James Hardeb

James Richard Harden is a Canadian professional baseball player who is a starting pitcher for the Chicago Cubs. As a student at the Claremont Secondary School, Harden was picked by the Seattle Mariners in the 38th round of the 1999 MLB draft but Harden choose to attend college rather than sign with the Mariners at that point.

Harden played for Central Arizona College and graduated in 2001. He was picked by the Oakland Athletics in the 2000 Major League Draft, in the 17th round, and signed for the team in 2001 after graduation. At the collegiate level, Harden led the Division I Junior College pitchers with 127 strikeouts while he had the 5th lowest ERA in the country at 2.14. At the A-league, with the Vancouver Canadians, Harden had a 2-4 record in 18 games with a 3.39 ERA. The 19-year old gave away just 47 hits and had 100 strikeouts in his 74 innings.

In 2002, Harden joined the A-Visalia Oaks in the California League and had an impressive start to the season. His first 12 games gave him a 4-3 record and a 2.91 ERA. He had 85 batters strike out in his 68 innings. He got a promotion to the AA-league with the Midland RockHounds, midway through 2002. He continued his great form and had a 8-3 record with a 2.95 ERA. With 102 strikeouts, he completed the year with impressive figures.

In 2003, after just a couple of games with the RockHounds, that they won, he was pulled up to the Sacramento River Cats in the AAA-division. In 16 games, he start 14 times and had a 9-4 record with a 3.15 ERA. In the middle of 2003, he was called up by the Oakland Athletics.

Harden made his debut against the Royals from Kansas City, giving away one run and 4-hits in his seven innings. In his first five starts, he notched up a 3-1 record and a 1.69 ERA. He then had a couple of nightmare games, giving away 6 runs in four innings against the Blue Jays and then, giving away 8 in 2.2 innings against the Red Sox. His season, which began beautifully, ended at 5-4 with a 4.46 ERA. On his playoff debut with the Athletics, Harden got a win with a scoreless inning. However, his second appearance was marked as a loss after he gave away two runs in just 1/3 inning.

He was bumped back down to the River Cats in 2004 and returned after spring training as a starter for the Athletics. He went back down to the minors after two bad games, only to be recalled for the beginning of a wonderful season for Harden. He finished the season with an 11-7 record and a 3.39 ERA. He had an 8-2 showing after the All-Star break and was 8th overall in the American league in terms of strikeouts (167). His record of 16 home runs in 189.2 innings was the 4th lowest in the American League.

Harden had an injury riddled 2005 where he showed glimpses of his wonderful ability between injuries. His second injury, to the right shoulder, saw him return at a time when the Athletics were already out of the reckoning for the playoffs. He finished the year at 10-5 and with an ERA of 2.57 with 121 strikeouts. Despite his injuries, he was one of the top performers for the Athletics.

In 2006, Harden was back on the injured list only to return in September with a three inning appearance where he allowed one run with 7 strikeouts. 2007 also began promisingly for Harden but soon, he was back to the injured list in April. After two poor seasons, Harden returned to the lineup in 2008 and began strongly. But just one start later, he was back on the injured list only to return in poor form.

In July of 2008, Harden was part of six-player deal and was traded out to the Chicago Cubs. He struck out 10 on his debut for the Cubs, pitching 5 and 1/3 innings that went scoreless. His first win for the Cubs came against the Milwaukee Brewers.