| Ubaldo Jiménez | |
|---|---|
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| Colorado Rockies — No. 38 | |
| Starting pitcher | |
| Born:
January 22, 1984 Nagua, Dominican Republic |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| MLB debut | |
| September 26, 2006 for the Colorado Rockies | |
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Career statistics (through 2009 season) |
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| Win-Loss | 31-28 |
| Earned run average | 3.80 |
| Strikeouts | 441 |
| Teams | |
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Ubaldo Jiménez is a starting pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. He was born on January 22, 1984
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In 2008, Jimenez went 12-12 with a 3.99 earned run average. His 34 starts led the National League.[1] He threw the fastest fastball in the Major League, averaging 94.9 mph.[2]
This past season Ubaldo Jiménez went 15-12 with a 3.47 ERA, 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.[3]
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.[4]
With respect to overall velocity, 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[5], 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[6]. Additionally, no one threw more pitches over 95 mph (1,342) than did Jiménez during the 2008 season.[7]
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%,[8] 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[9]) 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.[10] 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.
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[[File:|100px|right|thumb|Ubaldo Jimenez]] Ubaldo Jimenez (born January 22, 1984) is a pitcher for the Colorado Rockies. He became the first Rockie to throw a no-hitter on April 17, 2010. He is from the Dominican Republic. In 2010, he was the starting National League pitcher at the MLB All-Star Game, which the National League won.
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