O a M G - Oakland Athletics

GranT balfour 50
RiGHT-HAnDED PiTCHER
Height/Weight: 6-2 / 195 Bats/Throws: Right / Right
Birthdate: December 30, 1977 Opening Day Age: 33
Birthplace/Resides: Sydney, Australia / Clearwater, Florida
Major League Service: 6 years, 99 days
Obtained: Signed as a free agent, January 18, 2011
Contract Status: First year of a two-year contract through 2012 with a
club option for 2013.
CAREER HiGHLiGHTS
Has spent parts of seven seasons in the majors with three different teams
and has a 3.81 ERA and .222 opponents batting average in 261 career appearances,
all but one in relief…posted a 5.44 ERA and .261 opponents
batting average in 80 games over his first four seasons but has compiled
a 2.98 ERA (60 er in 181.0 ip) and .201 (130 for 646) opponents batting
average over his last three campaigns…has 311 career strikeouts, which
are the most in Major League history by a pitcher born in Australia…
also ranks third in games (261) and wins (19) among his countrymen…
led all ML relievers in strikeouts per nine innings (12.65) in 2008 and
topped American League relievers in opponents batting average (.143)…
missed the entire 2005 season after undergoing “Tommy John” surgery…
pitched for the World team in the 2001 All-Star Futures Game…pitched
for Australia in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
2010 HiGHLiGHTS
Made 57 relief appearances, despite spending the month of August on
the disabled list…compiled a 2.28 ERA, which ranked eighth among
American League relievers…allowed a .216 opponents batting average,
including .174 (19 for 109) against right-handed hitters and .267 (24 for
90) against left-handers…opponents hit .161 with runners in scoring
position, including .074 with RISP and two outs…now has a .155 (22 for
142) opponents average with RISP and two outs in his career…struck out
56 batters in 55.1 innings and walked just 17 for a strikeout-to-walk ratio
of 3.29…now has 311 career strikeouts in 273.2 innings, an average of
10.23 per nine innings…compiled a 1.04 ERA and .179 opponents batting average in eight interleague
appearances…is 4-0 with a 0.55 ERA (2 er in 32.2 ip) and .148 (16 for 108) opponents average in 27
career interleague games…did not allow a run in 13 outings on no days rest (10.1 ip)…allowed 8 of 31
(25.8%) inherited runners to score and first batters faced were 11 for 53 (.208) with four walks…has a
.186 (42 for 226) batting average against first batters faced in his career…that is the sixth best mark in
the majors since he made his debut in 2001 (min. 250 BFP)…posted a 1.08 ERA in the seventh inning
with a .157 opponents batting average…did not allow a run in the seventh inning until Sept. 6 at Boston
after 19.2 scoreless frames to begin the year…did not commit an error in four chances and has not made
an error in 261 career games (31 chances).
TAMPA BAY: Was on his second career Opening Day roster (also 2009)…allowed a run on two hits
in 2.0 innings in his first outing April 8 against Baltimore for his only blown save of the season…was
tagged with his only loss May 10 at Los Angeles (AL) when he allowed a run in the bottom of the 11th
inning in a 5-4 Rays loss…picked up his first win June 1 at Toronto by tossing 1.1 scoreless innings…
struck out a season-high four batters in 2.0 scoreless innings June 6 against Texas…the innings pitched
matched his season high (six times)…posted a 0.82 ERA in the month of June, his lowest single-month
mark in 2010…retired the only batter he faced July 1 at Minnesota to drop his ERA to a season-low
1.62…then allowed two runs on two hits without retiring a batter July 3 at Minnesota…it was one of
just two outings in which he allowed more than one run…had a 2.08 ERA in 44 outings when he was
placed on the 15-day disabled list July 31 retroactive to July 30 with an intercostal strain…had a two-
44 > 2011 Oakland athletics Media Guide
all-Time
ausTralian
born leaders
Games pitched
568 Graeme Lloyd
274 Peter Moylan
261 Grant Balfour
115 Ryan Rowland-Smith
84 Mark Hutton
strikeouts
311 Grant Balfour
304 Graeme Lloyd
220 Ryan Rowland-Smith
204 Damian Moss
195 Peter Moylan
Wins
30 Graeme Lloyd
22 Damian Moss
19 Grant Balfour
17 Peter Moylan
12 Ryan Rowland-Smith