Mike Pelfrey

Michael Alan Pelfrey was born on January 14, 1984 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

The New York Mets selected him with the ninth overall pick out of Wichita State in 2005. Pelfrey was given a $3.5 million signing bonus. He was added to the 40-man roster and signed a four year, $5.3 million contract during the off-season.

Pelfrey pitched in four big league games as a rookie in 2006, going 2-1 with a 5.48 ERA. He also had a 2.83 ERA in 18 minor league starts that season. Pelfrey began 2007 in the Mets rotation, but was optioned to the minors after starting the year 0-5 with a 6.53 ERA through six starts. New York re-called him in the second half, and he won three of his four starts in September. His strong finish couldn't help the Mets avoid a historic second half collapse. They missed the playoffs despite leading the NL East by seven games on September 12th.

He became a regular in the Mets rotation for good starting in 2008, going 45-45 with a 4.27 ERA over 129 starts between 2008 and 2011. Pelfrey started the first regular season game in Citi Field history, allowing a home run to the game's first batter; Joey Gerut of the San Diego Padres. He took a no decision in the Mets loss that night. Pelfrey led the Mets with 15 wins in 2010, pitching in a rotation that featured two Cy Young winners; Johan Santana (2.98 ERA in 29 starts) and R.A. Dickey (2.84 ERA in 26 starts). They each won 11 games, but both sported a better ERA than Pelfrey's 3.66 clip.

The 6'7" righty looked better than ever at the start of 2012, pitching to a 2.29 ERA in his first three starts that season. That third start was an eight inning, one run gem against the San Francisco Giants. However, it was also his final start of the season. Pelfrey was set to go out for the ninth inning that night, but felt started to feel some elbow tightness while warming up for the final frame. An MRI revealed that he needed Tommy John surgery, and his season was over. It also ended his tenure with the Mets.

Pelfrey signed a one year, $4 million deal with the Minnesota Twins ahead of the 2013 season. He was elbow was progressing well in rehab, and he was on their Opening Day roster. Pelfrey looked more than healthy in his Twins debut, allowing just two unearned runs in a win over the Detroit Tigers. Things quickly fell off the rails, and his ERA ballooned up to 6.11 by the end of June. There was a bit of a recovery in July and August when Pelfrey had a 3.35 ERA across 11 starts, but September was another rough month. He finished the 2013 season with a 5.19 ERA in 29 starts.

Despite his rough season, Minnesota re-signed Pelfrey to a very incentive laden two year deal. His 2014 season ended after just five starts due to goin and shoulder injuries.

First year manager Paul Molitor announced that Pelfrey would be moving to the bullpen ahead of the 2015 campaign, but he placed in the Opening Day rotation after Ervin Santana got suspended 80-games for the use of performance enhancing drugs. Pelfrey was hit rather hard in his first start of the year, allowing four runs over five innings. But then he unleashed arguably the most dominate stretch of his career. The veteran sinkerballer pitched to a 1.89 ERA over his next ten starts, and was giving the Twins some serious length too. Pelfrey completed seven or more innings in six of those team starts. Minnesota went 8-2 in those games, with the offense proving a total of one run between the two losses. Not much a starting pitcher can do to fix that. 

He came out of that ten game stretch by allowing eight runs in 3.2 innings against the Texas Rangers on June 13th, but followed it up with eight innings of one run ball against the St. Louis Cardinals in his next start. Pelfrey allowed eight runs again on June 28th against the Cincinnati Reds. He finished the season with a 4.26 ERA in 29 starts. If you remove those two eight run disasters, it comes out to a 3.51 ERA over 27 starts.

His revival season in 2015 helped earn a two year, $16 million deal with the Detroit Tigers in free agency. Pelfrey had made only $15 million across three seasons in Minnesota. Now he was set to make more money in less years with a new team. A back injury limited him to just 22 starts in 2016, and Pelfrey wasn't that effective when on the mound. He went 4-10 with a 5.07 ERA that season. Detroit released him after the season, eating the $8 million he was due in 2017.

The Chicago White Sox signed Pelfrey to a minor league deal for the 2017 season, activating him in late April. He was 3-12 with a 5.93 ERA for the White Sox that season, making 21 starts and 13 relief appearances.

Pelfrey retired after the 2017 season, and accepted a coaching position at Newman University in Kansas. He then became the pitching coach at Wichita State in 2019, holding the position through 2023.

• Wichita State Hall of Fame
  • Class of 2012
• 2015 AL HR/9 leader (0.6)
• 2015 AL GIDP induced leader (29)