Ubaldo Jiménez: Difference between revisions
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'''Ubaldo Jiménez''' has a sweaty taint. |
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'''Ubaldo Jiménez''' (pronounced ʰəmɛnɛz) (born January 22, 1984, in [[Nagua]], [[Dominican Republic]]) is a [[Major League Baseball]] [[right-handed]] [[starting pitcher]] for the [[Colorado Rockies]]. He was signed as a non-drafted [[free agent]] on April 25, {{by|2001}}. |
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This past season he went 15-12 with a 3.47 [[Earned run average|ERA]] in {{mlby|2009}}, his second full season in the majors. In the 2008 offseason, he signed a four-year, $10 million dollar contract with club options up to 2013-14.<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090127&content_id=3775530&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp here Rockies sign Jimenez to four-year deal]</ref> |
This past season he went 15-12 with a 3.47 [[Earned run average|ERA]] in {{mlby|2009}}, his second full season in the majors. In the 2008 offseason, he signed a four-year, $10 million dollar contract with club options up to 2013-14.<ref>[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090127&content_id=3775530&vkey=hotstove2008&fext=.jsp here Rockies sign Jimenez to four-year deal]</ref> |
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Revision as of 22:17, 23 November 2009
| Ubaldo Jiménez | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Colorado Rockies – No. 38 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| debut | |
| September 26, 2006, for the Colorado Rockies | |
| Career statistics (through 2009 season) | |
| Win-Loss | 31-28 |
| Earned run average | 3.80 |
| Strikeouts | 441 |
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |
| Teams | |
| |
Ubaldo Jiménez has a sweaty taint.
This past season he went 15-12 with a 3.47 ERA in 2009, his second full season in the majors. In the 2008 offseason, he signed a four-year, $10 million dollar contract with club options up to 2013-14.[1]
Jiménez holds the single-start strikeout record for the World Baseball Classic, which he set in March of 2009. He struck out 10 of the 13 batters he faced during his 65-pitch, four inning performance in Round One against the Netherlands.[2]
Scouting report
With respect to overall power, few pitchers possess the arm strength that makes Jiménez so formidable.
His four-seam fastball is frequently clocked as high as 100 mph, sometimes touching 101 mph[3], though his average four-seam fastball will typically register between 95-99 mph. Jiménez attains such velocity so frequently, in fact, that he is typically the hardest-throwing starting pitcher in baseball, having averaged a Major League best 96.1 mph during the 2009 season[4]. Additionally, no one threw more pitches over 95 mph (1,342) than did Jiménez during the 2008 season.[5]
Jiménez's two-seam fastball exhibits strong "tailing" action (moving inside on a right-handed batter, and away from a left-handed batter), as well as good "sinking" action, though not always by design. Velocity ranges from 93-95 mph. In 2008, Jiménez posted a very robust ground-ball percentage of 54.4%,[6] a testament to this pitch's effectiveness and making him an ideal pitcher for Coors Field, a ballpark known for extra-base hits.
Jiménez is known to throw a split-finger fastball and an occasional forkball, having deceptive downward movement in the 86-91 mph range.
The changeup thrown by Jiménez also exhibits strong "sinking" action, so much so that television commentators unfamiliar with Jiménez often have trouble distinguishing his change-up from a sinking fastball or a split-finger fastball. Jiménez varies the pitch by using both a circle changeup and traditional straight changeup grip. Typically thrown between 85-90 mph, the pitch will dive down and away from left-handed batters.
Jiménez's slider is usually thrown between 84-86 mph while reaching as high as 89-91 mph on occasion. This pitch fools batters with an unusually sharp, late break and is used second most in frequency behind his four-seam fastball. Batters often confuse this pitch with a fastball (the major league average for a fastball is approximately 91 mph[7]) and due to the tight, late-breaking movement of the pitch, are often unable to hit it.
The final pitch in Jiménez's arsenal is a looping curveball. Used infrequently, it is thrown anywhere between 75-85 mph and exhibits a traditional "12-6" break.
With such impressive pitching talent, Jiménez was compared to a young Pedro Martinez by his manager, Jim Tracy.[8] However, control issues still separate him from the elite pitchers in the league.
Jiménez wears a Rawlings glove stitched with 'Jiménez-Garcia', his full last name.
Honors and awards
- No. 24 of Baseball's Best Minor League Players - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006.[9]
- No. 30 of Baseball's Best Minor League Players - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2005.[10]
- No. 32 of Baseball's Best Minor League Players - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2004.[11]
References
- ^ here Rockies sign Jimenez to four-year deal
- ^ http://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090311&content_id=3963948&team=dom
- ^ http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/fastest-pitcher-in-baseball.shtml
- ^ http://www.fangraphs.com
- ^ http://baseballanalysts.com/archives/2008/11/the_bill_james_5.php
- ^ http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2009/3/25/809848/ubaldo-jimenez-fx
- ^ http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/fastball-slider-changeup-curveball-an-analysis/
- ^ http://www.fantasysp.com/player/mlb/Ubaldo_Jimenez/394886
- ^ "Ubaldo Jiménez - No. 24 of Baseball's Best Minor League Players - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2006".
- ^ "Ubaldo Jiménez - No. 30 of Baseball's Best Minor League Players - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2005".
- ^ "Ubaldo Jiménez - No. 32 of Baseball's Best Minor League Players - MLN FAB50 Baseball 2004".
External links
- Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs