
Manuel "Manny" Delcarmen is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has been called "The Pride of Hyde Park".-Early life:...

, Craig Hansen
Craig Hansen
Craig Robert Hansen is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. A closer out of St. John's University, Hansen was drafted in and quickly made his major league debut, but has since spent most of his career at the Triple-A level...

, Jon Lester
Jon Lester
Jonathan Tyler Lester is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball...

, Jonathan Papelbon
Jonathan Papelbon
Jonathan Robert Papelbon is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball. Before joining the Phillies, Papelbon played with the Boston Red Sox from 2005-2011....

, David Pauley
David Pauley
David Wayne Pauley is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Detroit Tigers of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws right-handed. Pauley is a graduate of Longmont High School in Longmont, Colorado.-Career:...

, and Jermaine Van Buren
Jermaine Van Buren
Jermaine Russell Van Buren is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who now plays for Amarillo Dillas, an Independent Professional Baseball club in the United League.-Early career:...

. He also became the third Triple-A recall to move into Boston's rotation in six weeks, joining Kyle Snyder
Kyle Snyder
Kyle Ehren Snyder is an American baseball player, who is a former relief pitcher.Snyder played with the Kansas City Royals and the Boston Red Sox . He is listed at 6-8 and 220 pounds, is a switch hitter, and throws right-handed....

 and Lester. They replaced David Wells
David Wells
David Lee Wells , nicknamed "Boomer", is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. Wells was considered to be one of the game's better left-handed pitchers, especially during his years with the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. He pitched the fifteenth perfect game in baseball history...

 and Matt Clement
Matt Clement
Matthew Paul Clement is a former Major League Baseball starting pitcher. Clement played for the San Diego Padres , Florida Marlins , Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox . While on the Red Sox active roster, he was injured all of the 2007 season...

, who had gone on the disabled list. Likewise, Gabbard joined Pauley as one of two Boston starters to have begun the 2006 season in Double-A Portland.

2007

Gabbard was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket to pitch on May 20, , against Atlanta
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....

 in place of Josh Beckett
Josh Beckett
Joshua Patrick Beckett is an American professional baseball pitcher with the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball. During his career in the playoffs, he won the 2003 World Series MVP Award with the Florida Marlins, and received the 2007 ALCS MVP award with the Red Sox.-Florida Marlins :A...

. He had a good performance allowing 2 runs
Run (baseball)
In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

 on 6 hits over 5 innings and got the win. He was then immediately optioned
Major League Baseball transactions
Major League Baseball transactions are changes made to the roster of a major league team during or after the season. They may include waiving, releasing, and trading players, as well as assigning players to minor league teams.-25-man and 40-man rosters:...

 back to Pawtucket after the game. Gabbard started on June 26, 2007, against Seattle in place of Curt Schilling
Curt Schilling
Curtis Montague "Curt" Schilling is a former American Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher. He helped lead the Philadelphia Phillies to the World Series in and won World Series championships in with the Arizona Diamondbacks and in and with the Boston Red Sox. Schilling retired with a...

, who was placed on the disabled list
Disabled list
In Major League Baseball, the disabled list is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players.-General guidelines:...

. Gabbard had a sub-par performance, earning a no decision, and lasted only 3 1/3 innings
Innings
An inning, or innings, is a fixed-length segment of a game in any of a variety of sports – most notably cricket and baseball during which one team attempts to score while the other team attempts to prevent the first from scoring. In cricket, the term innings is both singular and plural and is...

 allowing 4 runs on 6 hits while walking six and striking out two. Gabbard performed well in his third start of the season on July 2, 2007, allowing three runs on three hits while walking four and striking out five, earning the win.

He tossed his first complete game
Complete game
In baseball, a complete game is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher.As demonstrated by the charts below, in the early 20th century, it was common for most good Major League Baseball pitchers to pitch a complete game almost every start. Pitchers were...

 shutout
Shutout
In team sports, a shutout refers to a game in which one team prevents the opposing team from scoring. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball....

 on July 16, 2007, against the Kansas City Royals
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are a Major League Baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From 1973 to the present, the Royals have played in Kauffman Stadium...

 in a 4-0 victory, allowing only 3 hits, 1 walk
Base on balls
A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

, and striking out 8.

Gabbard was traded to the Texas Rangers on July 31, 2007, for relief pitcher
Relief pitcher
A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

 Eric Gagné
Éric Gagné
Éric Serge Gagné is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.Signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in 1995, Gagné began his career as a starting pitcher...

, the same day the Atlanta Braves traded his high school teammate Saltalamacchia to Texas.

Gabbard made his Ranger debut on August 2, 2007, against the Cleveland Indians
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field. The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...

. He was pinned for the loss as the Indians won the game 5-0. Less than three weeks later, on August 22, Gabbard was the winning pitcher in a game where the Rangers outscored the Baltimore Orioles
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles are a professional baseball team based in Baltimore, Maryland in the United States. They are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's American League. One of the American League's eight charter franchises in 1901, it spent its first year as a major league...

 30-3, the most runs scored in a game in the modern era.

2008

On May 8, , in a game against the Seattle Mariners, Gabbard was charged on the mound by Seattle's Richie Sexson
Richie Sexson
Richmond Lockwood "Big Sexy" Sexson is a former Major League Baseball first baseman who played for five teams from 1997 to 2008...

. Sexson threw his batting helmet at Gabbard after Gabbard's head-high pitch towards Sexson. Sexson later stated he was frustrated and had a lot going on in his head, including his club's recent struggles. Sexson was suspended six games for the incident, but he successfully appealed it and the suspension was dropped to five games.

2009

After the Rangers' 2009 spring training
Spring training
In Major League Baseball, spring training is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play...

 camp, Gabbard was sent outright to the Triple-A Oklahoma RedHawks
Oklahoma RedHawks
The Oklahoma City RedHawks are a minor league baseball team based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Pacific Coast League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros...

.

On April 22, Darren O'Day
Darren O'Day
Darren Christopher O'Day is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball. He played college baseball for the University of Florida, and has played professionally for the Los Angeles Angels, New York Mets, and Texas Rangers...

 made his Rangers debut, but he was so new that his jersey had yet to arrive, so he was forced to borrow Gabbard's jersey.

On April 23, the Red Sox re-acquired Gabbard from the Rangers for cash considerations. They assigned him to the Pawtucket Red Sox
Pawtucket Red Sox
The Pawtucket Red Sox are the minor league baseball Triple-A affiliates of the Boston Red Sox and belong to the International League...

.

As of July 27, Gabbard went on a rehab assignment in the Red Sox farm system, currently pitching for the single-A affiliate Lowell Spinners
Lowell Spinners
The Lowell Spinners are a Short-Season A minor league baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.-History:Founded in 1996 after Clyde Smoll moved the Elmira Pioneers to Lowell, Massachusetts, the Spinners play in the New York - Penn League, which has a Short-Season A classification with 76 games a...

.

As of July 24, 2010 the Boston Red Sox have released Gabbard into free agency.

Pitching style

Gabbard has the standard repertoire of fastball
Fastball
The fastball is the most common type of pitch in baseball. Some "power pitchers," such as Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, have thrown it at speeds of 95–106 mph and up to 108.1 mph , relying purely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit...

, curveball
Curveball
The curveball is a type of pitch in baseball thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball causing it to dive in a downward path as it approaches the plate. Its close relatives are the slider and the slurve. The "curve" of the ball varies from pitcher to...

, and changeup
Changeup
A changeup is a type of pitch in baseball. Other names include change-of-pace, Bugs Bunny change-up, the dreaded equalizer, and simply change. The changeup is sometimes called an off-speed pitch, although that term can also be used simply to mean any pitch that is slower than a fastball...

, occasionally throwing a slider
Slider
In baseball, a slider is a pitch that breaks laterally and down, with a speed between that of a curveball and that of a fastball....

. Gabbard's fastball hits the high-80s, his changeup works the best low and away on right-handed hitters, and his slow curveball is especially effective against lefties. Not a power strikeout pitcher, Gabbard has been compared to Mark Buehrle
Mark Buehrle
Mark Alan Buehrle is a Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He has pitched his entire baseball career for the Chicago White Sox, starting the opening game every season from 2002 to 2006 and again from 2008 to 2011....

 and Kenny Rogers.

External links

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