Rafael Soriano

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Rafael Soriano

New York Yankees – No. 29
Relief pitcher
Born: December 19, 1979 (1979-12-19) (age 32)
San José de Ocoa, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right Throws: Right 
MLB debut
May 10, 2002 for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics
(through 2011 season)
Win–loss record     13–23
Earned run average     2.86
Strikeouts     458
Saves     90
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Rafael Soriano (born December 19, 1979 in San José de Ocoa, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the New York Yankees. He bats and throws right-handed. Soriano throws a moving fastball in the mid to upper 90s, which has been known to reach triple digits, along with a slider and a scarcely used changeup.

Contents

[edit] Career

[edit] Seattle Mariners

Soriano was signed as an amateur free agent by the Seattle Mariners in 1996. He was signed as an outfielder before being converted to a pitcher. He made his Major League debut with the Mariners on May 5, 2002. After an effective 2003 season, Soriano suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, and underwent Tommy John surgery on August 17, 2004.[1] He would return to the Majors on September 10, 2005. Soriano suffered a concussion on August 29, 2006, after being struck behind the ear by a line drive hit from Angels slugger Vladimir Guerrero.[2][3] He was released from the hospital the following afternoon.[4]

[edit] Atlanta Braves

Soriano pitching for the Braves in May 2007

Soriano was traded to the Atlanta Braves from the Mariners on December 7, 2006, in exchange for left-handed pitcher Horacio Ramírez.[5] In an offseason article, ESPN explained why they believed that Soriano was a significantly better player than Ramirez. Soriano had a mixed bag of success and disappointment in his first season in Atlanta, primarily serving as the setup man to closer Bob Wickman. Soriano became the Braves closer after Wickman was designated for assignment in August. He earned his first save since May 10 on August 30.

Soriano was suspended for four games on September 20 after hitting Dan Uggla with a pitch.[6] The suspension was reduced to two games after appeal.[7] He finished his first season as a Brave with a 3–3 record and 3.00 ERA. Soriano signed a two-year contract with the Braves worth $9 million USD on January 24, 2008.[8]

After surprising the Braves and accepting arbitration, Soriano was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays on December 10, 2009 for Jesse Chavez.[9]

[edit] Tampa Bay Rays

Soriano during his tenure with the Rays in 2010

Soriano won the DHL Delivery Man Award for May 2010,[10] and July 2010, becoming the first pitcher to earn that honor twice in one season.[11] He won the award a third time for August 2010, joining Joe Nathan and Trevor Hoffman as the only three-time winners of the monthly award.[12] He was named to the 2010 Major League Baseball All-Star Game to replace an injured Mariano Rivera.[13] On August 23, 2010, in a game against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Soriano became just the 15th American League pitcher in the modern era (since 1900) to pitch an immaculate inning (strike out the side on nine pitches) and only the 6th pitcher in all of baseball to record a save while doing so. Soriano led the American League in saves at the end of the 2010 season. Soriano finished 8th in the 2010 AL Cy Young Voting.

[edit] New York Yankees

The Yankees signed Soriano to a three-year, $35 million contract on January 18, 2011.[14] Soriano was originally designated as the set-up pitcher to closer Mariano Rivera.[15] He picked up his first save as a Yankee against the Blue Jays on April 20.[16] He recorded his first loss, and gave up the tying and winning runs as a Yankee on April 26.[17] On July 30th, Soriano pitched his first game since coming off the DL, throwing a scoreless 9th inning, striking out 2 in a 17-3 blowout win vs. the Baltimore Orioles.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Street, Jim (August 17, 2004). "Notes: No surgery for Guardado". MLB.com. http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20040817&content_id=830360&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 
  2. ^ Brock, Corey (August 30, 2006). "Soriano released from hospital". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060830&content_id=1637358&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 
  3. ^ Mariners' Soriano suffers concussion (CBS News)
  4. ^ "Lucky" Soriano leaves hospital (Seattle Times)
  5. ^ Bowman, Mark (December 7, 2006). "Braves, Mariners finish swap of arms". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20061207&content_id=1753687&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 
  6. ^ "Atlanta's Soriano disciplined". MLB.com. September 20, 2007. http://atlanta.braves.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20070920&content_id=2220310&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 
  7. ^ Bowman, Mark (September 28, 2007). "Notes: Soriano's suspension reduced". MLB.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070928&content_id=2236891&vkey=news_atl&fext=.jsp&c_id=atl. Retrieved December 27, 2009. 
  8. ^ "Braves plan to move Soriano, who re-signed for $9 million, to closer". ESPN. Associated Press. January 24, 2008. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3212960. Retrieved February 21, 2011. 
  9. ^ By Mark Bowman / MLB.com (2009-12-10). "Braves finalize deal for Rays' Chavez". Mlb.mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091210&content_id=7795336&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  10. ^ Chastain, Bill (June 2, 2010). "Soriano wins reliever award for May". Mlb.com. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100602&content_id=10723002&notebook_id=10723596&vkey=notebook_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb&partnerId=rss_tb&source=rss_teams_Tampa_Bay_Rays. Retrieved July 6, 2010. 
  11. ^ "Rafael Soriano named winner of the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month Award for July" (Press release). MLB.com. August 4, 2010. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100804&content_id=13026140&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved August 10, 2010. 
  12. ^ "Tampa Bay's Rafael Soriano named winner of the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Month award for August" (Press release). Mlb.com. September 2, 2010. http://tampabay.rays.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100902&content_id=14215820&vkey=pr_tb&fext=.jsp&c_id=tb. Retrieved September 10, 2010. 
  13. ^ "Rafael Soriano to replace Mariano Rivera on A.L. All-Star Roster | MLB.com: Official Info". Mlb.mlb.com. 2010-07-07. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/press_releases/press_release.jsp?ymd=20100707&content_id=12027744&vkey=pr_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
  14. ^ Yanks set to introduce Rafael Soriano
  15. ^ Yankees make Soriano deal official
  16. ^ Hoch, Bryan (April 21, 2011). "Colon gives Yanks more than enough to win". MLB.com. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2011_04_20_nyamlb_tormlb_1&mode=recap&c_id=nyy#disqus_thread. Retrieved 2011-04-21. 
  17. ^ "Soriano squanders another save". Journal News. April 26, 2011. http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2011/04/26/yankees-squander-another-strong-start/. Retrieved 2011-04-26. 

[edit] External links
Annual winners
New York Yankees current roster
Active roster
Disabled list
Coaching Staff

Manager 28 Joe Girardi | Bench Coach 56 Tony Peña | 1st Base Coach 50 Mick Kelleher | 3rd Base Coach 59 Rob Thomson | Hitting Coach 54 Kevin Long | Pitching Coach 58 Larry Rothschild | Bullpen Coach 57 Mike Harkey | Bullpen Catcher 88 Román Rodríguez


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