Eric Stults

Eric William Stults

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 0", Weight 215 lb.
• School Bethel College
• High School Argos High School
• Debut September 5, 2006
• Final Game May 26, 2015
• Born December 9, 1979 in Plymouth, IN USA

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Biographical Information

Eric Stults made his first major league start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 10, 2006. He was pitching in place of Mark Hendrickson who was moved to the relief staff while "working on his mechanics". Stults, who had pitched previously in relief in one game, went 6 innings in his start and gave up 1 earned run. He had gone 10-11 with a 4.23 ERA at Las Vegas that season.

Stults was a 15th round pick by the Dodgers in 2002. In four minor league seasons prior to 2006, he had amassed a record of 17-19 with an ERA of 4.35, although his career ERA would be much lower if not for the 78 innings he pitched for Las Vegas in 2005 with an ERA of 6.58. He improved on that in 2006, which got him the chance with the Dodgers.

He and fellow Dodger pitcher Hong-Chih Kuo had spent much time together in the past while they both recovered from the same type of surgery. In four seasons with Los Angeles from 2006 to 2009, he never managed to hold a regular job, as the most games he pitched were 12 in 2007, while his 50 innings in 2009 were the most he had in any major league season during that stint. In the equivalent of a full season of pitching, he was 8-10, 4.84 over that four-year span and also pitched in the minor leagues each of those four years.

Stults signed with the Hiroshima Carp early in the 2010 season to help out when Kan Otake was hurt. He debuted on April 3rd, allowing one 9th inning run in a 6-5 loss to the Yomiuri Giants. He went 6-10, 5.07 in 21 starts for Hiroshima, pitching 124 1/3 innings.

He returned to the States in 2011, pitching 6 times for the Colorado Rockies and 52 times, all in relief, with the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox. After a couple of games for the Chicago White Sox at the start of 2012, then was claimed off waivers by the San Diego Padres on May 17th. That turned out to be the break that Eric needed, as he then went 8-3, 2.92 in 18 games for the Padres, making 14 starts and pitching 92 1/3 innings. He was back in the Padres' starting rotation in 2013 and continued to pitch well. On June 14th, he recorded his first complete game since 2009 with a superb two-hitter over the Arizona Diamondbacks, which he won, 2-1, improving to 6-5, 3.28 on the year. he had his best season that year, ending up with a record of 11-13, 3.93 and logging a personal best 203 2/3 innings. 2014 was not as successful, as his record fell back to 8-17, his ERA rose to 4.30, and he only pitched 176 innings in only one less start than in 2013.

Stults signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves before the 2015 season, to become part of a re-shaped starting rotation. He made appearances with the Braves, including 8 starts, but the results were disappointing, as he ended up with a record of 1-5 and a 5.85 ERA. On May 27th, he was traded to the Dodgers, his original team, alongside IF Alberto Callaspo and Ps Juan Jaime and Ian Thomas in return for 3B Juan Uribe and P Chris Withrow.

Notable Achievements

• 200 Innings Pitched Seasons: 1 (2013)

Related Sites

• Eric Stults on mlb.com