Your not-so-typical posisition switch...

So, I was reading the recent posts over at A Pack to be Named Later and was scrolling through a post about a busted pack of 2004 UD SPx, and the writer mentioned how astounded he was of a certain players statistical history he saw on baseball-reference.com.

The players name is Jerry Gil, a former shortstop/utility everyman who is now a pitcher within the Cleveland Indians minor league system. This guy toiled in the minor leagues for the past 13 Seasons, only playing briefly in the majors in 2004 with Arizona and 2007 with the Reds. Now, keep in mind we're talking about a player who once hit 27 HR and 89 RBI in 2006 between AA-AAA. In 2007 he missed the entire season after having elbow ligament surgery.

Then in 2008, it all hit the metaphorical fan as his batting average dipped below the ever so popular Mendoza Line. Notably, Gil had a strong arm who could still peak 95 mph as a posistion player. Naturally, the Reds had the brilliant idea of converting a player coming off of elbow surgery into a starting pitcher. They just threw caution (and the kids elbow) to the wind. Hey, he was still young, right? Only 27 years old?

Well now he's turning 31, and although it wouldn't call it a career resurrection,  he has put up some respectable numbers as a pitcher. Last year in the Blue Jays orginization at the Triple A level, he went 7-1 with a 4.92 ERA and 7.2 K/9 Innings. The year before that he was 5-6, but had a 3.59 ERA and 8.3 K/9 Innings. For a former posistion player, let alone one 3-4 years removed from major elbow surgery, to put up those kinds of numbers at any point in their career deserves a tip of the hat. This past offseason, he was signed to a minor league deal by the Cleveland Indians. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of his career plays out, to say the least.

Scan c/o APTBNL

Stats c/o baseball-reference.com, other info c/o Wikipedia, & the inspiration for the post c/o the good people over @ APTBNL.