Sergio Luis Escalona Rodríguez (born August 3, 1984), is a

Venezuelan Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

, who 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

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

() and

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

() and is currently pitching in the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

(VPBL). While still active in MLB, Escalona stood tall, weighing , according to sources. He throws and bats left-handed.

Career

Minor leagues

Escalona was signed as a gratis agent by the Phillies in the year after 2003. He spent around 24 months playing for the

Venezuelan Summer League The Venezuelan Summer League (VSL) was a professional baseball sports league that operated in Venezuela from 1997 to 2015, primarily in the state of Carabobo. Teams in the league served as academies for Major League Baseball (MLB) organizations, a ...

Phillies, where he compiled a 4–5 record between 2005 and 2006. He pitched 107

innings An innings is one of the divisions of a cricket match during which one team takes its turn to bat. Innings also means the period in which an individual player bats (acts as either striker or nonstriker). Innings, in cricket, and rounders, is bot ...

and struck out 105 batters over the two seasons. Escalona was promoted in 2007, playing for the

Williamsport Crosscutters The Williamsport Crosscutters are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, and play their home games at Muncy Bank Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field. From 1994 to 2020, they were a ...

, the

Lakewood BlueClaws The Jersey Shore BlueClaws (formerly Lakewood BlueClaws) are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Lakewood, New Jersey, and are named for their locat ...

, and the

Clearwater Threshers The Clearwater Threshers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Clearwater, Florida, and have played their home games at BayCare Ballpark since 2 ...

. At Williamsport, he started seven games, posting a 2–2 record and a 7.57

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA). A 1–4 record and 4.15 ERA in Lakewood was not enough to stop him from being promoted again. In Clearwater, he pitched one game, where he allowed one run on eight hits in his only start. The Phillies sent Escalona back to Lakewood for the 2008 season. He earned a 5–1 record in 28 appearances as a

during his first professional season in the bullpen. He notched two saves and compiled a 3.43 ERA. These statistics prompted the Phillies to promote him to the

Reading Phillies Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

, where he made 15 appearances. He lost one game there, but had a 2.22 ERA in 15 appearances with 29 strikeouts (90 total between both levels in 2008). Escalona participated in the 2008

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fill ...

as a member of the

Mesa Solar Sox The Mesa Solar Sox are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Mesa, Arizona, at Sloan Park, which is also the spring training facility of the Chicago Cubs. The team was established ...

. Escalona made 14 appearances for Reading in 2009, posting 10 saves in 13 games finished. He struck out 16 batters in innings with a 2.12 ERA. Due to a need for an additional pitcher in the bullpen, the Phillies purchased Escalona's contract from Reading and promoted him to the Major League club on May 16, 2009.

Philadelphia Phillies

Escalona made his major league debut on May 17, pitching a scoreless inning and striking out one batter against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. The Phillies went on to defeat their opponents, 8–6; Escalona was the pitcher of record in the game, earning his maiden Non-minor League victory in his first game. This was the second consecutive victory by a rookie in a Phillies uniform, as Andrew Carpenter had earned his first victory the night before; the last time that had happened was 2007, when

Cole Hamels Colbert Michael Hamels (born December 27, 1983), nicknamed "Hollywood", is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (2006–2015), Texas Rangers ( ...

and

Kyle Kendrick Kyle Rodney Kendrick (born August 26, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher, who played for the Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, and Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Kendrick was born in Houston, Texas ...

won back-to-back games for the Phillies.

Houston Astros

On January 10, 2011, Escalona was acquired by the Houston Astros, in exchange for minor-league second baseman Albert Cartwright after being designated for assignment by the Phillies, a few days before. On May 10, Escalona was called up to replace

Nelson Figueroa Nelson Figueroa (born May 18, 1974) is an American former professional baseball pitcher and current pitching coach in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphi ...

, who was designated for assignment. On March 24, 2012, the Astros announced that Escalona would undergo

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 ...

due to a torn ulnar collateral

ligament A ligament is the fibrous connective tissue that connects bones to other bones. It is also known as ''articular ligament'', ''articular larua'', ''fibrous ligament'', or ''true ligament''. Other ligaments in the body include the: * Peritoneal li ...

in his left

elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the media ...

, and will be out for the 2012 season. On August 5, 2013, Escalona was suspended for 50 games by Major League Baseball for using performance-enhancing drugs from

Biogenesis Spontaneous generation is a superseded scientific theory that held that living creatures could arise from nonliving matter and that such processes were commonplace and regular. It was hypothesized that certain forms, such as fleas, could arise fr ...

. On November 4, 2013, Escalona elected free agency.

References

External links