Baseball Wiki
Register
Advertisement
This page has been copied from Wikipedia under the provisions of the GNU Free Documentation License.
Please help Baseball Wiki by revising it.


Rafael Soriano

A photo of Rafael Soriano.

Rafael Soriano (born December 19, 1979 in San José, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball pitcher for the Atlanta Braves. He made his Major League debut with the Seattle Mariners on May 5, 2002. He bats and throws right-handed. Soriano throws a moving fastball in the mid to upper 90's, which has been known to reach triple digits, along with a slider and scarcely used changeup.

He was originally signed as an outfielder before being converted to a pitcher. After an effective 2003 season, Soriano suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, and underwent Tommy John surgery on August 17, 2004. He would return to the Majors on September 10,2005. Soriano suffered a concussion on August 29, 2006, after being struck behind the ear by a line drive hit from Angel's slugger Vladimir Guerrero. [2]. He was released from the hospital the following afternoon.

Soriano was traded to the Atlanta Braves from the Seattle Mariners on December 6, 2006 in exchange for left-handed pitcher Horacio Ramírez. In an offseason article, ESPN explained why they believed that Soriano was a significantly better player than Ramirez, calling it the worst trade of the off-season. Soriano had a mixed bag of success and disappointment in his first season in Atlanta, primarily serving as the setup man to closer Bob Wickman. Soriano became the Braves closer after Bob Wickman was designated for assignment in August. He earned his first save since May 10 on August 30.

Soriano was suspended for four games on September 20 after hitting Dan Uggla with a pitch. The suspension was reduced to two games after appeal. He finished his first season as a Brave with a 3-3 record and 3.00 ERA.

Soriano signed a 2-year contract with the Braves worth $9 million USD on January 24, 2008.[1]

References[]

External links[]


Advertisement