New Padres pitcher – Who is Jon Garland?

Photo from tedkerwin via Flickr

Sage sports pundits know who Jon Garland is, but for us primarily local fanatics, we want to know, Who IS Jon Garland?

I say he’s the trade for Jake Peavy that makes trading Jake Peavy,  jake.  Garland is a work horse who will throw the ball during any given season without sitting on the bench due to injures.  He was a White Sox pitcher from the start and during the ’05 and ’06 seasons, he won 18 games each of those years.

Given Garland’s relative youth (he’s 31 years old), the Padres may receive years of service for our new pitcher.  Petco and Garland match up quite well.  Garland serves up a ball that seems hitable but tends to fly high and get caught.  With Petco’s dimensions, and outfield speed, we should see many popups gloved successfully this coming season.

So what are some of the accolades of this fine baseball property?  He was the White Sox Allstar pitcher of 2005 and  Most Valuable Pitcher of 2000. From the year 2002, Garland has pitched in at least 32 games per year (representing little time nursing injuries).  His ERA has ranked him in the top 25 best pitchers for five of the past nine years.

Garland graduated from high school in Granada Hills in Southern CA and was two time all state Player of the Year.  He was a high shool All American.  The Chicago Cubs drafted Garland as their number one pick but opened the season with the White Sox.  He worked in Chicago until 2008 when he tossed the ball for the Dodgers.  He spent a little time with Arizona.

Jon Garland, welcome to San Diego.  I’m looking forward to this coming season.