Ronald Belisario

Ronald Belisario
Los Angeles Dodgers – No. 51
Pitcher
Born: December 31, 1982 (1982-12-31) Maracay, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 7, 2009 for the Los Angeles Dodgers
Career statistics (through 2010 season)
Win-Loss	7-4
Earned run average	3.36
Strikeouts	102
Teams
Los Angeles Dodgers (2009–2010)

Ronald J. Belisario (last name sometimes spelled Belizario) (born December 31, 1982, in Maracay, Venezuela) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Baseball career

Belisario was signed by the Florida Marlins as a 16-year-old amateur free agent in 1999, playing in the rookie-class Venezuelan Summer League in 2000 and rookie-class Gulf Coast League in 2001. He played with various "A" ball teams in 2003–04. He was placed on the Marlins 40 man roster in September 2004 but missed the 2005 season because of undergoing Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He also missed the 2006 season because of an unspecified suspension.

After missing two seasons he returned to the mound in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system in 2007 and remained in the Pirates system for 2008, finally being promoted to AA with the Altoona Curve.

He signed a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training with the Los Angeles Dodgers for 2009. He was late in showing up for spring training because of some visa problems in his home country, so did not get a chance to compete until late in the spring. However, he pitched well in the last few spring training games and was added to the Dodgers opening day roster on April 6, 2009. Belisario made his Major League debut on April 7, working one scoreless inning as a relief pitcher against the San Diego Padres. He pitched in 69 games for the Dodgers out of the bullpen in 2009, finishing 4–3 with a 2.04 ERA and 64 strikeouts.

Belisario was expected to be on the Dodgers opening day roster for 2010, but again had visa problems in Venezuela. His status was complicated by a driving under the influence charge that had been filled against him in Pasadena, California. He pled guilty to a lesser charge through his attorney but did not finally report to spring training until March 27, at which point he was placed on the restricted list. He did not rejoin the Dodgers until April 21. On July 7, 2010, Belisario was again placed on the restricted list by the Dodgers for unknown reasons. He eventually rejoined the team on August 10. He finished the season 3–1 with a high 5.04 ERA in 55.1 innings worked.

For the third year in a row, Belisario did not report on time for spring training in 2011 due to problems in Venezuela. The team reported that he would be absent "indefinitely" and that they did not know when, or even if, he would report for the 2011 season. He was placed on the restricted list to start the season and on April 19, it was revealed that he would not receive a visa in 2011.

On December 20, 2011 Belisario's agent stated that he had gotten a five-year visa and would be in Arizona on time for the start of 2012 spring training. However, it was also revealed that he would have to serve a 25-game suspension at the start of the season for an unspecified violation of MLB's drug policy.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Stats at CBS SportsLine
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