MLB pitcher Kevin Jarvis first played baseball for Tates Creek
Editor’s Note: As Lexington celebrates the 250th anniversary of its founding, the Herald-Leader and kentucky.com each day throughout 2025 will share interesting facts about our hometown. Compiled by Liz Carey, all are notable moments in the city’s history — some funny, some sad, others heartbreaking or celebratory, and some just downright strange.
Kevin Jarvis, who played for 10 professional baseball teams, got his start in Lexington.
Born on August 1, 1969, Jarvis played baseball as a pitcher and graduated from Tates Creek High School. In May 1986, Jarvis threw his first no-hitter against Madison Central, striking out four and walking two.
While he played baseball at Wake Forest University, he also played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 1989 for the Harwich Mariners. In 1990, he returned to the league to play for the Cotuit Kettleers.
In 1991, Jarvis was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds. He made his major league debut in the 1994 season, posting a 1-1 record in six games. He played for the Reds until 1997, before playing for the Detroit Tigers, and then for the Minnesota Twins one week later, and then went back to the Tigers after a month.
From there, Jarvis played a few games in Japan before signing a contract with the Reds minor league team. In 1999, he went to the Oakland Athletics. With the Triple-A Affiliate of the A’s, the Vancouver Canadians, he helped the team to the Triple-A World Championship with a 10-2 record, where the team won game two of the championship.
Jarvis moved to the Colorado Rockies in 2000, where he pitched as a starter, posting a 3-4 record from 115 innings pitched. The next year, he started the first of three seasons with the San Diego Padres as starting pitcher. In 2001, he was 12 for 11 in 193 innings pitched with an earned run average of 4.79, 122 strikeouts and the only home run of his career.
Between 2004 and 2006, Jarvis played for the Seattle Mariners, the Rockies again, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Boston Red Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks. In March of 2006, he was called up out of the Diamondbacks minor league to pitch against the Chicago Cubs.
Jarvis pitched four scoreless innings and gave up only two hits. By June, he was starting for the Diamondbacks, his first start since 2003 with the Padres.
In 2007, Jarvis retired from playing professional baseball at the age of 37. Since his retirement, he’s worked as a talent scout for the Padres and the Angels. His son, Bryce Jarvis, is a pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
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