Top 5 Latino Closers in Baseball 2014: Which Pitchers Will Dominate This Year?
The most difficult outs to get in baseball are the last three.
Panamanian fireballer Mariano Rivera, Major League Baseball's all-time leader in saves with 652, retired in 2013 after 19 glorious years with the New York Yankees, but there are still plenty of active Latino pitchers in the big leagues who can finish the job. Here's Latin Post's list of the top five Latino closers in Major League Baseball:
Player: Rafael Soriano
Team: Washington Nationals
Throws: Right-handed
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
The Nationals failed to meet expectations in 2013, but that wasn't the case for Rafael Soriano. Closing out 43 games last season, the right-hander shared the MLB's fourth-highest saves total with then-Texas Rangers closer Joe Nathan. Soriano, 34, went 3-3 with a 3.11 ERA. He had 51 strikeouts and gave up 17 walks and 24 runs (23 earned) in 66 2/3 innings.
Player: Aroldis Chapman
Team: Cincinnati Reds
Throws: Left-handed
Country of Origin: Cuba
Nicknamed "Cuban Missile" for possessing a fastball that often reaches and surpasses the 100 mph mark, Reds southpaw Aroldis Chapman, 25, has been a crisis for National League hitters since 2010. The flame-throwing hurler logged a 4-5 record, 2.54 ERA and 38 saves last year. He fanned 112 batters while yielding 29 walks and 18 runs in 63 2/3 frames.
Player: Sergio Romo
Team: San Francisco Giants
Throws: Right-handed
Country of Origin: United States of America
Starting out as a setup man, Mexican-American righty Sergio Romo, 30, took over closing duties for San Francisco some four months after ex-Giants closer Brian Wilson's season-ending elbow injury in April of 2012. Romo, of Brawley, Calif., struck out the side to seal the Giants' World Series sweep of the Detroit Tigers that season, and, in his first full year as closer in 2013, went 5-8 with a 2.54 ERA and 38 saves.
Player: Edward Mujica
Team: Boston Red Sox
Throws: Right-handed
Country of Origin: Venezuela
Eight-year veteran Edward Mujica, 29, saved 37 games and was 2-1 with a 2.78 ERA for the reigning National League champion St. Louis Cardinals last year. In a MassLive.com article published on Dec. 7, 2013, Mujica hinted at a falling out of sorts between himself and Cardinals management after his late-season struggles cost him both his role as closer and a spot on the World Series roster.
The right-hander was then signed by the Boston Red Sox-the team that defeated St. Louis in last year's Fall Classic-to a two-year, $9.5 million deal on Dec. 7, 2013. Mujica will enter the 2014 season setting up for Koji Uehara, but as a proven closer, he provides the defending champs with insurance in the event that Uehara, 39, succumbs to injury.
Player: Fernando Rodney
Team: Seattle Mariners
Throws: Right-handed
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Known for sporting his cap with the brim pointed a couple of inches to the left, Fernando Rodney, an All-Star in 2012, picked up 37 saves for the AL Wild Card-winning Tampa Bay Rays in 2013. Signed by the Seattle Mariners for $14 million over two years Thursday, the 36-year-old had a 5-4 record and 3.38 ERA last season, his second with the Rays. Rodney's new deal reunites him with Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon, who was his bullpen coach when he pitched for the Detroit Tigers in 2008.
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