The story of MLB pitcher Jeff Juden
Jeff Juden was a Major League switch hitting pitcher from 1991–1999. Jeff went to Salem High school in Salem, Massachusetts. He was a standout pitcher in high school, after games kids on the opposing team would line up for his autograph; he also had high attention from scouts. In 1989 he was drafted 12th overall, right out of high school by the Houston Astros. After spending one year in the minor leagues Jeff made his Major League debut on September 15th, 1991 in Cincinnati. Jeff would spend more time here and there in the minors throughout his baseball career; he was 64–48 in the minors. In Jeff’s first season he played four games, and started in three of them. He was 20 years old, at the time he was the youngest player to make their MLB debut. His stats didn't jump off the page, however he only pitched 18 innings. After his first year he spent the next year in the minor leagues and was then traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. Jeff came back in 1993 and started most games but came out of the bullpen for a couple. In 1996 he was traded to the San Francisco Giants. The Giants used him as a bullpen arm, Jeff threw decent that year coming out of the pen in 22 games with a 4.10 ERA. However, what I believe to be somewhat of a turning point in his career was when the Giants released him and the Montreal Expos claimed him off waivers. With the Expos Jeff came out of the bullpen in 22 games and had a 2.20 ERA. After doing well in the pen, his next season with the Expos in 1997 Jeff was in the starting rotation. Although his ERA was 4.22 in 22 starts, Jeff finished the year with a record of 11–5. That same year Jeff had one of his most memorable moments; on Canada day the Montreal Expos and the Toronto Blue Jays battled it out. What made this day one to remember for Jeff was that he was going up against one of his childhood heroes, Rodger Clemens. This game was a wild pitchers duel. Jeff won the game 2–1 and took a no hitter into the 7th inning. This game is a cool game to see if your interested I will link the game on Youtube at the end of this writing piece. Jeff was traded to Cleveland toward the final stretch of the 97' season. Cleveland went to the postseason and eventually the World Series. This was the only time in his career that Jeff pitched in the Postseason, unfortunately for Cleveland that was the year along with 2003 when the Florida Marlins won the wild card game and went on to win the World Series. In the offseason Jeff was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers. He started 24 games for them, Jeff's stats were not anything spectacular in this year and the Brewers released him. He was then selected off waivers by the Anaheim Angels. Jeff had a below average season with them resulting in them releasing him. To finish off his baseball career, the New York Yankees signed him. Jeff only pitched 5.2 innings with them and that was the last of Jeff Juden’s baseball career. Jeff’s career stats: -.04 WAR, W:27-L:32, ERA: 4.81, IP:533, SO:441. After his baseball career Jeff became an executive at Stars and Stripes sports. Stars and Stripes is a baseball academy where younger folks can develop baseball skills. Jeff also made some music after his baseball career. I was able to find one of his albums on Spotify titled “Anything You Wanna Be” he recorded this album in 2002 and publicly released it in 2012. https://open.spotify.com/artist/3xbQxZ6nWBcD7TpJypdZdO?si=M48Lq5e7TXKKONg83K9EMQ
You can check it out on Spotify there ^^
Jeff Juden was a highly regarded prospect, his career performance wasn't anything spectacular but he still had a solid 8 year run in the Major Leagues. If you are interested in more about Jeff, here is an interview done by Tony Reid.
Canada Day: Jeff Juden vs. Rodger Clemens
Every other Wednesday I will be posting a random former MLB player story. I have a collection of cards and will be randomly picking a card and whichever player I pick I will write about no matter how good or bad they were in their career. Jeff Juden was the first card I picked out and it was very interesting to learn about him on and off the field.
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