Steve Delabar

Steven Edward Delabar (born July 17, 1983) is an American former professional baseball pitcher.

A native of Kentucky, Delabar attended Central Hardin High School and Volunteer State Community College.

where he was drafted by the Anaheim Angels in the 43rd round of the 2002 MLB draft, but elected to go to college.

He attended Volunteer State Community College.

He was selected late in the 2003 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres and began his minor league career in 2004.

After one year there, he was drafted in the 29th round, 851st overall, in the 2003 Major League Baseball draft by the San Diego Padres.

Delabar did not play professionally in 2003.

He started the 2004 season with the Arizona League Padres, going 3–4 with a 4.37 ERA before earning a promotion to the Single-A Short-Season Eugene Emeralds.

He played all of 2005 with Eugene, going 4–6 in 16 starts with a 4.76 ERA.

He played 2006 with the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps, then the Wizards, earning an 8–9 record with a 3.41 ERA in 27 starts with 118 strikeouts.

He started 2007 with Single-A Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm, but was demoted back to Fort Wayne after registering a 5.59 ERA out of the bullpen.

He started 2008 with Fort Wayne, but was cut after a 5.27 ERA as a relief pitcher.

On June 7, he signed a deal with the independent Florence Freedom of the Frontier League, where he played four games before signing with the independent Brockton Rox of the Canadian-American Association, going 3–3 in 11 starts with a 3.01 ERA.

He played in the low minor leagues for several seasons until he sustained a severe elbow injury in 2009.

He played all of 2009 with Brockton, where he had a 3.36 ERA in 12 appearances.

His 2009 season ended when he suffered a fractured right elbow.

The injury was so serious that a steel plate and nine screws were embedded to stabilize the elbow during the surgery.

In 2010, Delabar worked as a substitute teacher and then became an assistant high school baseball coach.

Delabar helped to implement an arm conditioning program for pitchers at the high school and found that his own pitching velocity improved significantly.

He did not play professionally in 2010, working as a substitute teacher in his hometown of Elizabethtown, Kentucky at John Hardin High School.

He also played slow pitch softball, where he won the 2010 Louisville Invitational Tournament Miken Homerun Derby.

He began working as an assistant baseball coach at the high school.

While introducing an arm conditioning program to his high school players, Delabar's own fastball returned to the 92-97 mph range.

After a tryout with the Seattle Mariners in early 2011, Delabar was assigned to the team's Class-A affiliate.

He progressed to Advanced-A, Double-A, and Triple-A, then to the major leagues.

His MLB debut came late in 2011 at the age of 28.

Delabar signed a minor league deal with the Mariners for 2011.

He was assigned to Single-A Advanced High Desert Mavericks before being promoted to the Double-A Jackson Generals and the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers.

Delabar was called up by the Seattle Mariners from the minor leagues on September 6,.

He made his MLB debut on September 11 against the Kansas City Royals.

Delabar recorded his first major league win on September 14, 2011, against the New York Yankees.

He was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2012, and played with them through the 2015 season.

Steve Delabar went to Central Hardin High School in Cecilia, Kentucky.

Delabar was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays on July 30, 2012, for outfielder Eric Thames.

On August 13, he struck out 4 men in the 10th inning, and recorded the win in a 3–2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

In doing so, Delabar became the first pitcher in major league history to record four strikeouts in an extra inning.

Delabar was named a Final Vote candidate for the 2013 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

He posted a 5–1 record with a 1.58 ERA and an American League reliever-leading 57 strikeouts in 40 innings over 35 games played prior to the All-Star Game roster announcement.

Delabar earned his first career save on July 10, 2013, in a game against the Cleveland Indians.

On July 11, it was announced that he had been elected to the All-Star game in the Final Vote contest, receiving 9.6 million votes.