John Axford

Birth Date: 04/01/1983

John Axford Autograph

John Axford Bio

Brewers Video

John Berton Axford was born in 1983 in Simcoe, Ontario, Canada. He was raised in nearby Port Dover, Ontario and since his school did not have a team, he played for Port Dover Minor Baseball, Team Ontario, and Team Canada.

He was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the seventh round of the 2001 MLB draft but elected to attend the University of Notre Dame instead. Two years after undergoing Tommy John surgery, he was drafted in the 42nd round of the 2005 MLB draft by the Cincinnati Reds.

“Ax Man” had one year of eligibility left so he played for Canisius College. After a terrible season, the Reds declined to offer him a contract. After a 19-strikeout performance in a Canadian summer league game, the New York Yankees signed him. He spent 2007 in the Yankees chain but was released after the season.

Axford signed with the Brewers in early 2008 and after one season in the minors, he was called up to Milwaukee, where he spent most of the next five seasons. Between 2010-2012, he amassed 105 saves for Milwaukee, including an NL-leading 46 saves in 2011. Axford finished ninth in the NL Cy Young race that year and received a few NL MVP votes.

In 2013, his velocity dropped from the high 90s to the low 90s and he lost his closer job to fellow Canadian Jim Henderson. Axford was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in late 2013 but was released after the season.

Axford pitched for six teams between 2014-2018, and then after two years in the Toronto Blue Jays system, was traded back to Milwaukee in August 2021. He pitched in one game for the Brewers and left because of an injury to his right elbow.

The big righthander pitched one inning for Team Canada in the 2023 World Baseball Classic and announced his retirement from professional baseball March 2024. His 46-save season ranks number one in Brewers history, while his 106 career saves rank third.

Notable Events & Trivia

Has a degree from Notre Dame in film and television
Was involved in the Milwaukee Film Festival
Converted 46 straight save opportunities (2011-12)
Axford was named to the Brewers Wall of Fame in 2025

Baseball-Reference

John Axford Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com

Check out the latest Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More of John Axford. Get info about his position, age, height, weight, draft status, bats, throws, school and more on Baseball-reference.com
FanGraphs

John Axford - Stats - Pitching | FanGraphs Baseball

John Axford career pitching statistics for Major League, Minor League, and postseason baseball
Wikipedia

John Axford - Wikipedia

John Berton Axford (born April 1, 1983), nicknamed "Ax Man", is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Milwaukee Brewers, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Oakland Athletics, Toronto Blue Jays, and Los Angeles Dodgers. Axford made his MLB debut in 2009 with the Brewers. He won the Rolaids Relief Man Award in 2011 after leading the National League in saves.

John Axford Statistics

Standard Pitching
Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W	Awards
2009	26	MIL	NL	0	0		3.52	7	0	6	0	0	1	7.2	5	3	3	0	6	1	9	0	0	1	34	122	3.10	1.435	5.9	0.0	7.0	10.6	1.50
2010	27	MIL	NL	8	2	.800	2.48	50	0	43	0	0	24	58.0	42	17	16	1	27	3	76	1	0	4	238	163	2.13	1.190	6.5	0.2	4.2	11.8	2.81
2011	28	MIL	NL	2	2	.500	1.95	74	0	63	0	0	46	73.2	59	19	16	4	25	1	86	0	0	8	305	202	2.41	1.140	7.2	0.5	3.1	10.5	3.44	CYA-9,MVP-17
2012	29	MIL	NL	5	8	.385	4.67	75	0	54	0	0	35	69.1	61	42	36	10	39	2	93	2	0	10	310	88	4.06	1.442	7.9	1.3	5.1	12.1	2.38
2013	30	TOT	NL	7	7	.500	4.02	75	0	16	0	0	0	65.0	73	32	29	10	26	3	65	2	0	5	289	97	4.34	1.523	10.1	1.4	3.6	9.0	2.50
2013	30	MIL	NL	6	7	.462	4.45	62	0	13	0	0	0	54.2	62	29	27	10	23	3	54	1	0	5	245	87	4.77	1.555	10.2	1.6	3.8	8.9	2.35
2013	30	STL	NL	1	0	1.000	1.74	13	0	3	0	0	0	10.1	11	3	2	0	3	0	11	1	0	0	44	223	2.08	1.355	9.6	0.0	2.6	9.6	3.67
2014	31	TOT	MLB	2	4	.333	3.95	62	0	28	0	0	10	54.2	43	26	24	6	36	3	63	2	0	5	243	98	4.34	1.445	7.1	1.0	5.9	10.4	1.75
2014	31	CLE	AL	2	3	.400	3.92	49	0	24	0	0	10	43.2	34	21	19	6	30	3	51	1	0	4	196	100	4.71	1.466	7.0	1.2	6.2	10.5	1.70
2014	31	PIT	NL	0	1	.000	4.09	13	0	4	0	0	0	11.0	9	5	5	0	6	0	12	1	0	1	47	91	2.86	1.364	7.4	0.0	4.9	9.8	2.00
2015	32	COL	NL	4	5	.444	4.20	60	0	43	0	0	25	55.2	56	27	26	4	32	4	62	0	0	1	250	110	3.57	1.581	9.1	0.6	5.2	10.0	1.94
2016	33	OAK	AL	6	4	.600	3.97	68	0	13	0	0	3	65.2	65	30	29	6	30	1	60	3	0	4	289	103	4.01	1.447	8.9	0.8	4.1	8.2	2.00
2017	34	OAK	AL	0	1	.000	6.43	22	0	8	0	0	0	21.0	27	16	15	3	17	0	21	2	0	1	109	66	5.73	2.095	11.6	1.3	7.3	9.0	1.24
2018	35	TOT	MLB	4	1	.800	5.27	50	1	12	0	0	0	54.2	52	35	32	6	22	1	54	3	0	6	233	81	3.98	1.354	8.6	1.0	3.6	8.9	2.45
2018	35	TOR	AL	4	1	.800	4.41	45	1	11	0	0	0	51.0	44	27	25	6	20	1	50	2	0	6	211	97	4.02	1.255	7.8	1.1	3.5	8.8	2.50
2018	35	LAD	NL	0	0		17.18	5	0	1	0	0	0	3.2	8	8	7	0	2	0	4	1	0	0	22	25	3.43	2.727	19.6	0.0	4.9	9.8	2.00

2021	38	MIL	NL	0	0		54.00	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.1	2	2	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	5	16	21.17	9.000	54.0	0.0	27.0	0.0	0.00
11 Yrs				38	34	.528	3.90	544	1	286	0	0	144	525.2	485	249	228	50	261	19	589	16	0	45	2305	105	3.68	1.419	8.3	0.9	4.5	10.1	2.26
162 Game Avg.				5	4	.528	3.90	68	0	36	0	0	18	66	61	31	28	6	33	2	73	2	0	6	288	105	3.68	1.419	8.3	0.9	4.5	10.1	2.26
				W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	ERA+	FIP	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9	SO/W	Awards
MIL (6 yrs)				21	19	.525	3.41	269	0	179	0	0	106	263.2	231	112	100	25	121	10	318	5	0	28	1137	118	3.32	1.335	7.9	0.9	4.1	10.9	2.63
OAK (2 yrs)				6	5	.545	4.57	90	0	21	0	0	3	86.2	92	46	44	9	47	1	81	5	0	5	398	91	4.43	1.604	9.6	0.9	4.9	8.4	1.72
COL (1 yr)				4	5	.444	4.20	60	0	43	0	0	25	55.2	56	27	26	4	32	4	62	0	0	1	250	110	3.57	1.581	9.1	0.6	5.2	10.0	1.94
PIT (1 yr)				0	1	.000	4.09	13	0	4	0	0	0	11.0	9	5	5	0	6	0	12	1	0	1	47	91	2.86	1.364	7.4	0.0	4.9	9.8	2.00
STL (1 yr)				1	0	1.000	1.74	13	0	3	0	0	0	10.1	11	3	2	0	3	0	11	1	0	0	44	223	2.08	1.355	9.6	0.0	2.6	9.6	3.67
LAD (1 yr)				0	0		17.18	5	0	1	0	0	0	3.2	8	8	7	0	2	0	4	1	0	0	22	25	3.43	2.727	19.6	0.0	4.9	9.8	2.00
CLE (1 yr)				2	3	.400	3.92	49	0	24	0	0	10	43.2	34	21	19	6	30	3	51	1	0	4	196	100	4.71	1.466	7.0	1.2	6.2	10.5	1.70
TOR (1 yr)				4	1	.800	4.41	45	1	11	0	0	0	51.0	44	27	25	6	20	1	50	2	0	6	211	97	4.02	1.255	7.8	1.1	3.5	8.8	2.50

NL (9 yrs)				26	25	.510	3.66	360	0	230	0	0	131	344.1	315	155	140	29	164	14	407	8	0	30	1500	112	3.31	1.391	8.2	0.8	4.3	10.6	2.48
AL (4 yrs)				12	9	.571	4.37	184	1	56	0	0	13	181.1	170	94	88	21	97	5	182	8	0	15	805	94	4.38	1.472	8.4	1.0	4.8	9.0	1.88

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 11/14/2024.

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