Today In Brewer History: Happy Birthday, Jamey Wright

On this day in 1974 Jamey Wright was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He was 18 when the Rockies made him the 28th overall pick in the 1993 draft, was Baseball America's #66 prospect in all of baseball in 1996 and made his major league debut later that same year.

Pre-humidor Coors Field was not a good place for a young pitcher, though, and Wright struggled mightily in his first few major league seasons. In 1998 he became one of just three pitchers in the last 15 seasons to pitch over 200 innings with an ERA over 5.50 (he was at 5.67). All three of those players were Rockies.

Following the 1999 season Wright got a fresh start with the Brewers as he was one of several players dealt to Milwaukee in the deal that sent Jeff Cirillo to Denver. He wasn't a lot better in Milwaukee, though, posting a 4.73 ERA over parts of three seasons. His most notable accomplishment as a Brewer may have been leading all of baseball in hit batsmen in both 2000 and 2001.

Most pitchers who post a 5.17 ERA in their first five major league seasons aren't still around ten years later, but Wright is a pretty interesting exception to that rule. Over the last few years he's actually developed into a serviceable reliever, and posted a 3.72 ERA over 66 appearances for the Dodgers in 2012. He's a free agent this winter and could actually be an interesting candidate to sign with the Brewers.

Thanks to the B-Ref Play Index for reminding me that Wright turns 38 today.

Today is also the sixth anniversary of the Brewers signing Jeff Suppan as a free agent in 2006. We covered that event in this space last year.