Jason Marquis: Difference between revisions

Jason Marquis
Colorado Rockies – No. 21
Starting pitcher
Bats: Left Throws: Right
debut
June 6, 2000, for the Atlanta Braves
Career statistics (through 2008 season)
Win-Loss	79-70
Earned run average	4.55
Strikeouts	752
Teams
Atlanta Braves (2000-2003) St. Louis Cardinals (2004-2006) Chicago Cubs (2007-2008) Colorado Rockies (2009-present)

Jason Scott Marquis (Template:PronEng) (born August 21, 1978 in Manhasset, New York) is an American Major League Baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies.

Through 2008, in games that were late and close Marquis held batters to a .215 batting average.^[1]

Marquis was born in Manhasset, New York and grew up in Staten Island, New York's Arden Heights neighborhood, where he attended Paulo Intermediate School 75. He was a New York Yankees fan when growing up. He is Jewish,^[2] and both attended Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah. “My mother was stricter with our Jewish upbringing, given that her parents were Holocaust survivors."

He played Little League Baseball on the South Shore Little League that finished third in the Little League World Series in 1991.^[3] He is one of 25 Little League World Series players to have reached the major leagues.

Marquis pitched the Tottenville High School Pirates to two consecutive New York City Public Schools Athletic League titles in 1995 and 1996, at Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium.^[4] He also played basketball there, and was a member of the National Honor Society. A classmate at Tottenville was Chicago Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye.

The righthander originally signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Miami, but opted out after he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the first round of the 1996 free agent draft after having graduated from high school. He was the 35th selection overall.

In 1996 Marquis began his pro career with the Danville Braves (Rookie Advanced). The next year he tied for the South Atlantic League lead with 14 victories for the Macon Braves. In 1998 he began the season as youngest pitcher in the Carolina League, but won only 2 of 22 starts for Class A Danville 97s, as he struck out 135 in only 114.2 innings, while walking only 41.

In 1999 Marquis began the season at Class A Myrtle Beach Pelicans, where he opened the season by firing 20.0 consecutive scoreless innings. He allowed only one earned run in 6 starts (3-0, 0.28 ERA) before being promoted to AA Greenville Braves, and was named the Braves' No. 6 prospect by Baseball America.

In 2000 Baseball America named him the Braves No. 5 prospect, and he split time between AA Greenville, the AAA Richmond Braves, and Atlanta.

Marquis was called up to the majors by the Braves in June 2000, at the age of 21, after the Braves demoted struggling closer John Rocker. He made his debut on June 6, 2000, in relief against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was later sent back down to AAA Richmond, but was recalled again in September. During the 2000 season he appeared strictly in relief, finishing 7 games in his 15 appearances, and winning 1.

He became a starting pitcher in 2001, joining a celebrated staff with Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and Kevin Millwood. In his first year as a starter, Marquis held batters to a .145 batting average when runners were in scoring position, with 2 out. He maintained a spot on the rotation again in 2002 as the fifth starter, behind Maddux, Glavine, Millwood, and Damian Moss.

In 2003, the Braves revamped their starting rotation with the acquisitions of Mike Hampton, Russ Ortiz, Shane Reynolds, and the promotion of Horacio Ramírez from AA. Marquis was sent to the bullpen, making only 2 starts in 21 appearances. He was upset about being sent to the bullpen, and requested to be sent to the minors where he could be a starting pitcher, and observed by scouts from other organizations. On December 13, 2003, Marquis was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals along with relief pitcher Ray King and rookie prospect Adam Wainwright for outfielder J. D. Drew and catcher Eli Marrero.

Marquis became a full-time starter in 2004 with the Cardinals, and posted a career-best 15-9 record, with a 3.71 earned run average and a career-high 138 strikeouts, for the National League champions. His 15 wins and .682 won-lost percentage were both 9th in the league. He held batters to a .198 Batting Average with Runners in Scoring Position. He stole a base against the Chicago Cubs off teammate and former mentor Greg Maddux, who also stole a base in the same game. It marked the first time since 1950 that opposing pitchers stole a base in the same game. Manager Tony La Russa tabbed Marquis to start Game 4 of the 2004 World Series. He turned in the best performance of any Cardinals starter in the series, pitching 6 innings and giving up 3 runs. He was bested, however, by Boston pitcher Derek Lowe, who threw shutout ball for 7 innings to win the series for the Red Sox.^[6]

Marquis had an up and down season in 2005. Although he started the season strong, he slid into a personal 7-game losing streak. It ended on August 27, 2005, when Marquis pitched a 2-hit shutout at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC against the Washington Nationals, for his first career shutout. Overall Marquis posted a 13-14 record, with an 4.13 earned run average in 207 innings pitched. He appeared in 33 games, starting 32, and completing 3 (6th in the NL). He gave up the second lowest percentage of line drives in the NL (17.3%).^[7]

Uncharacteristically for a pitcher, Marquis is a very good hitter. He constantly hits off the tee in batting cages. In 2005 he had 27 hits, posting a .310 batting average with 1 home run and 10 RBIs in 87 at-bats. He was the first pitcher to bat over .300 since Mike Hampton batted .344 in 2002 (minimum of 50 at-bats). For his excellent work at the plate, Marquis won the Silver Slugger Award. His hitting ability along with his athleticism makes him a valuable player, in that he is sometimes called on to pinch-hit or pinch-run.

In January 2006, Marquis and the Cardinals agreed to a 1-year contract, avoiding salary arbitration, for $5.15 million dollars.^[8] Marquis, however, followed by having the worst season of his career, and one of the worst in Cardinals history. Pitching in the starting rotation all year, Marquis finished with a 6.02 ERA, the 2nd-worst in baseball among players who qualified for the ERA title (Joel Piñeiro, of the Seattle Mariners, finished last with a 6.36). He led the majors in runs allowed (136), and led the NL in losses (16) and home runs allowed (35). He also had the two worst game scores in the NL, a game against the White Sox on June 21st in which he gave up 13 earned runs in 5 innings, and one against the Atlanta Braves 3 weeks later in which he gave up 12 earned runs in 5 innings. On the other hand, in games that were late and close, he held batters to a .188 batting average.^[9]

Marquis was on the Cardinals roster for their 1st-round playoff matchup against the San Diego Padres, but did not make an appearance in the Series and was not included on the roster for the NLCS against the Mets, or for the 2006 World Series against Detroit, which the Cardinals won.

In December 2006 Marquis signed a 3-year contract with the Chicago Cubs worth $21 million.^[10] With the Cubs, he wears # 21, the same number as former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa, who in fact hit his 600th home run against Marquis. This has caused some concern, due to Sosa's accomplishments with the Cubs -- he is the Cubs' all-time home run leader.^[11]

On May 9th, Marquis completed a three-hit shutout against the Pittsburgh Pirates, defeating them 1-0. He had a perfect game going into the 6th inning, retiring the first 16 batters he faced, but Pirates shortstop Don Kelly broke it up with a single. The game only took 2 hours and 6 minutes. Marquis struck out 5, and needed only 109 pitches to complete the game. The win improved Marquis' record to 5-1, and dropped his ERA to 1.70, 3rd best in the NL. After the game, Marquis highlighted his consistency as being the key to his turnaround. "My delivery is as consistent as it's ever been. I feel like I'm repeating the same delivery over and over again and that's the reason, I really believe, for the success."^[12]

Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, was September 21st, and Marquis was glad to be slated to pitch the day prior in a day game, as he expected to be done before sundown. "I look at it that religion is an important part of my life, but so is family and baseball," Marquis said. "To me, family takes precedent over all aspects of my life. Baseball and religion fall into place, and I try not to make one more important than the other." Marquis did have to pitch on the holiday when he was with the Braves. It was his turn, and he didn't want to throw the rotation out of order. "I pitched, went to temple the next morning," Marquis said. "It was a day game. Bobby [Cox, Atlanta manager] allowed me to show up late. It turned out well."^[13][14] Even though, he got tagged with 7 earned runs in 2.2 inning while striking out 1, and walking 1 batter.

In 2007 Marquis had the 5th-lowest batting average in the NL of balls hit into play against him (.280), and the 8th-highest ground ball percentage (49.5%).^[15] He was 12-9, with a 4.60 ERA. He was tied for second in the league in shutouts (1), and was 5th in the league in hit batsmen (13). He kept batters to a .229 batting average in games that were late and close.

On March 24, 2008, it was announced he would be the Cubs fifth starter for the 2008 season.^[16] Historically, Marquis' numbers during the second half of the season were not as good as his numbers during the first half, but thanks to smart managing by Lou Piniella, Marquis and Rich Harden, newly-acquired from the Oakland Athletics on July 8, rotated their starts for a time, and Marquis posted a winning month of August, going 3-1 with a 3.90 ERA. It was his second-lowest ERA after a 3.81 ERA in July.

On September 26, 2008, the Cubs post-season roster was announced, and Marquis was granted a roster spot as a reliever.^[17] He made one appearance against the Dodgers in Game 1 of the National League Division Series, when he pitched the top of the ninth inning. In it he gave up a solo home run to Russell Martin for the Dodgers' seventh and final run of the game -- one they'd win by a final score of 7-2.^[18]

On January 6, 2009, Marquis was traded to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Luis Vizcaíno.^[19]

Current as of September 27, 2008.

Marquis relies mostly on his sinker and slider. Even though he throws his sinker harder than most, he gets plenty of movement on the pitch. Marquis also throws a four-seam fastball when in trouble and throws an occasional curve ball.

He is 6th all-time of all Jewish major leaguer pitchers in strikeouts and 7th in wins, trailing among others Sandy Koufax, Ken Holtzman, and Steve Stone in both categories.^[20] In 2007 he became only the 6th Jewish pitcher to notch at least 10 victories in four consecutive seasons. The others are Koufax, Holtzman, Stone, Dave Roberts, and Barney Pelty.^[21]

In 441 at bats through 2008 Marquis had a .206 lifetime batting average, with 25 doubles, 2 triples, 5 home runs, 50 runs scored, 40 RBIs, and 23 sacrifice hits. He had a .276 career batting average, in 59 plate appearances, with 2 outs and runners in scoring position. In 26 at bats as a pinch hitter, he had a .231 batting average.

In a game on May 19, 2007 against the Chicago White Sox at Wrigley Field, Marquis connected on a 3-2 pitch from Javier Vazquez for a two-run home run, his first as a Cub, and his third career homer.^[22]

During the 2008 season, he belted his fourth home run on September 6th, against Cincinnati's Gary Majewski at the Great American Ballpark, giving the Cubs their 10th run of the game. They went on to win by a score of 14-9.^[23] On September 22, he hit his first career grand slam, off of New York Mets rookie Jonathan Niese at Shea Stadium. That night he was also credited with five RBIs - four of which came with his grand slam - in a career-high performance.^[24] It was the first grand slam by a Jewish pitcher since Saul Rogovin of the Detroit Tigers hit one in 1950 off Eddie Lopat of the NY Yankees.^[25]

In 2008 he had a career-high league-leading 27 hits, the highest total for a big-league pitcher since Rick Rhoden had 28 in 1984, with 24 coming as a pitcher and three as pinch-hitter. His 10 extra-base hits were the highest extra-base hit total by a pitcher since 1986, when Rhoden had 10.[3]

Current as of Saturday, September 27, 2008.

Marquis has exhibited a better range factor at pitcher than the league average every year of his career, through 2007.^[26]

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Jews in Sports bio
• "The boys of summer and seder: Baseball, Passover share openers," 3/12/07
• Jewish Major League career leaders
• "Warming up for the Jewish Boys of Summer," 3/5/08

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