Dan Haren
Washington Nationals – No. 15
Starting pitcher
Born: ) September 17, 1980 (age 32) Monterey Park, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 30, 2003 for the St. Louis Cardinals
Career statistics (through May 9, 2013)
Win–loss record	123–100
Earned run average	3.69
Strikeouts	1,612
Teams
St. Louis Cardinals (2003–2004) Oakland Athletics (2005–2007) Arizona Diamondbacks (2008–2010) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2010–2012) Washington Nationals (2013–present)
Career highlights and awards
3× All-Star selection (2007–2009)

Daniel John Haren (born September 17, 1980) is an American professional baseball player with the Washington Nationals. A pitcher, Haren has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Oakland Athletics, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He is a three-time MLB All-Star.

High-school and college career []

Haren, who is of Irish and Mexican descent, graduated from Bishop Amat High School in La Puente, CA in 1998. He attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA on a baseball scholarship. It was there that Haren teamed up with Noah Lowry, a left-handed pitcher just one month younger than Haren, to form the best starting pitching duo in the West Coast Conference. In the 2001 season, Haren posted a 2.22 ERA in 17 starts, and Lowry posted a 1.71 ERA in 18 starts. The teammates (and roommates) skipped their senior seasons, and Lowry was taken in the 1st round (30th overall) by the San Francisco Giants and Haren was taken in the 2nd round (72nd overall) by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2001 Major League Baseball Draft.^[1]

Professional career []

St. Louis Cardinals []

Haren made 28 starts in A-ball in 2002 for the Peoria Chiefs and Potomac Cannons, finishing with a combined ERA of 2.74. He started 2003 in Double-A with the Tennessee Smokies, but was promoted after eight starts to the Triple-A Memphis Redbirds.

Haren made his major league debut at the age of 22. He pitched well in his debut but was out-dueled by Jason Schmidt, who went on to finish second in the National League Cy Young Award voting that year. In his MLB debut, he showed off his batting skills by hitting the first pitch he saw for a double. After finishing 2003 with a 5.08 ERA for the Cardinals, however, he was sent back down to AAA Memphis for the 2004 season. He received a late-season call-up, and made five appearances in the post-season for the Cardinals, including two in the World Series. The Cardinals were swept by the Boston Red Sox, but Haren pitched well, tossing 4⅔ scoreless innings.

Pitching in a game against the Seattle Mariners

Oakland Athletics []

After the 2004 season, Haren was traded in a package that included right-handed reliever Kiko Calero and top hitting prospect Daric Barton to the Oakland Athletics for Mark Mulder.^[2] Haren went 14-12 with a 3.73 ERA in his first full season as a major leaguer.

In 2005, Haren finished in the top 10 in the American League in the following categories: innings (217, 9th place), strikeouts (163, 6th place), and complete games (3, 4th place).

Furthermore, in 2007, Haren had one of the best seasons among any pitcher in the majors. Haren finished in the top ten in the American League in wins, with 15, strikeouts, with 192, and finished in the top three in the AL in ERA with 3.07.

In 2007, he was also selected to start the MLB All Star Game after Mark Buerhle declined for the American League.

On December 14, 2007, Haren was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks along with Connor Robertson for prospects including Carlos González, Brett Anderson, Aaron Cunningham, Greg Smith, Dana Eveland, and Chris Carter.

Arizona Diamondbacks []

Haren pitching during the 2009 All-Star Game in St. Louis.

In his first season with the Arizona Diamondbacks he was selected to the 2008 All-Star game at Yankee Stadium along with his teammate, Brandon Webb. He finished 2008 with an impressive 3.33 ERA to go along with a 16–8 win–loss record, and a career-high 206 strikeouts.

On August 6, 2008, Haren agreed to a four-year, $44.75 million contract and a team option for the 2013.^[3]

Haren was also selected a 2009 NL All-Star, representing the Diamondbacks along with Justin Upton. Haren had a great year, finishing with a record of 14–10, 3.14 ERA, and 223 strikeouts.

In 2009 he was named #33 on the Sporting News' list of the 50 greatest current players in baseball. A panel of 100 baseball people, many of them members of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winners of major baseball awards, was polled to arrive at the list.^[4]

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim []

On July 25, 2010, Haren was traded to the Angels for starting pitcher Joe Saunders, and minor league pitchers Rafael Rodríguez, Patrick Corbin, and Tyler Skaggs.^[5][6]

In 13 games with the Angels to close out the 2010 season, Haren went 5–4 with 75 strikeouts and a 2.87 ERA. Haren also had an impressive year at the plate, posting a .364 batting average and .902 OPS with one home run in 55 at bats with the D-backs before he was traded.

On May 24, 2012, Haren threw a career high 14 strikeouts in a complete-game shutout against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle, allowing four hits in a 3–0 victory.

On November 2, 2012, after an attempt to trade him to the Chicago Cubs for Carlos Mármol fell through, the Angels declined Haren's $15.5 million option, instead buying it out for $3.5 million, and he became a free agent.^[7]

Washington Nationals []

Haren signed a one-year, $13 million contract with the Washington Nationals on December 7, 2012. ^[8]

Pitching style []

Haren throws an 89–92 mph fastball, an 89–92 mph two-seam fastball, a sharp split-finger fastball (84–86), and a spike curve (76–79).^[9] Haren has also added and relied heavily upon a 85–87 mph cutter, which he added in 2008 and has credited with rejuvenating his career.^[10] The cutter makes up more than half of his pitch selection to right-handed hitters, with his fastballs and occasional splitter filling up most of the rest. Against lefties, Haren mixes all of his pitches but uses his two-seamer the most. His curveball is a change-of-pace pitch, and not a main weapon; he does not throw it much to right-handers or in 2-strike counts. By contrast, he throws about half of his splitters with two strikes.^[9]

Haren is also known for exceptional control. His career strikeout-to-walk ratio is above 4 for his career. As of May 2012, he is the active leader in that category.^[11]

Haren usually has a slow pitching delivery, highlighted by a slight pause in the middle of his windup, that he speeds up with runners on base. His pitching style is often dubbed a "chess match" by reporters and announcers (particularly Daron Sutton and Mark Grace of the Diamondbacks announce team) due to his ability to change speeds and throw almost any pitch in any count (and often throws pitches in succession, i.e., four straight breaking balls), often going against scouting reports, making it particularly hard to hit him.^[10]

References []

External links []

	Biography portal
	Baseball portal

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Stats and Pitch Arsenal at SportsMogul.com