Fernando Rodney

Fernando Rodney (born March 18, 1977 in Samana, Dominican Republic) is a relief pitcher who currently plays for the Detroit Tigers, and has a career ERA of 4.08, as of the end of the 2006 season. He was signed by Detroit as an amateur free agent in 1997; his major league debut came in 2002 at the age of 25. In 2005, Rodney became the Tigers' closer after Troy Percival went down with an arm injury and his replacement, Kyle Farnsworth, was traded at midseason to the Atlanta Braves. He underwent successful Tommy John surgery following the 2003 season (which he spent in the minor leagues). He spent the 2004 season recovering, then failed to make the Tigers opening day roster after the 2005 spring training session. He was called up from Toledo after Farnsworth was traded, then settled into the closer's role, earning nine saves in thirty-nine total appearances, during which he racked up an impressive 2.86 ERA. When the Tigers signed closer Todd Jones during the 2005-06 offseason, Rodney was reinserted into a middle relief/setup role. He's currently among manager Jim Leyland's most preferred relievers in the Tigers' bullpen. Rodney's weapons are a lively fastball in the mid-90's and a devastating changeup around 85. After a successful 2006 season, the 2007 season has been unkind to Rodney who as of June 16th, 2007, holds a record of 1-5 and an ERA of 5.68. Rodney's lack of success in the setup role, in addition to the 5 losses which have come at his hands, have caused numerous fans to lose faith in Rodney. As of July 20th, 2007, Rodney was on the 15 day disabled list with a sore right shoulder. His velocity and command in 2007 was never near the same compared to his successful 2005 and 2006 seasons. Since returning from the DL on Aug. 5th, Rodney has not allowed a single earned run in 13 innings of pitching, he has also struck out 16 batters as well. Eventually, he gave up a run to the Athletics. Despite that, he struck out 54 batters in 50.7 innings.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference
• Detroit Tigers - Player Information: Fernando Rodney