Professional baseball career Cliff Lee

1 professional baseball career

1.1 draft
1.2 cleveland indians (2002–09)

1.2.1 2007 season
1.2.2 2008 season
1.2.3 2009 season


1.3 philadelphia phillies (2009)

1.3.1 2009 world series


1.4 seattle mariners (2010)
1.5 texas rangers (2010)
1.6 return phillies (2011–2014)

1.6.1 2011 season
1.6.2 2012 season
1.6.3 2013 season
1.6.4 2014 season
1.6.5 2015 season
1.6.6 2016 season

professional baseball career
draft

lee drafted florida marlins twelfth pick of eighth round of 1997 major league baseball draft out of benton high school in hometown of benton, arkansas, instead chose attend meridian community college in mississippi. later, lee drafted baltimore orioles in twentieth round of 1998 amateur draft, opted attend university of arkansas instead.

in 2000 major league draft, chosen in fourth round montreal expos , signed in july of year. in 2002, lee played double-a harrisburg, , compiled 7–2 record 3.23 era in eastern league mid-summer.

cleveland indians (2002–09)

lee pitching cleveland indians on april 18, 2008.

in june 2002, expos traded lee (along brandon phillips, lee stevens, , grady sizemore) cleveland indians in exchange bartolo colón , tim drew.

following trade, lee pitched 7 games akron aeros before went buffalo bisons. compiled 3–2 record bisons before going indians in september of season. lee made major league debut in start against minnesota twins on september 15, 2002, giving lone run in 5.1 innings, resulting in loss due lack of run support. pitched once more season, giving 1 run in 5 innings against kansas city royals, resulting in no decision lee loss team.

lee won @ least fourteen games in each of first 3 full seasons , pitched more 200 innings in both 2005 , 2006. finished 2005 season 18–5 record , 3.79 era, earning him fourth place in al cy young award voting year. in 2006, indians gave him midseason 3-year $14 million contract extension.

2007 season

in 2007, lee suffered groin strain during spring training start, forcing him begin regular season on disabled list. returned indians pitching rotation in may, got 4–9 record , 5.38 era in first 16 starts. on july 21, lee hit texas rangers right fielder sammy sosa in head pitch on night when rangers honoring sosa hitting 600th home run. incident sparked altercation between lee , indians catcher víctor martínez , led players-only meeting after game. lee encountered more problems on july 26, 2007, when gave 7 runs in 4 innings against boston red sox. when left game, fans booed him , tipped cap fans before entered dugout. next day, on july 27, lee optioned triple-a buffalo bisons. called on september 1 when rosters expanded, appeared in 4 games, out of bullpen.

2008 season

in 2008, lee had career year. despite indians playing .500 winning percentage season, lee started 2008 season success. lee 1 of 8 pitchers since 1920 win 19 or more of first 21 games. first cleveland pitcher win first 6 starts since greg swindell in 1988. recorded first career shutout on april 25, 2008, against kansas city royals, allowing 3 hits , no walks. had lowest on-base percentage since 1909, having .163 percentage through 5 starts. efforts , success, named american league pitcher of month april, when went 5–0 0.96 era. lee picked first all-star game in 2008, , selected start game. lee pitched 2 scoreless innings american league team, striking out 3 batters , giving chipper jones base hit.

lee @ 2008 all-star game parade

on august 26, lee won 19th game of season, yielding 2 runs detroit tigers. victory set new career high lee, outdoing previous mark of 18 wins during 2005 season. on september 1, lee won 20th game of season, pitched shutout. first indian earn 20 wins since gaylord perry in 1974. in august, lee named american league pitcher of month second time in 2008 season. went 5–0 1.86 era in month. on september 12, lee won 22nd game, making record 22–2 season. first time pitcher had gone 20 wins on .500 since bob welch in 1990. lee ended year 22–3 record, 2.54 era, , 170 strikeouts. started 31 games, completed four, , had 2 shutouts. pitched total of 223⅓ innings. lee american league champion both wins , era in 2008 season.

lee s 2008 winning percentage of 88% twelfth best of time, , fourth best pitcher starting minimum of 30 games. behind randy johnson, ron guidry, , lefty grove. lee s winning percentage second best in indians history, behind johnny allen s 93.8% (15 wins, 1 loss, in 24 games) in 1937.

lee earned several awards following 2008 season. these included al comeback player of year award, players choice award al outstanding pitcher of year, sporting news pitcher of year award, sporting news comeback player of year award, , warren spahn award best left-handed pitcher in major league baseball. on november 13, 2008, lee awarded al cy young award. made lee second straight indian (and third overall) win award, following former teammate cc sabathia, won in 2007.

2009 season

on june 14, 2009, lee pitched no-hitter 8th inning in game against st. louis, striking out 6 , walking two. lee allowed 3 hits in complete-game shutout, improving record 4–6 , era 2.88.

philadelphia phillies (2009)

lee s debut phillies in 2009

on july 29 (just before july 31 trading deadline), indians traded lee (along outfielder ben francisco) philadelphia phillies in exchange carlos carrasco, jason donald, lou marson, , jason knapp.

in first game philadelphia phillies, lee pitched complete game , took 5–1 victory. pitched no-hitter sixth inning , batted 2 hits, including first career double , run scored. through first 5 games phillies, lee compiled 5–0 record, 39 strikeouts in 40 innings pitched, , 0.68 era.

2009 world series

charlie manuel named lee starting pitcher first game of world series. lee had posted 2–0 record in first 2 rounds of playoffs. lee pitching against former indians teammate cc sabathia.

lee pitched complete game in game 1 of 2009 world series, winning game 6–1 against new york yankees. allowed no earned runs during outing. first pitcher since deacon phillippe of 1903 world series pitch complete game in world series ten or more strikeouts , no walks. however, phillippe allowed 2 earned runs in start, lee first without allowing earned run. in next start (game 5), lee earned victory, allowing 5 runs , 3 walks while striking out 3 in 7 innings. phillies won game 8–6. despite winning both of starts, phillies lost series in 6 games.

seattle mariners (2010)

on december 16, 2009, phillies traded lee seattle mariners in exchange j. c. ramírez, phillippe aumont , tyson gillies.

lee appealed five-game suspension imposed on him throwing on head of chris snyder during spring training game. both suspension , accompanying fine overturned. lee made mariners debut against texas rangers on april 30, earned no-decision in 2–0 loss rangers. earned first win mariners on may 11, in 5–1 win against baltimore orioles. lee pitched 3 consecutive complete games in june. picked 2010 al all-star team attended ranger. mariners, lee went 8–3 2.34 era, 0.945 whip, , 89/6 k/bb ratio. despite this, mariners struggling, , lee placed on trade market.

texas rangers (2010)

lee pitching in game 5 of 2010 world series.

on july 9, after deal new york yankees failed, lee traded texas rangers along mark lowe in exchange justin smoak , prospects blake beavan, josh lueke , matt lawson.

on august 6, against oakland athletics, lee earned 100th career win going 8 innings , allowing 1 run 7 strikeouts.

lee pitched game 1 of american league division series against tampa bay on october 6, 2010, same day phillies pitcher roy halladay pitched no-hitter against reds in game 1 of national league division series. lee pitched 7 innings. gave 1 run , struck out ten batters. there have been 8 post-season pitching performances of @ least ten strikeouts , no walks in baseball history, of lee has pitched last four. 2 of these in 2010 alds. in game 5 of series, lee set alds series strikeout record , tied mlb record 21 strikeouts. pitched complete game, striking out eleven batters , allowing 1 run, earning win.

lee continued postseason mastery 2010 alcs, when allowed 2 hits while striking out thirteen new york yankees @ yankee stadium in 8–0 texas victory in game 3. lee has become first person pitch 3 10-plus strikeout games in 1 post-season.

however, facing san francisco giants tim lincecum in 2010 world series, lee gave 7 runs (six earned) , did not make through 5 innings. rangers lost game 11–7. lee faced lincecum once again in game 5 of world series giants having 3–1 series advantage. gave three-run home run Édgar rentería, resulted in 3–1 loss , giants winning series.

return phillies (2011–2014)
2011 season

lee returned phillies on five-year contract in 2010

on december 15, 2010, lee signed five-year , $120 million free-agent contract phillies. contract included vesting option sixth year. joined pitching rotation consisting of roy halladay, roy oswalt, cole hamels , joe blanton. commentators called 1 of best rotations ever assembled. halladay, oswalt, lee, , hamels dubbed phantastic phour fans , media. in returning phillies (despite higher salary offered him yankees), lee mentioned chance win world series ring, strength of staff, chance throw pitcher instead of designated hitter in national league, regular sellouts, , passion of fans. said never wanted leave in first place .

in lee s first game phillies on april 2, 2011, pitched 7 innings, allowing 4 hits , 3 runs, while striking out eleven , walking none. on may 6, in game against atlanta braves, struck out career-high 16 batters, allowing 3 runs in 5–0 philadelphia loss. on june 28, lee pitched third consecutive complete game shutout in 5–0 victory on boston red sox. lee awarded national league pitcher of month award june 2011. lee went 5–0 , had 0.21 era. lee pitched 3 consecutive shutouts , 34 scoreless innings. end of month, had outscored teams opposed (he scored 2 runs in month while allowing 1 run).

on july 9, lee hit first major league home run against tommy hanson of braves after ten-pitch at-bat. although phillies lost game 4–1, first home run phillies pitcher since chan ho park in april 2009. lee went on hit second major league home run on august 9 against ted lilly of los angeles dodgers. in same game, lee recorded 17th career double-digit strikeout game, resulting in 2–1 phillies win.

on september 26, 2011, lee winning pitcher in 4–2 game against braves. pitched 6 innings, gave 5 hits , 2 runs, struck out six, , walked none. finished regular season 17–8 record, more helped phillies 100-win season. marks third time in franchise history phillies have won 100 or more games in season. led mlb in shutouts six, shutouts major league starter since tim belcher, pitched 8 shutouts in 1989 dodgers.

in postseason, despite having best regular season second year , again tipped win world series, phillies eliminated st. louis cardinals in nlds. lee started game 2 surrendered 5 runs, cardinals made comeback 4-0 deficit win 5-4. cardinals defeated lee s former team, texas rangers, in 7 games win world series.

2012 season

lee before military appreciation game @ citi field during fleet week.

lee received poor run support throughout entire 2012 season; particularly first half. on april 18, in game against san francisco giants, lee pitched ten shutout innings, phillies lost game. on april 21, lee placed on disabled list oblique strain. despite pitching throughout spring, lee didn t earn wins until july 4 in game against new york mets. pitched 8 innings, allowing 2 runs while striking out nine, resulting in 9-2 road victory. lee s streak of thirteen starts without wins longest of former cy young award winner since greg maddux in 2008. on september 17, lee recorded 1,500th career strikeout in game against new york mets. finished season 6-9, despite era of 3.16 (which below career average) , lowest walks per 9 innings rate in national league @ 1.2.

2013 season

lee started 2013 season phillies third starter. in first start against braves, pitched 8 scoreless innings , earned win 2-0 phillies victory. lee voted along domonic brown play in 2013 mlb all-star game. finished season record of 14-8, era of 2.87, 222 strikeouts, , 1.3 bb/9 rate, was, once again, amongst best in national league.

2014 season

after cole hamels sidelined injury, lee named phillies opening day starter, starting against texas rangers. pitched 5 innings , earned win, despite allowing 8 runs. lee placed on disabled list in may left elbow strain. began pitch again on june 10. removed disabled list on july 21, come out of game on july 31, once again experiencing elbow discomfort. lee made 13 starts in 2014 going 4-5 3.65 era.

2015 season

on march 16, 2015, lee placed on 60-day disabled list start 2015 season due left common flexor tendon tear, , missed 2015 season. after season, phillies declined $27.5 million option, paying him $12.5 million buyout , making him free agent.

2016 season

on february 23, 2016, lee s agent darek braunecker told fox sports return pitching lee take perfect situation , indicating offer wanted not forthcoming.