Edinson Vólquez
| Edinson Volquez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Cincinnati Reds – No. 36 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| August 30, 2005, for the Texas Rangers | |
| Career statistics (through 2009 season) | |
| Win-Loss | 24-19 |
| Earned run average | 4.37 |
| Strikeouts | 308 |
| Teams | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
Edinson Volquez [VOL-kez] (born July 3, 1983, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic), is a starting pitcher in Major League Baseball for the Cincinnati Reds. He bats and throws right-handed.
Listed at 6' 0", 200 pounds, Volquez made his major league debut on August 30, 2005, after rising rapidly through Texas' minor league system. Together with John Danks and Thomas Diamond, Volquez was one third of the vaunted "DVD" trio of Rangers pitching prospects.[1]
Texas Rangers
Volquez's first stint in the major leagues was disastrous. After spending four years in the Rangers' minor league system, Volquez was promoted to the major league club on August 30, 2005, where he lost all three games he started, as well as one of the three games in which he appeared as a reliever, and posted a 14.21 ERA. He spent the first five months of the 2006 season at Triple-A Oklahoma until he was recalled to the majors in September. This time, he fared better, winning one of his eight starts and posting a 7.29 ERA. The Rangers were unsatisfied with the results shown by one of their top pitching prospects, so they tried an unconventional tactic. Volquez was demoted to the Rangers' A-league affiliate, the Bakersfield Blaze, to work on his control. As Volquez progressed, he was slowly promoted up through the minor league system until he reached the big leagues in September. This tactic had been used by Mark Connor, the Rangers' pitching coach, once before. In 2007 Volquez showed much improvement in his big league performance.
Cincinnati Reds
2008 season
On December 21, 2007, the Texas Rangers traded Volquez to the Cincinnati Reds, along with Daniel Ray Herrera, in a deal for Josh Hamilton. Volquez made his Reds' debut on April 6, 2008 in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies in Cincinnati. In 5.1 innings of work, he allowed only five hits, one earned run and two walks while striking out eight batters. The Reds' offense provided Volquez with plenty of run support as Cincinnati won the game by the score of 8-2.
Volquez started 2008 with a 7-1 record and a 1.33 ERA in nine starts, and allowed no more than one earned run in all but one of these starts (in which he allowed two). He became the only Reds pitcher to accomplish this since 1912.
On May 18, 2008, Volquez participated in a premiere pitching matchup with the Cleveland Indians' Cliff Lee, who at that point led the American League with an ERA of 0.67. It was the third time in MLB history that the ERA leaders of each league had faced each other. Volquez won the contest by a score of 6-4, improving to 7-1. Lee's loss, his first of the season, left him with a 6-1 record.
On May 23, 2008, Volquez struck out 12 batters in 6 innings, allowing only two hits and one earned run. This game brought his strikeout total to 74 surpassing strikeout leader Tim Lincecum who had 69. On June 4, Volquez threw seven innings of shutout baseball, claiming a 2-0 win over the Phillies and improving to 8-2 on the season.
Volquez was selected to represent the National League in the 2008 MLB All-Star Game. This was his first All-Star selection. In the game Volquez pitched the seventh inning and gave up a two-run home run to J.D. Drew[2]. By the All-Star Break, Volquez had an 12-3 record with a 2.29 ERA and 126 strikeouts. Volquez finished the month of July out with a no-decision loss against the New York Mets, a 7-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies, and a 9-5 victory over the Houston Astros.
To open August, Volquez' record slipped to 13-5 with a 8-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, in which he gave up five earned runs. However, Volquez rebounded with a 5-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates for his 14th win, then a seven-inning shutout victory over the St. Louis Cardinals for his 15th win of the season.
Volquez finished the season with a 17-6 record and an earned run average of 3.21, 8th-best in the National League.[3] Volquez threw changeups 31.9% of the time in 2008, more than any other starter.[3]
After the season, the Baseball Writers Association of America put Volquez on the ballot for National League Rookie of the Year Award voting, an award for which he was not eligible. He subsequently received three second place votes for the award, which went to Geovany Soto.[4]
2009 Season
Volquez did not follow up his 2008 All-Star campaign with the same success. In 2009 while with Cincinnati, Volquez posted a 4-2 record, with a 4.35 ERA. Volquez did not pitch after June 1 when he was put on the 60-day DL, effectively ending his season in preparation for Tommy John surgery. Volquez has been rehabbing since and expects to play in 2010, but faces the possibility of skipping the season after facing setbacks during his recovery. [5]
World Baseball Classic (2009)
Lost the opening game for the Dominican Republic against the Netherlands, giving up 3R (unearned), 2 H 2BB and 3SO in 3 IP. [6]
2010 Season
On April 20, 2010, Volquez received a 50 game suspension for use of performance-enhancing drugs.[7]
References
- ^ Top Ten Prospects: Texas Rangers
- ^ Volquez's first All-Star Game memorable | reds.com: News
- ^ "Edinson Volquez statistics". Sports Reference, LLC. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ^ Singer, Tom (November 10, 2008). "Longoria, Soto are Rookies of the Year". MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Heyman, Jon (April 20, 2010). "Cincinnati Reds' Edinson Volquez fails test, gets suspended". Retrieved April 20, 2010.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)