Jeffrey Michael Bajenaru ( ro, Băjenaru; born March 21, 1978) is an American former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

and current

pitching coach In baseball, a number of coaches assist in the smooth functioning of a team. They are assistants to the manager, who determines the starting lineup and batting order, decides how to substitute players during the game, and makes strategy decisio ...

for the

Hillsboro Hops The Hillsboro Hops are a Minor League Baseball team in the northwest United States, located in Hillsboro, Oregon, a city in the Portland metropolitan area. The Hops are members of the Northwest League as an affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. ...

, the

Single-A Class A, also known as Single-A and sometimes as Low-A, is the fourth-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States, below Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A, Double-A (baseball), Double-A, and High-A. There are 30 teams classif ...

affiliate of the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

. He played in

Major League baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

and the

College career

Bajenaru was born in

Pomona, California Pomona is a city in Los Angeles County, California. Pomona is located in the Pomona Valley, between the Inland Empire and the San Gabriel Valley. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 151,713. The main campus of California State Polyte ...

and graduated from

Ruben S. Ayala High School Senator Ruben S. Ayala Senior High School, often abbreviated as Ayala High School or AHS, is located in Chino Hills, California. It is one of the four comprehensive high schools in the Chino Valley Unified School District. The school was establ ...

in Chino Hills. He began his college career at U.C. Riverside and then transferred to

Riverside Community College Riverside City College (RCC) is a public community college in Riverside, California. The college is part of the Riverside Community College District, as well as the larger California Community Colleges System. History RCC first opened in 1916 at ...

. The

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

drafted him in the 13th round after his sophomore season, but he elected not to sign. He parlayed his community college performance into a scholarship at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. The Chicago White Sox chose him in the 36th round the next year, but he again returned to school. In 2000, he hit .342 with 11 HR's and 58 RBI. On the mound he was 1-2 with 20 saves (setting a conference and Oklahoma record for season and career and was 2nd in the nation in saves) and a 2.62 ERA. He was a 1st Team All-American as a

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water polo. The ...

, and was a 1st Team

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

selection as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

and 2nd Team Big 12 Conference selection as a relief pitcher. Bajenaru was later inducted into the

Hall of Fame in 2015.

Professional career

He was projected to be taken between the second and fifth rounds of the 2000 draft by

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

, but signed with the White Sox as a non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in May, before the draft was held. Bajenaru has generally worked as a closer during his minor league career, striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings, and collecting 24 wins and 91 saves in relief. He missed the entire 2002 season as a result of

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

, but recovered well and was able to resume his baseball career in 2003. Bajenaru made his major league debut with the White Sox on September 4, 2004. After brief stints in their bullpen in 2004 and 2005, he was traded to the Diamondbacks on March 8, 2006, with the White Sox receiving infielder Alex Cintrón. Bajenaru appeared in four games for the

team that went on to win the 2005 World Series championship. He was with the Triple-A and

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

champion Tucson Sidewinders team in 2006. In his five full Minor League seasons, he participated in three All-Star games at the Double-A and Triple-A levels. Bajenaru missed the entire 2007 season and ended up retiring from professional baseball in 2008 due to two separate shoulder surgeries. He finished his minor league career with 340 innings, 10.22 K/9, and only 6.9 H/9. Since retiring from playing he has been a pitching coach within the Arizona Diamondbacks organization since the 2011 season and was named back-to-back California League Coach of the Year in the 2017 and 2018 seasons. In February 2019, Bajenaru was named as the

for the

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, which opened in 2009. ...

References

External links

An interview with Bajenaru
by the

Society for American Baseball Research The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is a membership organization dedicated to fostering the research and dissemination of the history and record of baseball primarily through the use of statistics. Established in Cooperstown, New ...

.
Bajenaru's minor league statistics
at The Toronto Star.
Baseball Almanac
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajenaru, Jeff 1978 births Living people American people of Romanian descent Arizona Diamondbacks players Chicago White Sox players Baseball players from California Major League Baseball pitchers Oklahoma Sooners baseball players Riverside City Tigers baseball players Bristol White Sox players Winston-Salem Warthogs players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Tucson Sidewinders players Minor league baseball coaches Baseball coaches from California Riverside City Tigers baseball coaches Tomateros de Culiacán players American expatriate baseball players in Mexico Mesa Solar Sox players