Joel Zumaya

*Joel Martin Zumaya’ was born on November 9, 1984, in Chula Vista, California. He is a relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.High SchoolJoel attended Bonita Vista High School.*Minor Leagues’ Joel was drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 11th round of the 2002 MLB amateur draft.

He varied his time in the minor leagues as both a starting and a relief pitcher, but was called up to the majors as a reliever.

2002 - GCL Tigers in the Gulf Coast League 2003 - West Michigan Whitecaps in the Midwest League 2004 - Lakeland Tigers in the Florida State League, and then the Erie SeaWolves in the Eastern League 2005 - the Erie SeaWolves, and then the Toledo Mud Hens in the International League 2007 - Toledo Mud Hens (rehab) 2008 - Lakeland Flying Tigers and the Toledo Mudhens (rehab)

Major Leagues Joel made his major league debut on April 3, 2006.

Career Highlights Joel throws a fastball over 100 miles per hour.

Joel missed the 2006 American League Championship Series with a sore wrist. According to Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski, this was due to Joel playing the PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero. On the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero II, the credits read “No pitchers were harmed in the making of this game. Except for one. Joel Zumaya. He had it coming.”