Players You Forgot the Pittsburgh Pirates Drafted: Part 3

Jeremy Guthrie

In 2001, the Pittsburgh Pirates used their 3rd round pick to select right handed pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. However, the team was unable to sign the right-handed pitcher. Guthrie eventually entered the draft again in 2002, one of the worst in Pirates’ history, and was picked by the Cleveland Indians in the 1st round.

Guthrie showed some promise early on in his career, ranking as the 70th and 53rd best prospects in baseball in 2003 and 2004 (Baseball America), but his tenure with the Indians would be very short. Guthrie made his debut in 2004, and remained in the Indians organization until 2006. His MLB tenure with the Orioles consisted of just 37 innings where he surrendered 25 earned runs, 5 home runs, issued 25 walks, and struck out just 24 batters.

Although he was never a great pitcher, he, like Arroyo, would become a solid, durable starter for a handful of years. From 2007 to 2014, Guthrie pitched to the tune of a 4.18 ERA, 4.67 FIP and 1.31 WHIP. He walked only 6.5% of the batters he faced. He also averaged nearly 200 innings a season with the Orioles, Rockies and Royals. He also got the ball from Royals’ manager Ned Yost in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series.