The Cleveland Indians announced yesterday that Scott Kazmir and earned a spot in the Indians rotation and as baseball fate would have it, his first start will come against his former team the Tampa Bay Rays on April 6. Kazmir enjoyed his most successful seasons while pitching with Tampa Bay. From 2005-08, Kazmir went 45-34 with a 3.51 ERA over 689 2/3 innings and 742 strikeouts, including a league-leading 239 in ’07.
Kazmir wasn’t shy about expressing himself on winning the spot, calling it one of the best moments of his career. “This is right up there, if not the biggest,” Kazmir said. “It’s something where, knowing where I was a couple years ago and being able to be here now, it’s unbelievable. It just goes to show that I guess hard work does pay off.”
Kazmir has not pitched in the major leagues since 2011 with the Los Angeles Angels. Kazmir was given a chance by the Indians after reinventing himself with stints with the Sugar Land Skeeters and playing winter ball in Puerto Rico.
Kazmir allowed eight earned runs over 21 innings of work in Cactus League action this spring. Kazmir will not be activated until April 6. Until then Carlos Carrasco will finish up a six-game suspension leftover from an incident in 2011.
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