The Decade’s Best: No. 19 David Huff

David Huff
Chatham 2004 & 2005
Pitcher
UC Irvine/UCLA

David Huff wasn’t the most heralded member of the Chatham pitching staff in 2004 or 2005. Even after the 2005 season, he didn’t garner a ton of attention. He wasn’t even on Baseball America’s list of the league’s top 30 prospects.

But if Huff was playing second fiddle, he was playing it really, really well.

Among guys who really fit the lefty profile — smooth mechanics, great control, maybe a little undersized — I think Huff was the best in the league in his era. If you watched him pitch, you were watching a pitcher, a guy who was in complete control of what he was doing.

And he was a pleasure to watch.

In 2004, Huff started his summer in the bullpen. Kyle Bono was the closer at the time, which left Huff to pitch mostly as a long man. A lot of his appearances came when Chatham was trailing in the late innings. He was in there to keep the score where it was.

Most often, he succeeded, and he eventually earned himself the chance to do more.

He didn’t make his first start until July 19, but it was a solid beginning. He allowed two earned runs and picked up a win with 5.1 innings against Hyannis. Huff made three more starts the rest of the season and finished with 12 total appearances. He had an ERA of 1.09 and he struck out 48 in 49.1 innings.

At that point, if he hadn’t quite proven that he was a bona fide star, he had at least given himself a chance.

The next year, he proved it.

Huff was again a middle-of-the-rotation starter for a talented A’s team, but he brought No. 1 starter stuff to the table. He went 2-2 with a 1.46 ERA and he struck out 49 in 37 innings. Most impressively, he issued just four walks all summer.

Somehow, Huff didn’t make the all-star team or the post-season all-league team, possibly because 2005 was a huge talent year.

But when you look at his whole career, it’s amazing that he didn’t get more attention.

In my book, Huff is as good as it gets.

After the Cape

Huff turned in a big season for UCLA in 2006, and that sent him flying up draft boards. He got selected by the Indians with the 39th overall pick, and became one of their top prospects pretty quickly. After two outstanding minor-league seasons, Huff made his Major League debut in 2009. He started 23 games and finished the season with a 5.61 ERA.

RELATED POSTS