He played professionally for many teams including the Cincinnati Reds, Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers, Oakland Athletics, Colorado Rockies, San Diego Padres, Seattle Mariners, St. Louis Cardinals, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox.

[4] He made his major league debut in the strike-affected 1994 season, posting a 1–1 record in 6 games from 17+2⁄3 innings pitched, playing for the Cincinnati Reds.

In 1998, Jarvis moved to the Chunichi Dragons franchise in Japan, but only played in 4 games before signing a minor league contract with the Reds.

He was 12–11 in 193 innings pitched with a 4.79 ERA, 133 strikeouts, and hit the only home run of his career (off Kent Bottenfield), but these numbers fell away, with the Padres (2002-2003), Seattle Mariners (2004), Rockies (2004), St. Louis Cardinals (2005), Diamondbacks (2006), and Boston Red Sox (2006).

Prior to joining the Angels' scouting staff, Jarvis held a similar post with the San Diego Padres.