Eric DeBari Junge (born January 5, 1977) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

. He later became manager of the

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park se ...

, a Single A affiliate of the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

Playing career

Junge graduated from Rye High School in

Rye, New York Rye is a coastal suburb of New York City in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is separate from the Town of Rye, which has more land area than the city. The City of Rye, formerly the Village of Rye, was part of the Town until it r ...

. Junge attended

Bucknell University Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...

, graduating with a degree in business administration. Junge was drafted by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

in the 11th round of the 1999 amateur draft and was then traded to the

in 2001. He appeared in 10 games for the Phillies in 2002 and 2003. He made his Major League debut on September 11, 2002. His first win came 3 days later on September 14, in a win against the Pittsburgh Pirates in Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium. His second career win, less than a week later was against the Atlanta Braves, came in a relief appearance lasting 4.2 innings. The losing pitcher that day was Tom Glavine. Junge owns a career record in the Major Leagues of 2-0, posting a 2.21 E.R.A. Since then, he has played in the minor league systems of the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

and

Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

. On February 26, 2008, he was signed by the

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefectur ...

of Japan's Pacific League. After starting the 2009 season with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the independent Atlantic League, on July 9 he signed with the

Hanwha Eagles The Hanwha Eagles ( ko, 한화 이글스) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Daejeon. They are a member of the KBO League. The Eagles' home ballpark is Daejeon Hanbat Baseball Stadium. The Eagles have won the Korean Series on ...

of the South Korean Professional Baseball League. In September 2009, he signed with the Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan winter league. On June 30, 2010, he signed a minor league deal with the

. On November 6, 2010, he was granted free agency by the Angels. On January 28, 2011, he was re-signed by Anaheim with an invite to Major League spring training camp in Tempe, Arizona. Junge spent the majority of his final season as a player in 2012 pitching for the Atlanta Braves AAA affiliate in Gwinnett, GA.

Coaching career

In January 2013, Junge retired as an active player and was subsequently hired as Advanced Major League scout in the San Diego Padres front office and remained in that role for two seasons. Junge spent 2015 through 2017 as a Minor League Pitching Instructor in the Padres organization. He was promoted to Pitching Coordinator prior to the 2018 season. In January of 2022, Junge was named as manager of the Lake Elsinore Storm minor league affiliate of the Padres.

References

External links

Career statistics and player information
from

Korea Baseball Organization The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO; ko, 한국야구위원회) is the governing body for the professional leagues of baseball in South Korea. The KBO was founded in 1981 and has governed two leagues: the KBO League ( ko, KBO 리그) and KBO ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junge, Eric 1977 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Japan American expatriate baseball players in South Korea American expatriate baseball players in Taiwan Baseball players from New York (state) Binghamton Mets players Bridgeport Bluefish players Major League Baseball pitchers Clearwater Threshers players Florida Complex League Phillies players Jacksonville Suns players Lancaster Barnstormers players Norfolk Tides players Orix Buffaloes players Philadelphia Phillies players Portland Beavers players Navegantes del Magallanes players American expatriate baseball players in Venezuela San Bernardino Stampede players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees players Yakima Bears players KBO League pitchers Hanwha Eagles players Sinon Bulls players Salt Lake Bees players Bucknell Bison baseball players Gwinnett Braves players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players