Chris Narveson
From BR Bullpen
Christopher Gregg Narveson
- Bats Left, Throws Left
- Height 6' 3", Weight 205 lb.
- High School T.C. Roberson High School
- Debut September 8, 2006
- Born December 20, 1981 in Englewood, CO USA
[edit] Biographical Information
Pitcher Chris Narveson went 11-0 as a high school senior with a 0.64 ERA, 39 hits allowed and 144 strikeouts in 76 innings; he had also been 11-0 as a junior. He then was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second round of the 2000 amateur draft and made his debut with the Johnson City Cardinals that year, going 2-4 with a 3.27 ERA and 63 strikeouts in 55 IP. Baseball America rated him the #10 prospect in the Appalachian League and he was 8th in ERA.
He began the next season with the Peoria Chiefs, posting a 1.98 ERA in 8 starts, then moved up to the Potomac Cannons, where he was 4-3 with a 2.57 ERA. Baseball America rated him as the #5 prospect in both the Midwest League and Carolina League. They also rated him as the 2nd-best prospect in the Cardinals organization behind Jimmy Journell. He missed much of the 2002 campaign following offseason elbow surgery, before returning to Johnson City (0-2, 4.91) and Peoria (2-1, 4.46).
In 2003, Narveson split the season between the Palm Beach Cardinals, where he went 7-7 with a 2.86 ERA, and the Tennessee Smokies, where he posted a 4-3 record and a 3.00 ERA. Baseball America rated him the 20th-best prospect among left-handed starters and he didn't make the top 20 list for either league he appeared in. He returned to Tennessee in 2004 and went 5-10 with a 4.16 ERA before being traded to the Colorado Rockies as part of the trade that brought Larry Walker to St. Louis. He ended the season with the Tulsa Drillers of the Rockies organization and went 0-3 with a 3.15 ERA for them.
The next spring, he was sent to the Boston Red Sox along with catcher Charles Johnson for Byung-Hyun Kim. He went 4-5 with a 4.77 ERA in 20 games with the Pawtucket Red Sox before being claimed on waivers by the Cardinals. He made just two starts for the Memphis Redbirds before being placed on the DL with a shoulder injury.
In 2006, Narveson split the season between Palm Beach, where he posted a 2.12 ERA in 3 starts, and Memphis, where he went 8-5 with a 2.81 ERA. In September, he was called up by the Cardinals, and he made his big league debut at a member of the club's bullpen on September 8th. He struck out 12 in 9 1/3 innings in the majors and had a 4.82 ERA.
After spending part of the 2007 season injured and the remainder of the season in the minors (3-2, 5.72 for Memphis and 0-0, 2.70 for Palm Beach), Chris was released by the Cardinals and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers as a non-roster invitee to 2008 spring training.
