José Valverde
| José Valverde | |
|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks – No. 47 | |
| Closing Pitcher | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| June 1, 2003, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| Career statistics (through August 16, 2007) | |
| Win-Loss | 9-14 |
| Saves | 88 |
| Earned Run Average | 3.37 |
| Strikeouts | 313 |
| Teams | |
José Rafael Valverde is a baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was born on July 24, 1979 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic. He stands 6'4" tall and weighs 255 lbs.
Made his MLB debut in 2003 to help out the injury plagued Diamondbacks, joining Brandon Webb and Andrew Good after injuries to Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling left the team out of contention.
Although he had been the Diamondbacks' closer since replacing Brian Bruney in 2005, trouble on the mound in the month of June 2006 forced management to give the role to Jorge Julio. Valverde regained the role after spending some time with the Diamondbacks' AAA affiliate, the Tucson Sidewinders. He returned to the closer role in early September (as Julio became too inconsistent) and pitched well in his return. Valverde finished the 2006 season with a record of 2 wins, 3 losses, an ERA of 5.84 and 18 saves.
On June 23, 2007, Valverde passed Matt Mantei as the Diamondbacks all-time saves leader, with his 75th, a perfect ninth against the Baltimore Orioles.
Made the 2007 MLB All-Star Game as a closer for Arizona.
Valverde currently is the Diamondbacks' closer, leading the Major Leagues in saves with 45 (out of 52 chances) as of 09/18/07.
When José enters into the game, the song "Big Poppa" by Notorious B.I.G. is played.
His nickname is Papa Grande or Big Papa.
On September 25, 2007, Valverde was named as one of 10 finalist for the "DHL Presents the Major League Baseball Delivery Man of the Year Award."
He has a wife and a newborn girl.