WESTBROOK, JAKE  
 
Image of JAKE   Nickname:   JAKE Position:   P
Home: Danielsville, Georgia Team:   Retired
Height: 6' 3" Bats:   R
Weight: 215 Throws:   R
DOB: 9/29/1977 Agent: Michael Maas-Ron Shapiro
Birth City: Athens, Georgia Draft: Rockies #1 - 1996 - Out of Madison Co. H.S. (Ga.)
Uniform #: N/A  
 
YR LEA TEAM SAL(K) G IP H SO BB GS CG SHO SV W L OBA ERA
1996 NWL PORTLAND   4 25 22 19 5 4 0 0 0 1 1   2.55
1996 AZL Rockies   11 63 66 57 14 11 0 0 0 4 2   2.87
1997 SAL ASHEVILLE   28 170 176 92 55 27 3   0 14 11   4.29
1998 FSL JUPITER   27 171 169 79 60 27 2   0 11 6   3.26
1999 EL HARRISBURG   27 175 180 90 63 27 2   0 11 5   3.92
2000 IL COLUMBUS-BUFFL                            
2000 AL YANKEES $200.00 3 6.2 15 1 4 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.469 13.50
2001 AL INDIANS $200.00 23 64.2 79 48 22 6 0 0 0 4 4 0.306 5.85
2001 IL BUFFALO   12 65 60 45 23 12 0 0 0 8 1   3.20
2002 IL BUFFALO   1 6 8 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0   6.00
2002 EL AKRON   3 15 13 8 1 3 0 0 0 0 1   4.80
2002 AL INDIANS $217.00 11 41.2 50 20 12 4 0 0 0 1 3 0.296 5.83
2003 AL INDIANS $306.00 34 133 142 58 56 22 1 0 0 7 10 0.281 4.33
2004 AL INDIANS $925.00 33 215.2 208 116 61 30 5 1 0 14 9 0.255 3.38
2005 AL INDIANS $2,900.00 34 210.2 218 119 56 34 2 0 0 15 15 0.265 4.49
2006 AL INDIANS $4,250.00 32 211.1 247 109 55 32 3 2 0 15 10 0.296 4.17
2007 AL INDIANS $6,100.00 25 152 159 93 55 25 0 0 0 6 9 0.276 4.32
2008 AL INDIANS $10,000.00 5 34.2 33 19 7 5 1 0 0 1 2 0.256 3.12
2008 EL AKRON   1 6 3 2 4 1 0 0 0 0 0   0.00
2008 SAL LAKE COUNTY   1 3.2 3 4 1 1 0 0 0 0 0   2.45
2009 EL AKRON   3 9 8 6 1 3 0 0 0 0 1   2.00
2010 NL CARDINALS   12 75 70 55 24 12 0 0 0 4 4 0.242 3.48
2010 NL INDIANS   21 127.2 133 73 44 21 1 0 0 6 7 0.273 4.65
2011 NL CARDINALS $8,000.00 33 183.1 208 104 73 33 0 0 0 12 9 0.29 4.66
2012 NL CARDINALS $8,500.00 28 174.2 191 106 52 28 1 0 0 13 11 0.282 3.97
2013 NL CARDINALS $8,750.00 21 116.2 132 44 50 19 1 1 0 7 8 0.293 4.63
2013 MWL PEORIA   1 7 4 5 0 1 0 0 0 1 0   1.29
2013 TL SPRINGFIELD   1 3.2 6 5 0 1 0 0 0 0 0   2.45

  • Jake's father, Cauthen, played baseball and basketball at the University of Georgia.

    Jake played both sports in high school, averaging over 15 points a game his senior year in basketball. Westbrook attended Madison County High School. He tossed 5 no-hitters and one perfect game in his high school career.

  • Jake is a good ol', all-American boy from Georgia.

  • Growing up, he practiced on the pitching mound that was built in his own backyard. The rubber is exactly 60 feet, six inches from home plate. And he studied the Braves' Greg Maddux.

    "I grew up watching Greg Maddux,'' Westbrook said. "He is unbelievable to watch, very efficient. He'll throw 85 pitches in nine innings. You don't have to throw hard. Charlie Nagy was another guy. It was always fun to watch him pitch. I never met Maddux, but I used to talk Charlie's ear off and pick his brain.''

  • Jake, basically, is a quiet guy. In a profession where big egos are the norm and self-promotion is elevated to an art form, Westbrook tends to fade into the background. The only thing that separates him from the masses is his right arm.

    BETWEEN STARTS

  • Westbrook has developed his own routine between starts. Almost all pitchers throw a bullpen session between starts. Some throw two. Westbrook doesn't go near the mound.

    In doing so, he has created a riddle: He's a sinkerball pitcher—his groundball-to-flyball ratio was the second best in the American League one year—who gets better the longer he pitches because his arm gets tired and the ball sinks more. But he doesn't like to throw between starts, because it takes too much out of his arm.

    "I felt I was more effective on the day I pitched if I didn't throw a bullpen session," Westbrook says. "When I threw a bullpen session, I felt I was tearing down my arm."

    He confines his throwing between starts to games of catch and long toss, a routine he started in 2004 and continued in 2005.

    "The stronger I feel between starts, the more I'm able to command the ball," he said.  (Paul Hoynes-Cleveland Plain Dealer-5/4/05)

  • Jake and his wife, Heather, wecomed their son, Jacob Parker, into the world on September 27, 2005. And on November 15, 2007, Heather gave birth to their second son, Keaton Daniel.

    On September 9, 2010, Heather gave birth to Harper Tennille, their first daughter.

    And on October 11, 2012, Heather delivered their fourth child, son Paxton Hall. Jake was back home in Georgia for the birth.


    TRANSACTIONS

  • June 1996: The Rockies chose Jake in the first round, out of high school in Georgia.

  • November 18, 1997: The Expos sent 2B Mike Lansing to the Rockies for Jake, P John Nicholson and OF Mark Hamlin.

  • December 22, 1999: The Yankees sent P Hideki Irabu to the Expos to acquire Jacob, pitcher Christian Parker and P Ted Lilly.

  • July 2000: The Indians sent OF David Justice to the Yankees to get OF Ricky Ledee, Westbrook, and P Zach Day.

  • January 24, 2005: Jake signed a two-year, $7.5 million contract with the Indians, avoiding salary arbitration. Westbrook was paid $2.9 million for 2005, and $4.25 million in 2006. The club option is for $5.6 million, with a $350,000 buyout.

  • April 13, 2007: The Indians and Westbrook agreed to a three-year contract extension that takes him through the 2010 season in Cleveland.

  • July 31, 2010: Jake was the key to a three-team trade in which the Indians traded Westbrook and cash to St. Louis for San Diego RHP Corey Kluber. St. Louis sent OF Ryan Ludwick to San Diego for LHP Nick Greenwood.

  • November 16, 2010: The Cardinals and Westbrook agreed to a two-year deal that's worth a guaranteed $16.5 million and includes a mutual option for 2013 and a full no-trade clause.

  • August 21, 2012: Jake and the Cardinals agreed on a one-year, $8.75 million extension for 2013, with a $9.5 mutual option for 2014 and a $1 milliion buyout.

  • October 31, 2013:  Jake became a free agent when the Cards declined their 2014 mutual option on him. That option would have paid Westbrook $9.5 million next season. Instead, the Cards will cover the $1 million buyout and allow Westbrook to enter free agency.
PERSONAL:
 

  • Jake has a limber body and a loose, projectable arm. He has two quality pitches: a moving, sinking, two-seam, 89-92 mph FASTBALL, a good, downward-breaking CURVEBALL that is still a work in progress.

    He has a fair SLIDER that is just a complimentary pitch. He has a decent CHANGEUP. He is working on adding a SPLIT-FINGER pitch. But a CUTTER that he added in 2003 really improved in 2004. "That was the first year I really had good control of it. It was especially effective against lefthanded batters," Westbrook said.

  • In high school, Westbrook had six no-hitters in his last two seasons at Madison County High in Danielsville, Georgia. In 1996, he went 9-1 with a 1.11 ERA and 110 strikeouts and 17 walks in 63 innings.

  • In 1997, he tied for first in the South Atlantic League in wins with 14.

    NOT OVERPOWERING

  • Westbrook does not dominate hitters because none of his pitches is really overpowering. He really doesn't have a true out pitch. "I'm a groundball pitcher. I can't get away from that. For me to think I can throw it past guys is ridiculous.''

    Westbrook gets 15–18 groundballs a game when he gets his two-seamer low in the zone.

  • He throws his off-speed stuff when behind in the count. His command is excellent and he knows how to mix his pitches up quite effectively.

  • He is at his best when he is not trying to be so perfect with his pitches. But he is maturing, is intelligent and has a real presence on the mound. He has an easy, clean delivery.

  • Jake always seems to pitch better in the second half of a season.

  • Westbrook said that in addition to better control of his cut fastball, the other thing that enabled him to have such a good 2004 season was. "I learned to pitch with a faster rhythm. I think it helps keep the hitters off-balance. There were times when they called timeouts, but the umps would tell them to jump back into the box."
  • May 2, 2013: Jake recorded his 100th career victory.


  • Westbrook's career record entering the 2013 season: 98-95 with a 4.30 ERA. He had allowed 141 home runs and 1,753 hits in 1,631 innings.
PITCHING:
 

  • Jake doesn't hold runners on base real well. He is relatively easy to steal a base on.

    In 2007, runners were successful in 14 of 21 tries against him

  • Westbrook helps himself defensively.

    In 2007, among Indians pitchers, he had the most total chances (48) without making an error.
FIELDING:
 

  • July 2000: Westbrook went on the D.L. with what was first diagnosed as a strained right oblique muscle late in July. But it turned out to be a stress fracture in his rib cage.

  • February-July 11, 2002: Jake had surgery on his right elbow to remove bone spurs and repair damage to his ulnar nerve. And he was on the D.L. for the first half of the season.

  • August 26, 2002: Westbrook went on the D.L., suffering from inflammation in his right elbow. It was a deep bruise, ending his season.

  • May 3-June 24, 2007: Jake was on the D.L. with a strained left abdominal muscle.

  • April 20-May 28, 2008: Westbrook was on the D.L. with a left intercostal strain. He strained the muscle below the last rib on the left side of his lower back while pitching vs. the Twins. He was expected to miss a month, or more.

    It was the second straight season Jake suffered a core muscle injury. He missed nearly two months of the 2008 season with a strained left oblique. Westbrook's oblique injury was located in the front of his abdomen.

    Jake received a cortisone shot in his back on April 25.

  • Westbrook went on the D.L. again after only one game. This time, he went on May 29, 2008 with right elbow inflammation. And a week later, it was decided surgery on his right elbow was required. Ligament reconstruction was done on June 12. Jake's season was over.

    It was not officially Tommy John surgery, but to people on the street that's what it was. A ligament was taken out of Westbrook's wrist and placed in the elbow to repair the damaged one.

  • 2009: Jake began the season on the D.L. while recovering from the Tommy John surgery. He returned to action late in June.

    But Westbrook had to go back on the D.L. In mid-August. Dr. Lewis Yocum recommended a six-week shutdown, followed by a throwing program. Dr. Yocum determined that the ligament was intact, and that the integrity of it was not compromised. But the source of the symptoms was most likely a combination of scar tissue as a result of the Tommy John surgery in June 2008, and some flexor tendinitis.

  • October 2010: Westbrook had surgery on his left shoulder to repair a small tear in his labrum.

    Jake said he was hurt on a swing and miss against the Marlins' Josh Johnson. The rest of the season he said the shoulder hurt only when he was swinging a bat.

  • September 22, 2012: Jake suffered a strained right oblique muscle while warming up. He first strained it near the end of a start against the Brewers on September 8. His recovery seemed quick, so much so that warming up on September 22 was supposed to be Westbrook's last hurdle before returning to the rotation.

    It turns out that the righthander hadn't fully healed. He will be sidelined for the rest of the 2012 season.

  • May 12-June 14, 2013: After pitching through a lot of elbow pain since spring training, Westbrook finally went on the D.L. with inflammation in the area.

    August 22-September 6, 2013: Jake was on the D.L. with a lower back strain.

CAREER INJURY REPORT:
 
 
Last Updated 5/9/2019 6:47:00 PM. All contents © 2000 by Player Profiles. All rights reserved.