MLB Player Profile: Bronson Arroyo
Bronson Anthony Arroyo is, without any tinge of exaggeration, a kind of anomaly in baseball. He is confident, frank and unconventionally audacious for a player of his age. While he pitches to perfection, he makes his opinions known quite eloquently.
Born in Key West Florida on February 24, 1977 Arroyo is the Cincinnati Reds’ right-handed pitcher. As much as he has remained an asset for the Reds in the recent years, there were times when he guided the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox to the victory
stand.
He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1995 and from there Arroyo never looked back no matter how unpleasant the odds were. Making inroads into the Major League was a significant challenge for him, but he effectively surmounted it.
Arroyo found his way out in the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2000 and remained the part of this Major League Baseball team for two years. Seeing his talent, he was a more of a discovery for the Boston Red Sox who struck a deal with him in 2003 which came to an
end in 2005.
2003 was particularly favourable for the then Boston Red Sox starter where he became the first player in 121 years to have pitched four nine-inning perfect games, hitting the media lime-light.
While in 2006 he struck a deal with the Boston Red Sox that was worth 11.25-million-dollars, he was then traded off to the Cincinnati Reds – a team Bronson Arroyo represents to date. In 2006, his performance touched the peak.
With his unrivalled 3,852 pitches, Arroyo remained an exception in league-leading 240 innings. In the same year, he was the favourite for the All-Stars and he made it there with the very first shut-out of his career in the Major League.
While he was subject to celebrity fame, there were a few aspects of his life that came known to the world afterwards. The Cincinnati Reds pitcher had carpal tunnel syndrome that affected his pitching. The diagnosis came in 2008 and in 2009 he missed many
season games due to the problem.
He also hit headlines for having used androstenedione and amphetamine. Arroyo was himself candid enough to make it known to the world. He was not unashamed of it and declared openly in an interview that he did what he liked to do.
"I do what I want to do and say what I want to say," Arroyo said. "But society has made this such a tainted thing. The media has made it where people look at it in such a super-negative light. I've always been honest. I'm not going to stop now."
For him, question of societal hypocrisy was also important. "At the end of the day, you think anybody really (cares) whether Manny Ramirez's kidneys fail and he dies at 50? You were happy if the Red Sox won 95 games. You'd go home, have a cookout with your
family,” Arroyo said.
Arroyo has a good record in the 313 games he has played so far with 1783.2 innings pitched. He has given up only 939 runs with 1418 hits given up, having a WHIP of 1.32 and 4.27 ERA.
In the 2011 season, he has – however, played only 18 games and allowed 71 runs with slightly expensive 5.58 ERA.
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