John Hudgins

John Michael Hudgins

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 195 lb.
• School Stanford University
• High School Mission Viejo High School

• Born August 31, 1981 in Oklahoma City, OK USA

BR minors page

Biographical information

John Hudgins was a minor league pitcher who is most notable for winning the 2003 College World Series Most Outstanding Player award while a junior at Stanford University. He is one of three players from Stanford University to win the award. The other two are Lee Plemel and Paul Carey.

In 2001 with Stanford, he went 1-5 with a 4.30 ERA. In 2002, he went 10-1 with a 4.71 ERA, and in 2003 he went 14-3 with a 2.99 ERA. He led the Pacific-10 Conference in wins and strikeouts (143) and ranked third in ERA. He tied for third in NCAA Division I in wins, tied for 4th in complete games (8) and was 8th in strikeouts, right between Jered Weaver and Justin Verlander. He was used extensively, throwing 165 innings, 28 more than runner-up Jeff Niemann. In the 2003 College World Series, he won 3 games to tie the College World Series record. He threw 350 pitches in a 10-day period during the Series, earning manager Mark Marquess significant criticism for potential arm abuse.

Hudgins was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 20th round of the 2000 amateur draft, however he didn't sign. In 2003, he was drafted in the third round by the Texas Rangers. He was signed by scout Tim Fortugno, and began his professional career that year.

Playing for the Clinton LumberKings, he played in a single game in his debut professional season, striking out four batters in two innings. His professional career got rolling in 2004, as he split the season between the Stockton Ports, Oklahoma RedHawks and Frisco RoughRiders. He appeared in 30 total games, starting 25 of them and going 8-5 with a 3.14 ERA. He led Rangers farmhands in strikeouts (145) and was second in ERA behind Jason Andrew. The following year, he played for the RedHawks and RoughRiders, going a combined 4-9 in 22 games (21 starts). His ERA jumped to 5.70. He was ranked the #6 prospect in the Rangers system going into 2006 by Baseball America. He began the 2006 season in the Rangers organization, playing for the RedHawks. However, he was traded with minor leaguer Vince Sinisi to the San Diego Padres for Freddy Guzman and minor leaguer Cesar Rojas on May 11. In his new organization, he played for the Portland Beavers and Mobile Bay Bears. He went a combined 6-5 with a 3.64 ERA in 2006. He missed part of the year with a right elbow injury. He played for the Peoria Saguaros of the Arizona Fall League in 2007 after having missed the entire regular season due to continued elbow problems. In 2008 he played for the AZL Padres, going 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two games while on a rehab stint. He last played in 2009, going 1-3 with a 4.33 ERA in 39 games (1 start) split between the San Antonio Missions and Portland Beavers.

He was 19-23 with a 4.16 ERA in 112 career games (60 starts).

References

• The Baseball Cube
• SABR
• 2008 Padres Media Guide
• 2004-2005 Baseball Almanacs