High Atop the Rockies

If Ubaldo Jimenez isn’t yet a household name, it soon will be. The Colorado Rockies right-handed pitcher has become the punch in their rotation, and a threat to any batter. After making franchise history in the first month of play this year, there’s no place for this flamethrower to go than up. This season the whirlwind has surrounded upcoming players from the draft such as Strasburg, and the big name pitchers like Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay, but it’s the guys that fly under the radar that seem to be making the big splash, Jimenez included.

Born in 1984 in Nagua, Maria Trinidad Sanchez, Dominican Republic, Ubaldo Jimenez was signed by the Rockies as a free agent in 2001. The appeal of this right-hander lies in his velocity and arm strength. His four-seam fastball has been clocked as high as 100 mph, but normally sits around the mid-90s. He has the ability to reach top speeds so often that he is frequently the hardest throwing pitcher in the Major Leagues. His two-seam fastball reaches the low-to-mid-90s, and the pitch’s effectiveness can be shown in his high ground-ball percentage, a great advantage for fields conducive to extra-base hits. His pitch range is beyond impressive, as he uses a tricky slider and four-seam fastball most often, and a changeup that sinks so strongly that it is nearly indistinguishable from his split-finger fastball.

Jimenez rose quietly in the Colorado Rockies organization. He made his Major League debut with the Rockies on September 26, 2006. He began his career as a relief pitcher and entered the game in the eighth inning when the Rockies were trailing 11-4 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He may not have appeared to have the “stuff” Hall of Famers are made of, but he got the job done. He allowed two hits and no runs, and on the last game of the regular season, October 1, he made his first Major League start. Although the Rockies lost, he allowed only three hits and three earned runs over a span of 6 2/3 innings.

His first win came in 2007, on July 29 when the Rockies hosted the L.A. Dodgers. The Rockies won 9-6 and Jimenez gave up four hits and only two earned runs. He also made his first postseason debut that year, in Game 3 of the 2007 NLDS against the Philadelphia Phillies. Jimenez pitched six innings allowing one earned run in the Rockies’ victory. Although Jimenez did not receive a decision for the game, the win secured the Rockies’ sweep of the Phillies. He received his second straight postseason no-decision in Game 2 of the 2007 NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Rockies beat the D-Backs 3-2, and went on to sweep them, sending them to the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Jimenez started Game 2 of the World Series, and although only giving up two earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, the Rockies suffered a 2-1 loss, and were swept by the Red Sox.

In his 2008 season, Ubaldo Jimenez led the National League in starts with 34. He went 12-12 on the season with an ERA of 3.99. He also boasted the fastest fastball in the Major Leagues at 94.9 mph. No one threw more pitches over 95 mph than Jimenez, at 1,342. During the offseason, he signed a new four-year deal with the club, with an option up to 2013-2014.

Ubaldo Jimenez’s second full season as a starter in the Major Leagues in 2009 was a breakout season for the young pitcher. He improved from 2008, going 15-12 on the season with a 3.47 ERA. He set a franchise record for pitching at least six innings in 25 consecutive starts from May to September.

He also pitched for the Dominican Republic in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, during which he set a single-start strikeout record. On March 10, he struck out 10 of 13 batters in four innings and 65 pitches.

His record breaking didn’t end in 2009. On April 17, 2010 Ubaldo Jimenez threw the first no-hitter in Colorado Rockies franchise history. The Rockies won 4-0 against the Atlanta Braves. He struck out seven batters, and walked six, and threw a career-high 128 pitches, 72 of which were strikes. Throughout the course of the game, his fastball hit 100 mph three times. Jimenez was named the National League Pitcher of the Month for April, only the second Rockie to do so. He is the second pitcher in Major League history to throw a no-hitter and earn five wins in the month of April. He also set a franchise record in April for consecutive scoreless innings, which was snapped at 25 1/3 in early May. Shortly after, he had 33 consecutive scoreless innings from May to June, setting another franchise record for not only starting pitchers, but relievers as well. He became the first pitcher to have two streaks of at least 25 consecutive scoreless innings in once season since Jack Morris, in 1986. He was named National League Pitcher of the Month again in May, making him the first in Rockies history to win more than once, and the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez to win in April and May since 1999.

This season Ubaldo Jimenez became the third pitcher in Major League Baseball history to win their first 10 of 11 starts and maintain an ERA below 1.00, which his sat at .78. He currently leads the National League in wins, and is second in win-loss percentage.

The talent Jimenez exudes and the skill he possesses have fans and experts alike crying out to hand over the Cy Yound Award to this 26-year-old Dominican. The 2010 season is not even to the half-way point, and there’s no doubt that come September, we will have seen a few more record-breaking performances by Ubaldo Jimenez.