Willis Augusto Roberts (born June 19, 1975) is an American former

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 ...

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), ...

, born in San Cristobal,

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

. He batted and threw right-handed.

Career

Roberts was signed by the Detroit Tigers as an amateur

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 1992. He remained with the Tigers organization from 1992 to 1999. He made it to the major leagues in 1999 and played for the Detroit Tigers, Cincinnati Reds,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

and Pittsburgh Pirates until 2004. Roberts made his major league debut on July 2, 1999, with the Detroit Tigers against the Minnesota Twins at

Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (commonly called the Metrodome) was a domed sports stadium located in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It opened in 1982 as a replacement for Metropolitan Stadium, the former home of the National Football League ...

with 12,033 people attending the game. Roberts relieved

Will Brunson William Donald Brunson (March 20, 1970 – November 23, 2019) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodg ...

in the sixth inning, pitching one and one-third innings. The Tigers lost the game 11–4. Roberts was released by the Tigers on February 1, 2000, and immediately joined the Cincinnati Reds as a free agent. Roberts was granted free agency on October 18 and signed with the Orioles on November 16. In the baseball season, Roberts was most successful in limiting

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s, only allowing five

s in 75 innings. His home run rate was roughly one home run allowed for every eighteen innings pitched, or 0.6 home runs per nine innings. Roberts played three seasons for the Orioles before being granted free agency on October 17, 2003. On January 20, 2004, Roberts signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates as a free agent. He played his final baseball game with the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 13, 2004, retiring just seven days later. The

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

brought Roberts in on a minor league deal prior to the 2005 season, but he did not play for them.

References

External links

*Career statistics and player information fro
Baseball-AlmanacInformation and statisticsWillis Roberts Pitching LogSports illustrated
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MLB players
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Baseball Library
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Baseball prospectsus
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Fangraphs
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statistics 1975 births Baltimore Orioles players Cincinnati Reds players Detroit Tigers players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Italy Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Nashville Sounds players Pittsburgh Pirates players Rimini Baseball Club players Azucareros del Este players Bristol Tigers players Chattanooga Lookouts players Fayetteville Generals players Jacksonville Suns players Lakeland Tigers players Louisville RiverBats players Piratas de Campeche players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Toledo Mud Hens players {{DominicanRepublic-baseball-pitcher-stub