One of the most successful pitchers of the last 15 years is about to call it quits.
After rumors had circulated that Cliff Lee was seeking a one-year deal to try to pitch for the first time since July 2014, Lee’s agent Darek Braunecker told FOX Sports on Tuesday that his career is likely over.
Sounds like Cliff Lee’s career is over. His agent, Darek Braunecker, told me, “We don’t anticipate him playing at this point.”
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) February 23, 2016
Lee’s career started in historic fashion before he ever set foot on a major league field. He was part of one of the worst trades in MLB history, when the Montreal Expos traded him, Brandon Phillips and Grady Sizemore to the Cleveland Indians for Bartolo Colon. Lee consistently achieved fourteen wins and 200 innings during his first three full seasons, but his 2008 season put him in the class of elite pitchers.
He was awarded the American League Cy Young Award in 2008, going 22-3 with a 2.54 ERA and 170 strikeouts in 223.1 innings pitched. For the next five seasons after that, he was one of the most durable left-handed pitchers in all of baseball. From 2008 to 2013, he was second only to Clayton Kershaw in ERA (2.89) among starters, while throwing 25 complete games and 10 shutouts, averaging 222 innings pitched per season.
Lee appeared in two World Series, in 2009 with the Philadelphia Phillies and 2010 with the Texas Rangers, and produced 82 career innings in the postseason, generating a 7-3 record with a 2.52 ERA in seven career playoff series.
Lee finishes his 13-year career with 143 wins and 91 losses, and a 3.52 ERA in 328 appearances.
Main Photo Credit:
Main Photo Caption: PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 26: Starting Pitcher Cliff Lee #33 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch during the game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park on July 26, 2014 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Diamondbacks won 10-6 in the tenth inning. (Photo by Brian Garfinkel/Getty Images)
