Vincente Padilla

Vicente Delacruz Padilla is a professional baseball player from Nicaragua who plays as a pitcher. Padilla was a baseball player on his high school team the Ruben Dario High School in Nicaragua before turning pro. He moved to the United States after a former MLB pitcher, Dennis Martinez, worked with Padilla to improve his change-up pitch and later suggested him to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Padilla was signed up as an international free agent in 1998, debuting in the minor leagues. With some experience in playing at the top level in Nicaragua, Padilla started off at the A-League with the High Desert Mavericks. He clearly looked the part and with a 4-1 record from 9 games, was moved straight up to the AAA-League, playing for the Tucson Sidewinders.

His MLB debut came in the same season, although Padilla couldn’t replicate his 7-4 record and 3.75 ERA, from the AAA-League, at the Majors. On his debut, pitching in the 9th inning, Padilla gave away 3 runs and 4 hits without an out, gaining only a loss and a blown save. He played another 4 games to end his first MLB adventure with a 16.92 ERA and 7 runs from 2.2 innings.

He started 2000 with the Sidewinders and made his way up to the MLB roster again, this time producing a more impressive 2.31 ERA performance with a 2-1 record from 27 games. In July, 2000, Padilla was traded out to the Philadelphia Phillies along with Travis Lee, Omar Daal and Nelson Figueroa. Padilla went straight into the MLB roster and gave a below-average performance with a 2-6 record and 5.34 ERA over 30.1 innings pitched.

He was sent down to the AAA-League to play with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons and soon earned a promotion after 16 games. Back in the MLB, Padilla had a better season that ended with a 3-1 record and a 4.24 ERA. Over the next two seasons, Padilla would remain a regular part of the starting rotation at the Phillies, pitching at 3.28 & 3.62 over 2002 & 2003, respectively. He recorded 14 wins in each season, losing 11 in the first and 12 in the second. Padilla was picked for the All-Star game in 2002, his first and only appearance so far.

In 2004 and 2005, Padilla was jostling with injuries and failed to maintain his high standards from his earlier two seasons. He ended up with a disappointing 4.71 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP, which led to a trade to the Texas Rangers.

Padilla had lost a lot of control over his pitching and that became a constant cause of trouble for the player from Nicaragua. He gained a reputation for pitching at batters and hitting them, causing bench clearing brawls on more than one occasion. Despite his troubles, Padilla had a 15-10 record for the Rangers, a total that stood as a record until 2009, when Scott Feldman broke it. Padilla also had 11-wins on the road, a record also broken by Feldman in 2009.

After recording another 14 wins in 2008, Padilla had an “off” season in 2009, pitching at a 4.92 ERA with an 8-6 record. This, along with his general disruptive behaviour such as hitting teammate Mark Teixeira, was considered reason enough to release him from his contract with the Rangers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers decided to hire Padilla with a minor league contract although after just one start with the Albuquerque Isotopes, Padilla was named to the MLB roster for the Dodgers. Padilla picked up 4 wins in his first 8 games, striking out 38 batters in 39.1 innings. Padilla took his team to the National League Division Series, picking up the loss in Game 5 after pitching well throughout the rest of the series.

In November 2009, Padilla injured himself when he was accidentally shot in the leg at a shooting range, back home in Nicaragua. In January, 2010, Padilla re-signed a 1-year, $5.025 million deal with the Dodgers.

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