I actually wanted to mention his name weeks ago, but I forgot and now seems like a good time to bring up the fact that his autographs are going for cheap on eBay. The story behind Gavin is a tale all too common in the major leagues. I actually met him in 2002, the season after he was drafted 4th overall to the Philadelphia Phillies. He was a hard throwing high schooler and when I met him, the first time, he almost fell down a flight of stairs while trying to autograph a bat for me. He was definitely one of the nicest guys to get an autograph from.
That was in 2002, since then it’s been tough times for Gavin. In 2002 he went 11-10/2.77/1.10 for the Blueclaws. He moved up to Clearwater (A+) for the 2003 season, where he went 7-8/3.00/1.28 for the whole season. Definitely having trouble staying with A+ hitters. In 2004 he moved up to Reading then Scranton and finally Philadelphia. He was a mere 21 years old. The Phillies knew he had control issues. They knew he wasn’t ready for the majors and brought him up anyway. He didn’t do to bad. In 4 starts he went 2-0/3.49/1.45, he was then sent back down to the minors when his teamates began coming back from injuries.
Over the next two seasons, he split his time between the minors and the majors. Finally the Phillies got fed up with him and dealt him as part of the Freddy Garcia deal in 2007. Personally I think they gave up too soon on him. High schoolers sometimes take longer to mature than college players and looking at his stats from this season so far I think that I am right. To date he is 8-4/3.39/1.12 and on track to possibly win 15+ games. Watching him pitch now he is much more relaxed, he doesn’t press as much as he used to. His game has matured quite a bit since his days in Lakewood, NJ.
His game used and autograph cards have been going consistently around the $2-$3 region and that is a steal. I think that he is legit. I think he finally learned how to relax when pitching. At some point in his career he is going to put up some Cy Young type numbers. If you get a chance, what him pitch, he seems so much more relaxed now and he just throws darts. Here are some examples of his cards. Now go to the bargain bin and find yourself some undiscovered gold.
