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On Sunday, the duo of Orlando Hernandez and Mike Pelfrey combined for a total of allow 17 hits and 13 runs in 7⅓ innings. With that said, Mets manager Willie Randolph still hasn’t name his fifth starter. The competition is squarely down to Hernandez, Pelfrey and 33-year old pitcher Nelson Figueroa.
Originally drafted by the Mets in the 30th round of the 1995 MLB Amateur Draft, he was traded to the Diamondbacks in 1998. He was then sent to Philadelphia in the deal that brought Curt Schilling to the desert. Following that, Figueroa bounced around the league with various clubs including the Brewers, Pirates and Nationals.
His last major-league appearance was with the Pirates in 2004, going 0-3 with a 5.72 ERA in 10 games, three of which were starts. He pitched with a torn rotator cuff and took a year off to rehab.
Finally, in September of 2007, he found his way to Taiwan to play in the Chinese Professional Baseball League, eventually being named the CPBL championship series most valuable player.
In six games, two starts, Figueroa has a 2.87 ERA and has allowed five runs in 14 2/3 innings.
Overall, in 74 appearances, 33 of which were starts, Figueroa is 7-17 with a 4.65 ERA throughout his five-year major league career.
For more on Figueroa, check out Vic Ziegel’s column for the New York Daily News.
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2 Responses for "Who Is Nelson Figueroa?"
You left out a pretty big piece of info on Nelson. He is a Brooklyn guy and Lincoln High graduate! Way to persevere Nel!
There’s so much more: In 2007, in the Triple A Mexican League, Nelson Figueroa appeared in 19 games, all starts, and pitched 153.1 innings, averaging a remarkable 8 innings per game, with 10 complete games, the most in any league in 2007, minor or major. In last month’s Caribe World Series, a weekend round-robin, he started the opening game for Mexico and was taken out with one out in the 10th with the score 1-1 - it was a no decision. He came back in relief 2 games later in the bottom of the 9th, tie score, one out, runners on 1st and 3rd (winning run) and got the next 2 outs on 3 pitches (pop up, ground out), Mexico scored 3 in the 10th and Figueroa retired the Dominican Republic (the eventual WS winners) 1-2-3 to win the game. He was voted the Caribe Series MVP to go with his China WS MVP. That’s who Nelson Figueroa is!
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