Craig Nicholas Stammen (born March 9, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals and San Diego Padres.
Amateur career
Stammen started his career in the North Star Little League, a small community-based league that fostered the development of fellow standout Cory Luebke. Stammen is a graduate of Versailles High School where he played football, basketball, and baseball. He was named to the all-Miami Valley baseball team and was awarded Academic All-Ohio honors in 2002. He attended the University of Dayton, where he majored in entrepreneurship and business management and made 60 pitching appearances over three seasons, as well as pitching in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League in 2004. He was an Atlantic 10 Conference Academic All-Conference Pick in 2005. While at Dayton, Stammen was teammates with fellow pitcher and future Nationals teammate Jerry Blevins.
Professional career
Washington Nationals
Stammen was selected by the Washington Nationals in the twelfth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft and was assigned to the Vermont Expos of the short-season Single-A New York–Penn League. He made seven starts and six relief appearances, accruing an ERA of 4.06 while striking out 32 batters and allowing 12 walks and 62 hits over 51 innings.
In 2006 Stammen pitched for the Savannah Sand Gnats of the low Single-A South Atlantic League and for the Potomac Nationals of the advanced Single-A Carolina League. In 143 innings he accumulated a 4.03 ERA and struck out 109 batters while allowing 36 walks and 144 hits.
Most of Stammen's 2007 season was spent at Potomac, although he did make one appearance with the Columbus Clippers of the Triple-A International League. He pitched a total of 128⅔ innings, striking out 98 batters and yielding 57 walks and 160 hits on the way to a 4.41 ERA.
Stammen's duties in 2008 were divided among Potomac, the Harrisburg Senators of the Double-A Eastern League, and Columbus. He posted an ERA of 3.52 over 150⅔ innings, striking out 128 batters while giving up 44 walks and 143 hits. He was a member of the Carolina League Mid-Season All-Star team. On July 14 he was named Eastern League Pitcher of the Week.
Stammen started off the year with the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs, going 4–2 with a 1.80 ERA (through 20 May 2009). He was called up to the major leagues on May 20, 2009. He had his first major league start May 21 versus the Pittsburgh Pirates and pitched 6 innings with no decision. His first major league win was June 18 versus the New York Yankees. Stammen pitched 6 innings and allowed no runs. On July 11, 2009, he pitched his first major league complete game against the Houston Astros, allowing only 2 runs on 9 hits.
Stammen continued to pitch in the starting rotation, going 4–7 with a 5.11 ERA in 19 starts, until the beginning of September when he was scratched from his scheduled September 4 start because of a sore elbow. An MRI on September 3 revealed a bone spur in the back of his right (pitching) elbow. Arthroscopic surgery was performed on September 6 and Stammen recovered in time for spring training in 2010.
After recovering from a season-ending arthroscopic surgery in September 2009 and having a successful spring training, Stammen returned to the Nationals' rotation as their number 3 starter for the 2010 season.
On June 7, Stammen was optioned to the Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs to make room on the active roster for starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg, the overall #1 draft pick in the 2009 Major League Baseball Draft.
On June 29, after going 2–0 with a 2.25 ERA in three starts for the Chiefs (the last of which he came within one out of throwing a seven-inning no-hitter, Stammen was recalled to the Nationals and returned to the starting rotation. The following night he pitched 7 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, against the first place-Atlanta Braves, stopping a Nats' 5-game losing streak in a 7–2 win.
On August 8, Stammen was assigned to the bullpen to make way in the starting rotation for Jason Marquis and Stephen Strasburg.
After spending spring training with the Nationals, Stammen was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse for the start of the 2011 season (though remaining on the Nationals' 40-man roster).
Stammen rejoined the Nationals from June 4–14 while Doug Slaten was on the 15-day disabled list. During this brief stint, he pitched 2 innings of relief in two games and was the losing pitcher in one of them.
After spending most of the summer with Syracuse, Stammen was called up again on September 6.