Jeff Suppan

[Michael Trzinski]

It always seemed like Jeff Suppan was going to be the next superstar. From the time the right-handed pitcher was drafted in the second round by the Boston Red Sox in the 1993 MLB Amateur draft to the times he was signed as a free agent by Kansas City, St. Louis, and Milwaukee, Suppan was always looked upon as a future staff savior. He was never named to an all-star team, never won 20 games, and never earned Cy Young votes. All Suppan did was play for 17 years, won 140 games, and provided back-end stability to pitching rotations for seven different teams.

Jeffrey Scot Suppan graduated from Crespi Carmelite High School in Encino, California and was named the All-California Interscholastic Federation Division I Player of the Year after going 11-1 with a 0.92 ERA his senior year. After signing with Boston, he moved rapidly through the minor league system and made his major league debut for Boston in August and pitched eight times (three starts) and posted an ERA+ of 83 and a FIP of 4.38.

Suppan pitched parts of three different seasons for Boston before being drafted in the 1997 Expansion draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Suppan struggled to a 1-7 mark with an ERA of 6.68 in 13 starts before being sold to the Kansas City Royals toward the end of the 1998 season. After a solid September, Suppan spent the next four seasons as a dependable starter for the Royals, averaging 33 starts and 10 wins per season before signing as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates before the 2003 campaign, but then was traded back to Boston at mid-season.

The St. Louis Cardinals signed him as a free agent before the 2004 season and Suppan rewarded the Cards with 42 victories in three seasons. Impressed by that, Milwaukee signed Suppan to a $42 million, four-year free agent contract on Christmas Eve 2006.

Suppan took the ball every turn for three-plus years, starting 97 games (110 appearances) while posting an ERA+ of 84 and a FIP of 5.14. He started the 2010 season in the rotation but was demoted to the bullpen after two dismal starts. After getting hammered for 20 hits and 13 earned runs over 9.2 innings in five games in late May/early June, ‘Soup’ was released by the Brewers, still owed $10 million. While well-liked by people in the organization, it got so bad that Suppan would get booed by the fans as he came out of the bullpen at Miller Park.

He made 13 starts for St. Louis in 2010 after being picked up for his second stint with the Cards, and then made six starts for the Pirates in 2012 before announcing his retirement on January 2, 2014—his 39^th birthday.

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Was pumped when we signed him 🙂🤷‍♂️