Biographical

Portrait of Joel Zumaya

Joel Zumaya P

Player Cards | Team Audit | Depth Chart

Career Summary
Years G IP W L SV ERA WARP
8 171 209.7 13 12 5 3.05 2.4
Birth Date11-9-1984
Height6' 3"
Weight215 lbs
Age39 years, 5 months, 16 days
BatsR
ThrowsR
WARP Summary

MLB Statistics

Historical (past-seasons) WARP is now based on DRA..
cFIP and DRA are not available on a by-team basis and display as zeroes(0). See TOT line for season totals of these stats.
Multiple stints are are currently shownClick to hide.
YEAR Team Lg G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA- WARP
2006 DET MLB 62 0 83.3 6 3 1 56 42 97 6 107 6.0 4.5 0.6 10.5 0% .246 1.18 3.37 1.94 89 3.48 70.9 2.0
2007 DET MLB 28 0 33.7 2 3 1 23 17 27 3 103 6.1 4.5 0.8 7.2 0% .213 1.19 4.46 4.28 104 4.66 96.3 0.3
2008 DET MLB 21 0 23.3 0 2 1 24 22 22 3 101 9.3 8.5 1.2 8.5 0% .313 1.97 5.77 3.47 131 6.79 144.8 -0.4
2009 DET MLB 29 0 31.0 3 3 1 34 22 30 5 104 9.9 6.4 1.5 8.7 0% .319 1.81 5.52 4.94 117 5.89 126.4 -0.2
2010 DET MLB 31 0 38.3 2 1 1 32 11 34 1 108 7.5 2.6 0.2 8.0 0% .282 1.12 2.47 2.58 94 3.48 78.7 0.6
CareerMLB1710209.713125169114210181057.34.90.89.037%.2671.353.973.051024.3992.82.4

Statistics for All Levels

'opp' stats - Quality of opponents faced - have been moved and are available only as OPP_QUAL in the Statistics reports now.
Minor league stats are currently shownClick to hide.
YEAR Team Lg LG G GS IP W L SV H BB SO HR PPF H/9 BB/9 HR/9 K/9 GB% BABIP WHIP FIP ERA cFIP DRA DRA-
2003 WMI A MDW 19 19 90.3 7 5 0 69 38 126 3 6.9 3.8 0.3 12.6 0% .320 1.18 2.16 2.79 0 0.00 0.0
2004 LAK A+ FSL 16 16 94.0 6 4 0 65 43 92 8 6.2 4.1 0.8 8.8 0% .245 1.15 3.97 3.54 0 0.00 0.0
2004 ERI AA EAS 4 4 20.0 2 2 0 19 10 29 6 8.6 4.5 2.7 13.1 0% .289 1.45 6.05 6.30 0 0.00 0.0
2005 ERI AA EAS 18 18 107.3 8 3 0 71 52 143 8 34 6.0 4.4 0.7 12.0 0% -.307 1.15 2.96 2.77 77 3.15 62.1
2005 TOL AAA INT 8 8 44.0 1 2 0 30 24 56 2 63 6.1 4.9 0.4 11.5 0% -.322 1.23 3.22 2.66 79 3.35 66.0
2006 DET MLB AL 62 0 83.3 6 3 1 56 42 97 6 107 6.0 4.5 0.6 10.5 0% .246 1.18 3.37 1.94 89 3.48 70.9
2007 DET MLB AL 28 0 33.7 2 3 1 23 17 27 3 103 6.1 4.5 0.8 7.2 0% .213 1.19 4.46 4.28 104 4.66 96.3
2007 TOL AAA INT 3 0 2.7 0 0 0 3 2 2 0 63 10.0 6.7 0.0 6.7 0% .333 1.85 3.91 6.67 106 5.86 120.3
2008 DET MLB AL 21 0 23.3 0 2 1 24 22 22 3 101 9.3 8.5 1.2 8.5 0% .313 1.97 5.77 3.47 131 6.79 144.8
2008 LAK A+ FSL 2 0 3.0 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 112 3.0 3.0 0.0 6.0 0% .125 0.67 2.87 0.00 98 3.73 76.2
2008 TOL AAA INT 4 0 4.0 0 0 0 5 2 4 0 86 11.3 4.5 0.0 9.0 0% .357 1.75 2.81 2.25 92 5.82 119.2
2009 DET MLB AL 29 0 31.0 3 3 1 34 22 30 5 104 9.9 6.4 1.5 8.7 0% .319 1.81 5.52 4.94 117 5.89 126.4
2009 LAK A+ FSL 2 2 2.3 0 1 0 3 5 4 1 108 11.7 19.6 3.9 15.7 0% .333 3.48 11.89 11.74 120 5.84 122.9
2009 TOL AAA INT 3 0 4.0 0 0 0 3 0 5 0 122 6.8 0.0 0.0 11.3 0% .300 0.75 0.65 0.00 62 2.46 51.7
2010 DET MLB AL 31 0 38.3 2 1 1 32 11 34 1 108 7.5 2.6 0.2 8.0 0% .282 1.12 2.47 2.58 94 3.48 78.7

Plate Discipline

YEAR Pits Zone% Swing% Contact% Z-Swing% O-Swing% Z-Contact% O-Contact% SwStr%
2008 431 0.4594 0.4756 0.8000 0.7222 0.2661 0.8531 0.6774 0.2000
2009 558 0.5269 0.4749 0.7170 0.6429 0.2879 0.7672 0.5921 0.2830
2010 578 0.5260 0.4983 0.7917 0.7204 0.2518 0.8311 0.6667 0.2083
Career15670.50800.48370.76740.69330.26860.81440.64310.2326

Injury History  —  No longer being updated

Last Update: 12/31/2014 23:59 ET

Date On Date Off Transaction Days Games Side Body Part Injury Severity Surgery Date Reaggravation
2012-02-24 2012-03-27 Camp 32 0 Right Elbow Surgery Tommy John Surgery 2012-03-29 -
2011-03-30 2011-10-16 60-DL 200 162 Right Elbow Surgery Replaced Screw 2011-05-10
2011-02-28 2011-03-30 Camp 30 0 Right Elbow Inflammation Over Screw From Surgery 2010-07-12
2010-06-29 2010-10-04 60-DL 97 87 Right Elbow Surgery Olecranon Fracture From Pitching 2010-07-12
2010-03-22 2010-03-24 Camp 2 0 General Medical Respiratory Flu -
2009-07-18 2009-10-06 60-DL 80 74 Right Shoulder Surgery Non Union Stress Fracture of Corocoid Process 2009-08-21
2009-07-11 2009-07-17 DTD 6 2 Right Thumb Laceration Thumb -
2009-03-27 2009-04-25 15-DL 29 16 Right Shoulder Soreness -
2009-03-02 2009-03-27 Camp 25 0 Right Shoulder Soreness -
2008-08-13 2008-09-28 60-DL 46 41 Right Shoulder Stress Fracture Corocoid -
2008-08-02 2008-08-05 DTD 3 2 Right Shoulder Soreness -
2008-07-28 2008-07-29 DTD 1 1 Right Upper Arm Tightness Triceps -
2008-03-21 2008-06-20 60-DL 91 72 Right Shoulder Surgery AC Joint Separation 2007-10-31
2007-09-11 2007-09-12 DTD 1 2 Right Fingers Laceration Fingernail on Index Finger -
2007-05-05 2007-08-20 60-DL 107 96 Right Fingers Surgery Ruptured Tendon Middle Finger 2007-05-10
2006-10-11 2006-10-24 DTD 13 0 Right Wrist Inflammation -
2006-09-10 2006-09-17 DTD 7 5 Right Wrist Inflammation -
2004-09-05 2004-10-03 Minors 28 0 Right Shoulder Strain - -
2004-06-24 2004-07-08 Minors 14 0 - Back Spasms - -
2003-07-26 2003-08-25 Minors 30 0 - Back Spasms - -

Compensation

Year Team Salary
2012 MIN $850,000
2011 DET $1,400,000
2010 DET $915,000
2009 DET $735,000
2008 DET $420,000
2007 DET $410,000
2006 DET $327,000
YearsDescriptionSalary
7 yrPrevious$5,057,000
7 yrTotal$5,057,000

 

Service TimeAgentContract Status
6 yHendricks Sports1 year/$0.85M (2012)

Details
  • 1 year/$0.85M (2012). Signed by Minnesota as a free agent 1/17/12. May earn additional $0.9M in performance bonuses.
  • 1 year/$1.4M (2011). Re-signed by Detroit 1/14/11 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$0.915M (2010). Re-signed by Detroit 1/13/10 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$0.735M (2009). Re-signed by Detroit 1/20/09 (avoided arbitration).
  • 1 year/$0.42M (2008). Re-signed by Detroit 2/20/08.
  • 1 year/$0.41M (2007). Re-signed by Detroit 3/07.
  • 1 year/$0.327M (2006). Contract purchased by Detroit 11/05. Re-signed by Detroit 2/06.
  • Drafted by Detroit 2002 (11-320) (Chula Vista HS, Calif.).

2019 Preseason Forecast

Last Update: 1/27/2017 12:35 ET

PCT W L SV G GS IP H BB SO HR BABIP WHIP ERA DRA VORP WARP
Weighted Mean?????0.0?00?.0000.000.00?0.00.0

BP Annual Player Comments

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BP Articles

Click here to see articles tagged with Joel Zumaya

BP Chats

DateQuestionAnswer
2014-04-15 13:00:00 (link to chat)A.Vizcaino, sounds like the Cubs are taking it easy with his routine coming off injury. Is there any way once he does make it back to the bigs they throw him right into closing duties? Or is that too much, too soon?
(Dan from Chicago)
There's two schools of thought here for me: 1) ease him back in and let him throw lower leverage innings to gain experience and prove he's healthy, or 2) trial by fire on a bad team and try to get some value out of him before his arm explodes again.

I've always felt there's something to the theory that some guys have only so many bullets in their arm, meaning you need to get value out of them while you can. Joel Zumaya was one guy that I always felt that way about. That said, Vizcaino has missed so much time, I'm not sure you can just thrust him into that role. I think they have to take a slower approach, even if it means risking him to yet another injury before he gets a chance in those high leverage situations. (Mark Anderson)
2013-09-17 13:00:00 (link to chat)Who had the better fastball according to Pitch F/X? Aroldis Chapman or Joel Zumaya?
(Ryan from Detroit)
not sure what you mean by better ... but Zumaya's heater had a higher average speed than Chapman's does by about 1 mph. (Harry Pavlidis)
2013-09-11 13:00:00 (link to chat)Who's fastball would you rather have? Aroldis Chapman or Joel Zumaya (at his hardest)
(Tim from NYC)
Chapman still for me. (Jason Cole)
2010-07-06 14:00:00 (link to chat)This spring you wrote about the life of Joel Zumaya. Any coda to add in light of the latest breakdown?
(Cris E from St Paul, MN)
That was last spring, actually, and a lot has happened since then. I guess the blog post I wrote on chronically injured players last week could serve as a coda, for now. (Ben Lindbergh)
2009-12-09 13:00:00 (link to chat)ryan perry, dan schlereth, joel zumaya. pretty good back end of the bullpen, no?
(ct tiger from ct)
Do we have any proof at all that Joel Zumaya is still alive? And Schlereth walks six men per nine innings. (Joe Sheehan)
2008-09-23 13:30:00 (link to chat)Joe - Where does Dombrowski go from here? Do the Tigers need as much work as their record indicates or should they just make minor moves and hope the pitching bounces back next year?
(mrgriffey from Lansing MI)
That suddenly looks like an old team to me. Polanco, Renteria, Sheffield, Ordonez, Inge...I have to say that I'm not sure they'll be much better next season. They certainly have to start over in the bullpen, where I don't think another season of waiting on Joel Zumaya is such a good plan. (Joe Sheehan)
2008-07-29 16:00:00 (link to chat)Hey Will, Crank up The Mill! Are the Tigers really caught in no-man's land at this point? While the decision to be buyers or sellers is a difficult one for this team, there's not really much they could do, in terms of improving or dumping, anyway, right?
(Ryan from Atlanta)
They are in a tough position, but they're smart and creative. I think they could do a number of things that would help themselves if they choose to. They could deal Ivan Rodriguez for help, plug Brandon Inge in, and see what happens. They could deal Todd Jones or Joel Zumaya, given the reliever market. Never count out the Tigers. Dombrowski et al have proved themselves time and again. (Will Carroll)
2008-02-19 13:00:00 (link to chat)What is the status of Joel Zumaya's recover and rehab? What kind of conditioning has he been doing, what if any pitching?
(Brian H from Toledo)
Zumaya might end up the Francisco Liriano of this year, with there being a question asked every chat.

The answer is we don't know. He's not throwing and until he does, there's just no telling. He is conditioning and there was a report that he'd dropped some weight and was very motivated to prove people wrong. (Will Carroll)


BP Roundtables

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC


Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Joel Zumaya threw 1,868 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2007 and 2010, all of them occuring in Spring Training. In 2010, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (100mph), also mixing in a Curve (82mph). He also rarely threw a Change (86mph) and Splitter (99mph).