Brian Bannister #19

Brian Patrick Bannister and his wife, Megan, had their fi rst daughter, Brynn Avery, in October 2008 and live in San Ramon, Calif...Graduated from Chaparral (Ariz.) High School...named a 3-time All-Region and All-City selection in baseball and led team to a state title as a senior...winner of the Wendy's High School Heisman Award as a senior...Played baseball at the University of Southern California, where he was a member of the 2-time Pac-10 Champions...named First-team Academic All-American while at USC...His father, Floyd, pitched in the Majors for 15 seasons with the Astros, Mariners, White Sox, Royals, Angels and Rangers...went a combined 16-14 for the Royals in 1988 and 1989...uncle, Greg Cochran, played in the Yankees and A's systems...brother Brett pitched in the Mariners system...other brother Cory is a pitcher at Stanford...Participated in the 2008 and 2009 Royals Caravan and 2008, 2009 and 2010 FanFest.

2009

Made 26 starts for the Royals after opening the season in Omaha (AAA) and then missing the final month with a fatigued right shoulder...Kept the ball on the ground, posting 252 ground balls to 169 fly balls, a ratio of 1.49...entered 2009 with a 518/514 ratio, or 1.01...his 1.49 GB/FB ratio in 2009 was the ninth-best in the American League (min. 150 IP)...Had a career-high 12 wild pitches, fourth in the American League and tied for sixth in baseball...Bannister continued his strong work during the day, posting a 5-4 record with a 2.98 ERA in 9 starts, while recording a 2-8 mark with a 5.69 ERA in 17 starts at night...Was removed after just 1.1 innings on September 2 at Oakland with a tired shoulder... missed the remainder of the season, although he was never offi cially placed on the Disabled List.

2008

After a superb rookie season in 2007, had a rough go of it in 2008, recording a 9-16 mark with a 5.76 ERA, setting a career high with 32 starts...His 16 losses were tied for fourth in the Majors...His 29 home runs allowed were the third-most in the American League...Posted a solid 3.96 ERA in 17 home starts while his 8.43 road ERA was the highest among all Major League hurlers with at least 70 road innings...Struggled with 2 outs, as opponents hit .329 (80-for-243), .328 (101-for-308) with runners on base, .344 (53-for-154) with runners in scoring position and .342 (26-for-76) with runners in scoring position and 2 outs...Made his second career Opening Day roster (also 2006 with the Mets)...Had a superb start to the season, going 3-0 in his fi rst 3 starts with a 0.86 ERA (21 IP, 2 ER)...included in that streak was his second career complete game on April 13 vs. Minnesota...allowed just 1 unearned run on 3 hits in a 5-1 win...Suffered through a 13-start winless streak from June 29-September 9, going 0-9 with 4 no decisions and posting a 7.79 ERA (67 IP, 58 ER)...Had toughest day of his career on August 17 at New York, allowing 10 runs on 10 hits in 1-plus innings...Struck out a career-best 8 batters against the Rangers on August 27, but suffered the 3-2 loss...Snapped his 13-start winless streak by defeating the Indians on September 14 in Cleveland, 13-3.

2007

Had a superb rookie season for the Royals, going 12-9 with a 3.87 ERA in 27 starts...His 3.87 ERA ranked fourth among all A.L. rookies while his 12 wins were second, trailing only Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka (15)...He led all A.L. rookies in winning percentage (.571) and finished third with 165 innings pitched...Among Royals rookies, his ERA was seventh-best all-time and the best since Kevin Appier recorded a KC rookie-record 2.76 ERA in 1990...Began the season with Omaha (AAA) after being acquired by the Royals on December 8, 2006 from the Mets for right-handed pitcher Ambiorix Burgos...He made 4 starts for the O-Royals prior to his first call up, recording a 1-1 mark with a 2.61 ERA...in 20.2 innings, he allowed just 16 hits, 6 earned runs, 4 walks and struck out 14...he held opposing hitters to a .213 average, including lefties who hit just .130...Recalled from Omaha on April 24 and made his KC debut that night against the White Sox, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) on 5 hits through 4.1 innings in a no decision...the Royals would eventually lose the game, 9-7...Optioned to Omaha on May 10 to make room for Luke Hudson on the active roster, but was recalled on May 13 when Hudson was placed back on the D.L... did not make an appearance for Omaha in his 2nd stint...Tossed 8 innings in a win on June 1 at Tampa Bay, allowing just 1 run on 2 hits...walked none and equaled a then career-high with 6 strikeouts...the win was his first in Majors since April 16, 2006 vs. Milwaukee...From June 1 to Sept. 2, was 12-4 with a 2.75 ERA in 17 starts...posted a pair of 4-game winning streaks (6/1-6/17 and 8/17-9/2)...was second in the Majors in wins during that span (Wang-NYY, 13) and third in ERA (Webb-ARI, 2.41; Peavy-SD, 2.51)...Allowed just 1 earned run combined in 3 starts from June 1 through June 12, posting a 0.41 ERA...recorded a streak of 18 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run from the 6th inning on June 1 to the 4th inning on June 17...Went 5-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 6 starts to earn American League Rookie of the Month honors for June...he became just the second Royal to win the award, joining Angel Berroa (July, 2003)...Bannister was also named Royals Pitcher of the Month...Brian became just the second Royals pitcher since July, 2003, to win 5 games in a month (Mark Redman, June-2006).  Struck out a career-best 7 in a loss at Milwaukee on June 23...After a solid month of July in which he went 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 4 starts and was named Royals Pitcher of the Month, he won his second A.L. Rookie of the Month in August, going 4-1 with a 2.90 ERA in 6 starts...not surprisingly, he was also named Royals Pitcher of the Month for August...Tossed the Royals first complete game in a 9-2 win at Oakland on Aug. 17... allowed 2 runs on 4 hits in the route-going performance...Struggled a bit down the stretch, going 0-2 with a 10.26 ERA in his final 4 starts to raise his season ERA from 3.16 to 3.87.

2006

Saw his 1st action in the Major Leagues, making the New York Mets Opening Day roster out of Spring Training after finishing 2nd in the Grapefruit League with a 0.95 ERA (19.0 IP, 2 ER)...opened the season as the Mets No. 2 starter...Went 2-1 with a 4.26 ERA in 8 appearances for the Mets...pitched 38.0 innings, allowing 18 earned runs, 34 hits and 22 walks while striking out 19...opponents hit just .239 against him...Recorded a 2-1 record with a 3.44 ERA (34.0 IP, 28 H, 13 ER) in his 6 starts and was 0-0 with a 11.25 ERA (4.0 IP, 5 ER) in his 2 relief appearances...Held right-handed hitters to a .185 (12-65) average while lefties hit .286 (22-77) against him...Was especially tough with runners in scoring position, holding hitters to a .143 (6-42) average, and a .053 (1-19) average with RISP and 2 outs...Hit .333 (4-12) as a hitter with 3 doubles, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored...Was 2-0 with a 2.89 ERA (28.0 IP, 22 H, 9 ER) in his 1st 5 ML starts...did not allow more than 3 runs in any of the starts and held opponents to a .214 batting average...Made his Major League debut with a start on April 5 vs. Washington in the Mets 2nd game of the season...recording 5.1 hitless innings before allowing 3 runs in the 6th inning... took a no decision after giving up 3 runs on 2 hits in 6.0 innings...walked 4 and struck out 4...The 5.1 hitless innings was the farthest any pitcher has taken a no-hitter in his Mets debut and the farthest in baseball since Brian Reith went 5.2 hitless innings for the Reds on May 16, 2001...Joined Hall of Famer Tom Seaver as just the 2nd Mets starting pitcher to make his Major League debut in 1 of the team's 1st 2 games of the season...Became the 4th rookie in Mets history to make at least 5 starts in April...Won his 1st Major League game in his 2nd start on April 11, a 7-1 win at Washington...allowed just 1 run on 3 hits in 7.0 strong innings...did not issue a walk and struck out 1...Earned his 2nd win in his next start on April 16 vs. Milwaukee, tossing 5.0 innings and allowing just 1 run on 6 hits...Left the game with a 4-3 lead and in a position to win his 3rd game in his 5th start of the season on April 26 at San Francisco, but took a no decision...allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 5.0 innings before leaving in the top of the 6th inning after straining his right hamstring running the bases...went 2-for-3 in the game with 2 doubles, 2 RBI and a run scored...Was placed on the 15-day D.L. on April 28...Made a rehab start with Norfolk (AAA) on May 18, but lasted just 2 batters before reaggravating his hamstring injury...Placed on the 60-day D.L. on May 30...Made a pair of rehab starts with Port St. Lucie (A) on July 26 and 31 before making 3 starts with Norfolk...Activated from the 60-day D.L. on Aug. 24 and made a start for the Mets on Aug. 25 vs. Philadelphia...took his 1st Major League loss, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits in 3.0 innings...Made just 2 appearances the remainder of the season, both in relief...allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 3.0 innings on Sept. 10 vs. Los Angeles (NL)...pitched a scoreless inning in his final appearance on Sept. 27 at Atlanta.

2005

Earned Sterling Organizational Pitcher of the Year honors...Pitched for Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and Norfolk (AAA) of the International League...Joined Norfolk on July 18th...For the two clubs, he was a combined 13-5 and a 2.74 ERA in 26 games, all starts...Named to the Eastern League's Mid-Season All-Star team...In five April starts at Binghamton, he was 4-0 with a 0.33 ERA...In 27.1 innings, he permitted 17 hits, three runs, one earned, with eight walks and 32 strikeouts... Allowed two earned runs or fewer in 13 of his 18 starts for Binghamton...On June 17th, he tossed a nine-inning complete game shutout in a 1-0 win over Norwich...Allowed four hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts...Named the Eastern League Pitcher of the Week, for the week ending June 19th, following that performance...Was 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA in six starts in June...In 41.1 innings, he permitted 35 hits, 12 runs, 10 earned, with nine walks and 37 strikeouts...Won his first start with the Tides on July 18th vs. Ottawa...Gave up two hits, one run, earned with five walks and four strikeouts in 5.2 innings...Captured three straight decisions from August 3rd-August 15th vs. Durham, Charlotte and Columbus, respectively...Named the International League's Pitcher of the Week for the period ending August 21st...Went 1-0 with a 1.54 ERA and 15 strikeouts in two starts...Along with outfielder Lastings Milledge, Brian played for the United States National team in the IBAF World Cup in the Netherlands in September...Was 1-2 with a 9.69 ERA (14 earned runs/13.0 innings) in three starts during the tournament.

2004

Split the season between Binghamton (AA) and St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League...Struck out 106 batters in 110.1 innings at St. Lucie...Struck out a season-high 10 batters in seven innings on May 22nd vs. Palm Beach...Won his Binghamton debut on August 1st vs. New Britain...Hurled 6.1 innings, allowed five hits, two runs, earned, with one walk and three strikeouts.

2003

Selected to the New York-Penn League All-Star team...Helped Brooklyn advance to the NYPL Finals...Named a Baseball Americashort-season All-Star.