Jorge Alberto de la Rosa Gonzalez (born April 5, 1981) is a Mexican former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

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 dr ...

. 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 (A ...

(MLB) for the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks and

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

Professional career

Minor leagues

De la Rosa was signed as an amateur free agent by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998. He was purchased by the

Monterrey Sultanes The Sultanes de Monterrey ( en, Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monterrey, Mexico. They compete in the Northern Division. The team also joined the Mexican Pacific League for the 2019–20 seas ...

of the Mexican League prior to the 2000 season. The

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

purchased de la Rosa from Monterrey prior to the 2001 season. In November 2003 season, the Red Sox traded de la Rosa with Casey Fossum, Brandon Lyon and Michael Goss to the Diamondbacks for Curt Schilling. The Diamondbacks traded him in December 2003 with

Chris Capuano Christopher Frank Capuano (born August 19, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher whose professional playing career spanned from 2000 through 2016. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwauk ...

, Craig Counsell,

Chad Moeller Chad Edward Moeller OE-ler(born February 18, 1975) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2000 through 2010 for the Minnesota Twins, Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinna ...

Lyle Overbay Lyle Stefan Overbay (born January 28, 1977) is an American former professional baseball first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, New York Yan ...

and

Junior Spivey Ernest Lee "Junior" Spivey Jr. (born January 28, 1975) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball. In his five-year major league career, Spivey batted .270 with 48 home runs and 201 runs batted in in 457 games. He made the Nationa ...

to the

for Richie Sexson,

Shane Nance Joseph Shane Nance (born September 7, 1977) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He played parts of three seasons in the majors, from to with the Milwaukee Brewers and in with the Arizona Diamondbacks. College career Nance atten ...

and a player to be named later.

Milwaukee Brewers

De la Rosa made his MLB debut on August 14, 2004, for the

. In 2005, De la Rosa split between the minors and the Brewers bullpen, appearing in 38 games, with a record of 2–2. During the season, Brewers starting pitchers

Ben Sheets Ben Michael Sheets (born July 18, 1978) is an American former professional baseball pitcher who played for the Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball. Sheets is a four-time MLB All-Star (2001, 2004, 20 ...

Tomo Ohka (born March 18, 1976) is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He played for the Boston Red Sox (–), Montreal Expos / Washington Nationals (2001–), Milwaukee Brewers (2005–), Toronto Blue Jays (), Cleveland Indi ...

, and long relief man Rick Helling were injured, leaving the fifth spot open. The Brewers inserted De la Rosa in the starting role after an unsuccessful stint with Dana Eveland. In 3 starts, he went 0–2 with a 12.27 ERA. In his third start, he was removed because of blisters on his finger. He was then placed on the 15-day

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. In 18 games, his ERA was 8.60 with 30 runs allowed and 22 walks in 30 innings.

Kansas City Royals

De la Rosa was traded to the

for

Tony Graffanino Anthony Joseph Graffanino (; born Graffagnino, June 6, 1972) is a former American Major League Baseball second baseman, third baseman, and shortstop. Career Graffanino was primarily a contact hitter (just 481 strikeouts in 2787 big-league at-b ...

during the 2006 season. In his first start for the

, he pitched six innings allowing two earned runs and getting the win. De la Rosa remained in the rotation, finishing the season with a 3–4 record in 10 starts for the Royals. De la Rosa's 2007 season marked his first full season in the major leagues, pitching in 23 starts for the Royals. His record was 8–12 with an ERA of 5.82 in just 130 innings for the Royals.

Colorado Rockies

On April 30, 2008, he was sent to the Colorado Rockies, completing the earlier trade that sent pitcher Ramón Ramírez to the Royals. In his first season with the Rockies, De la Rosa won 10 games for the first time in his career. He also lowered his ERA by a full run over the previous two seasons. De la Rosa struggled during the first half of the 2009 season, going 0–6 in his first 10 starts. However, after June 1, de la Rosa was one of the best pitchers in baseball. De la Rosa won 16 games for the Rockies that year, and he helped the Rockies clinch the NL wild card with his second-half performance. On October 4 while pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers, de la Rosa suffered a strained left groin and left the game. De la Rosa would go on to miss the NLDS against the Phillies. De la Rosa had the best season of his career in 2009, going 16–9 with a 4.38 ERA, and 193 strikeouts. De la Rosa's 16 wins ranked him third in the NL in 2009. De la Rosa started the 2010 season going 3–1, 3.91 ERA, 26 K in 23 innings pitched before suffering a torn flexor tendon band in his left finger which put de la Rosa on the disabled list for the next 2 months. He returned in July from the DL and finished the season going 8–7, 4.22 ERA, and 113 K in 121.2 innings pitched. De la Rosa became a free agent at the end of the 2010 season. He signed a two-year contract with a player option for a third year to remain with the Rockies. On May 24, 2011, de la Rosa suffered a complete tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow, requiring Tommy John ligament transfer surgery, thus the end of his season. He had posted a record of 4–0 in April, and had a 1–2 May, before the injury. After missing almost the whole 2012 season, De la Rosa made his return toward the end of the season, making three starts for the Rockies. After three injury-plagued seasons, De la Rosa's 2013 season marked the best season of his career despite lowering his K/9. He finished tied for a career high in wins with 16 and a career low ERA of 3.49 in 30 starts. In 2014, De la Rosa took a step back from his previous season. He finished 14–11 with an ERA of 4.10 and a career high 21 home runs allowed. After the season, De la Rosa and the Rockies agreed to a two-year contract extension. On June 14, 2015, De la Rosa became the Rockies all-time wins leader, notching win number 73 for the franchise. Despite just winning 9 games in 2015 due to injury, De la Rosa set franchise records with the most wins by a Rockie and most K's in franchise history. De la Rosa's .618 winning percentage is a Rockies' franchise record (50 start minimum). De la Rosa also holds the Rockies all-time record for best winning percentage in Coors Field with a .763 winning percentage.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On February 19, 2017, he signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was added to the 40 man roster at the end of spring training and began the season as a reliever. De la Rosa pitched the whole season out of the bullpen for the first time since 2005. He went 3-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 65 games. On February 16, 2018, de la Rosa signed a new minor league contract with the Diamondbacks. On July 31, 2018, de la Rosa was designated for assignment. He was released on August 4, 2018.

Chicago Cubs

On August 10, 2018, de la Rosa signed a Major League contract with the

. He became a free agent after the season.

Second stint with Colorado

On April 5, 2019, de la Rosa signed a new minor league contract with the Rockies. He was released on June 7, 2019, without appearing in any games due to an oblique injury.

International career

De la Rosa played for the Mexican team during the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums that are in and around Tokyo, Japan; San Juan, Puert ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosa, Jorge de la 1981 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Diamondbacks players Baseball players from Nuevo León Chicago Cubs players Colorado Rockies players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Grand Junction Rockies players High Desert Mavericks players Huntsville Stars players Indianapolis Indians players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Mexico Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Mexican League baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players Missoula Osprey players Modesto Nuts players Naranjeros de Hermosillo players Omaha Royals players Pawtucket Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Sarasota Red Sox players Sportspeople from Monterrey Sultanes de Monterrey players Trenton Thunder players Tulsa Drillers players Wichita Wranglers players 2006 World Baseball Classic players