James Houser

James Robert Houser, Jr. is a left-handed starting pitcher. Houser was an outstanding pitcher for Sarasota High School in Sarasota, Florida. During his senior year, he had an 11-1 record with a 1.40 ERA, striking out 118. He was named Florida's "Mr. Baseball" in 2003. Houser was drafted in the second round of the 2003 MLB Draft by the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. He began his career for the Princeton Devil Rays of the Appalachian League. In 2005, he was the pitcher of the year for the Southwest Michigan Devil Rays, and was also named to the Midwest League All-Star Game. The following year, he... was again named pitcher of the year, this time for the Visalia Oaks of the California League. He was released by the Rays on August 1, 2009 to make room for Jeff Bennett. Before the 2010 season, Houser inked a minor-league contract with the Florida Marlins He joined the AAA New Orleans Zephyrs on May 20. He was called up to the major league team in late June. In 2007, Houser was suspended for 50 games after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. On February 1, 2011, Houser signed with the Baltimore Orioles on a minor league deal.
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