Kip Wells

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**Kip Wells**
Kip Wells as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007
Colorado Rockies — No. 16
Starting pitcher
Born: April 21, 1977 (1977-04-21) (age 31) Houston, Texas
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
Major League Baseball debut
August 2, 1999 for the Chicago White Sox
Selected MLB statistics (through April 27, 2008)
Win-Loss	65-92
Earned run average	4.59
Strikeouts	886
Teams
Chicago White Sox (1999-2001) Pittsburgh Pirates (2001-2006) Texas Rangers (2006) St. Louis Cardinals (2007) Colorado Rockies (2008-present)

Robert "Kip" Wells (born April 21, 1977 in Houston, Texas) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who plays for the Colorado Rockies. He bats and throws right-handed.

1 High School Career
2 College career
3 Pro career
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] High School Career

Wells attended Elkins High School in Missouri City, Texas and was a baseball star and an honor roll student. In baseball, he won All-State and All-America honors after his Senior year (1995)^[1]. He was taken by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 58th round of the Major League Baseball Draft that June. He did not sign with the Brewers; instead, he went to Baylor University.

[edit] College career

Posted a career record of 21-14 for the Baylor Bears with a 5.17 era and 288 strikeouts in three collegiate seasons. 1998 2nd Team All-America, 1998 Big 12 1st Team, 1998 All-Region, 1999 Pre Season All America 2nd Team. Played with the Brewster Whitecaps in the Cape Cod League during the summer of 1997^[2]. He went 5-6 with a 1.92 ERA, 49 strikeouts and five saves to earn the league's Outstanding Pro Prospect Award.

[edit] Pro career

Wells was the first round (16th overall) draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in the 1998 amateur draft. He made his first major league appearance with the White Sox the following year. In his debut against the Detroit Tigers, Wells went 5.1 innings, giving up 6 hits, 2 runs and 1 earned run while walking 2 and striking out 4 for his first Major League victory^[3]

After the 2001 season, in which he split time between the starting rotation and the bullpen, Wells was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

As of the end of the 2005 season, Wells had a 55-69 record and a 4.36 E.R.A. after 188 games over the course of seven seasons. Wells led the league in losses in 2005, going 8-18 on a Pirates team that went 72-90.

On March 1, 2006, Wells announced he would have surgery to remove a blood clot in his right arm^[4]. The surgery was performed on March 6, and he returned to the field on June 19, 2006.

At the trade deadline in 2006, Wells was traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Texas Rangers for Jesse Chavez. [1] During his time with the pirates, Kip Wells once hit a 450 foot home run to dead center field at PNC Park.

On November 28, 2006, Kip Wells signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. He struggled in the first half, going 3-11 with an ERA of 5.92 and getting demoted to the bullpen right before the All-Star break. After the All-Star Break he was a little better, posting a 4-6 record. He made a promising start against the Florida Marlins on July 18, when he threw eight shutout innings in a 6-0 Cardinals win^[5]. At the conclusion of the 2007 season, Wells' record was 7-17 with an ERA of 5.70.

On December 13, 2007 he signed with the Colorado Rockies. Wells began the 2008 season compiling a 2.29 ERA in ten games with 16 strikeouts as the primary long relief pitcher out of the bullpen. However, on April 30, Wells was place on the disabled list with a blood clot in his throwing arm for the second time in his career.