Jeffrey Joseph Fassero (born January 5, 1963) is a former

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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 ...

Professional career

Montreal Expos

Fassero was drafted by the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

in the 22nd round of the amateur draft, but he bounced around in the minors for several years until he joined the

Montreal Expos The Montreal Expos (french: link=no, Les Expos de Montréal) were a Canadian professional baseball team based in Montreal, Quebec. The Expos were the first Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise located outside the United States. They played in t ...

in . At 28, Fassero was somewhat old for a rookie, but pitched well for the team and eventually made it to the starting rotation by the season. That same year he posted an impressive

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

of 2.29. He became a full-time starter during the 1994 season and had perhaps his finest year as a starter in 1996, earning 15 wins with 222 strikeouts and finishing ninth in NL

Cy Young Award The Cy Young Award is given annually to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball (MLB), one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL). The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall ...

voting.

Seattle Mariners

On October 29, 1996 in a cost-cutting move, the Expos traded Fassero and Alex Pacheco to the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

in exchange for

Chris Widger Christopher Jon Widger (born May 21, 1971) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) catcher and current minor league manager. He played for the Seattle Mariners (-, ), Montreal Expos (-2000), New York Yankees (), St. Louis Cardinals (), C ...

Matt Wagner Matt Wagner (born October 9, 1961) is an American comics artist and writer who is best known as the creator of the series ''Mage'' and ''Grendel (comics), Grendel''. Career Matt Wagner's first published comic book work was ''Comico Primer'' #2 ( ...

and

Trey Moore Warren Neal “Trey” Moore III (born October 2, 1972), is a former American professional baseball pitcher. He pitched parts of three seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), between and , for the Montreal Expos and Atlanta Braves. He also play ...

. Fassero had one of his best seasons for the Mariners in . That season he posted a 16-9 won-loss record with a 3.61 ERA in 35 starts.

Rangers, Red Sox, Cubs, Cardinals

Fassero enjoyed some stability during his time with the Mariners, but after a mid-season trade to the Texas Rangers in he would wind up playing on eight different teams in only seven seasons. He proved to no longer be effective as a regular starter, so he was moved into the bullpen. While with the St. Louis Cardinals, Fassero made a few starts in the season, and would make occasional starts until the end of his career.

Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks

While with the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Fie ...

in , Fassero got into a dispute with Colorado management when he was called on to make a spot start on short notice.''Associated Press''
"Fassero Released After Disagreement About Playing Time"
ESPN. September 27, 2004. Fassero said that he would not be ready in time, and was subsequently released by the Rockies due to what then-manager

Clint Hurdle Clinton Merrick Hurdle (born July 30, 1957) is an American former Major League Baseball (MLB) outfielder and manager. Hurdle played for the Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets, and St. Louis Cardinals, and managed the Colorado Rock ...

called "philosophical differences". He almost immediately signed with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

, but he only made one appearance with the team, pitching one perfect inning in relief.

San Francisco Giants

Fassero signed with the Giants on December 15, , and remained on the team until May 8, 2006 when the Giants designated Fassero for assignment. The move cleared room on the team's roster for left-handed starting pitcher

Noah Lowry Noah Ryan Lowry (born October 10, 1980) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Francisco Giants from 2003 to 2007. College and the MLB Draft Lowry was first drafted out of Nordhof ...

. On February 9, 2007 he announced his retirement. In the winter of 2008, though, Fassero pitched with

Mayos de Navojoa The Mayos de Navojoa ( en, Navojoa Mayos) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican Pacific League based in Navojoa, Sonora. They have been champions of the league twice. The first time was for the 1978–79 season, with Rickey Henderson o ...

Liga Mexicana del Pacífico The Mexican Pacific League (), known as Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico for sponsorship reasons or simply LMP for its acronym in Spanish, is a professional baseball winter league based in Northern Mexico. The ten-team regular season schedule run ...

before he finally retired for good.

Minor League coach

Fassero was hired in December 2009 as the pitching coach for the

Boise Hawks The Boise Hawks are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. Home games are played at Memorial Stadium in Garden City, Idaho, a small city surround ...

, a

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

affiliate of the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...

in the Class 'A' short-season

Northwest League The Northwest League is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Pacific Northwest, Northwestern United States and Western Canada. A Class A Short Season league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Maj ...

. For the 2011 season, Fassero was promoted to pitching coach of the

Peoria Chiefs The Peoria Chiefs are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. The team was established in 1983 as the Peoria Suns. They are located in Peoria, Illinois, and are named for the Peori ...

in the Midwest League. Jeff Fassero received a promotion to the Double-A

Tennessee Smokies The Tennessee Smokies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Kodak, Tennessee, a suburb of Knoxville. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. They play at Smokies Stadium, directly off Int ...

(Chicago Cubs) for the 2012 season. From 2014 to 2015, Fassero was the pitching coach for the Double-A

Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home games at Admiral Fetterman Field. In 2012, the team rel ...

(Cincinnati Reds). He started the 2016 season as a roving pitching instructor for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

before being named pitching coach of the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

, taking over for the recently promoted

Ted Power Ted Henry Power (born January 31, 1955) is a former Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher and a minor league baseball coach. During a 13-year career in the major leagues, he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers (1981–1982), Cincinnati Reds (1983� ...

. Fassero is the current pitching coach for the Bats.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fassero, Jeff 1963 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Arizona Diamondbacks players Arkansas Travelers players Baseball coaches from Illinois Baseball players from Illinois Boston Red Sox players Canton-Akron Indians players Chicago Cubs players Colorado Rockies players Indianapolis Indians players Johnson City Cardinals players Lincoln Land Loggers baseball players Louisville Redbirds players Major League Baseball pitchers Mayos de Navojoa players Minor league baseball coaches Montreal Expos players San Francisco Giants players Seattle Mariners players Sportspeople from Springfield, Illinois Springfield Cardinals players St. Louis Cardinals players St. Petersburg Cardinals players Texas Rangers players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico