Nelson Figueroa

Nelson Figueroa
New York Mets – No. 27
Starting pitcher
Bats: Switch Throws: Right
debut
June 3, 2000, for the Arizona Diamondbacks
Career statistics (through 2008)
Win-Loss	8-17
Earned run average	4.64
Strikeouts	159
Teams
Arizona Diamondbacks (2000) Philadelphia Phillies (2001) Milwaukee Brewers (2002) Pittsburgh Pirates (2003-2004) New York Mets (2008-present)

Nelson Figueroa (born May 18, 1974 in Brooklyn, New York) is a Major League Baseball player in the New York Mets organization. He attended Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts where he pitched for three years and earned a bachelors degree in American Studies. He was drafted 833rd overall by the New York Mets in the 30th round of the 1995 MLB Draft and was subsequently traded along with outfielder Bernard Gilkey to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jorge Fábregas, Willie Blair and cash considerations. The right-handed starting pitcher and occasional long reliever stands at 6'1, 205 pounds. He features a fastball, slider, curveball and breaking ball.

Figueroa made his major league debut with the Diamondbacks during the 2000 season, becoming the first Brandeis University alumnus to reach the major leagues. Figueroa started in three games that year and compiled an 0-1 record and a 7.47 ERA. On July 26, 2000, Figueroa was traded with Vicente Padilla, Travis Lee, and Omar Daal to the Philadelphia Phillies for Curt Schilling. Figueroa spent the rest of the 2000 season pitching for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons of the International League (AAA), compiling a record of 4-3 and an ERA of 3.78.

In 2001, Figueroa tossed 89 innings for the Phillies and finished the season with a 4-5 record and 3.94 ERA. The right-hander was claimed off waivers on October 11, 2002, by the Milwaukee Brewers. Figueroa spent one season in Milwaukee where he regressed to a 1-7 record and 5.03 ERA. He then signed as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Pirates on January 6, 2003. Figueroa spent most of the 2003 season pitching for the Nashville Sounds, the AAA affiliate of the Pirates. He was promoted late in the season and went 2-1 with a 3.31 ERA for Pittsburgh.

After a brief stint with the Pirates in 2004, Figueroa spent 2005 rehabilitating a torn rotator cuff that he had played with during the previous season. He signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals early in 2006 and spent the season pitching for the Triple-A New Orleans Zephyrs, where he posted a 4.38 ERA in 76 innings of work. In 2007, he signed with Dorados de Chihuahua of the Mexican League.

Figueroa went to Taiwan in September 2007 as a late season addition to the Uni-President Lions of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He started 4 games for the Lions, won them all, had 8 walks and 21 strikeouts in 30 innings, had an ERA of 3.00, and helped the Lions secure the wild-card spot in the playoff series.

In the first round best-of-five series against Macoto Cobras, Figueroa started for the Lions in the first game. He pitched for 8 innings, gave up only 6 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs while striking out 8 hitters. The Lions won the game with a score of 9-4 with Figueroa the winning pitcher, and advanced to the championship series by sweeping the Cobras in three games.

In the 2007 Taiwan Series CPBL championship series against the La New Bears, Figueroa started in three games, the first, fourth, and seventh games, and won them all. He was selected as the series MVP and now holds the record in the Taiwan Series history as the starting pitcher with the most games won.

In his return to Major League Baseball on April 11, 2008 Figueroa had his first start with the New York Mets. He pitched 6 innings, allowed 2 hits, walked two and struck out 6, getting credit for the victory with the Mets going on to win 4-2. In attendance was his family, who cheered him on from Met's Closer Billy Wagner's suite.

Personal

Figueroa is married and spends the off-season in Arizona and New York. He is a graduate of Lincoln High school in Brooklyn, New York. He is also an artist who helped design patriotic t-shirts for Major League Baseball in the aftermath of 9/11. The shirts were sold to raise money for charity. He originally intended to be an engineering major before the program was discontinued at Brandeis, and has a skill with electronics that former manager Jerry Royster called "just amazing."

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs
• Baseball Almanac