Will Cunnane was a National League pitcher from 1997 to
2003, mostly in relief. He was born and grew up in Rockland County, New York,
graduating from high school in 1992. He was not drafted by the pros but was
signed as a free agent by the Marlins in August. He had his best professional
season in 1994 with the Kane County Cougars of the Class A Midwest League, with
a 1.43 ERA in 139 innings, splitting time between starting and relieving. After
two years as a starter in Class AA, he was taken by the Padres in the Rule 5 draft
and spent the 1997 season in the majors with them. He made eight starts in 54
appearances, both of which would be career highs, and in his first major league
start, on May 30, he got the win, giving up three hits in six innings and
driving in three runs (of his career total of four) with a triple and a single.
Will finished the ’97 season, though, with a 5.81 ERA, and
began 1998 in AAA, where his ERA was 5.25, all in relief, but he did get called
up to the Padres for a week at the end of June. In AAA in 1999 he had an ERA of
0.98, earning him about two and a half months back with San Diego, where he
again was over 5.00. But he began the 2000 season with the big club and had his
best ML ERA so far with 4.23, yet got sent back down for the middle part of the
year and did a decent job as a starter. After the season he was traded to the
Brewers, where he had a 5.40 ERA in 2001 before being sent down to their AAA
team in late July. After the season the Brewers released him and the Cubs
picked him up, and he pitched very well in relief for their AAA club in 2002
before being called up in August and earning a 5.47 ERA with the Cubs. The Cubs
released him in December, then re-signed him in January and released him again
in May, despite his excellent start to the 2003 season in AAA. But Will still
had more lives, and the Braves signed him at the beginning of July, sent him
back to AAA, and, after he pitched 21 innings in 15 appearances without
allowing an earned run, called him up to Atlanta in August. This was probably
the career highlight for him, as he pitched well and earned his only three
major league saves in early September, filling in as the closer for an injured
John Smoltz as the Braves won their division with 101 victories—but lost in the
Divisional Series to the Cubs.
In 2004, though, Will got off to a bad start (7.30 ERA) and
was sent back to AAA in early May; this would be the end of his major league
career. He didn’t do too well there either, and was released by the Braves at
the end of the season, then was signed once again by the Cubs before 2005. The
Cubs released him in June with a 6.32 ERA, but a week later the Astros picked
him up, and he pitched well for their AAA team the rest of the season (3.45
ERA). Still, the Astros released him after the season and when no other major
league teams gave him a call he signed with the Bridgeport Bluefish of the
independent Atlantic League. After he started two games and won them both the
St. Louis Cardinals bought his contract from Bridgeport and sent him to their
AAA affiliate, but he pitched poorly there and was released in late June. He
did not pitch professionally the rest of the season or in 2007, but 2008 found
him back in the Atlantic League, with the Newark Bears, where he had a 5.82 ERA
in seven games. In 2009 he was again out of professional baseball, then in 2010
was back with the Bears, and pitched well for them in twelve relief
appearances. In 2011 he was back with the Bluefish and pitched very well for
them, a 2.82 ERA in 28 relief appearances, but that was the end of his career.
No comments:
Post a Comment