Josh Roenicke

Joshua James Roenicke

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 200 lb.
• School UCLA
• High School Nevada Union High School
• Debut September 13, 2008
• Final Game September 26, 2013
• Born August 4, 1982 in Baltimore, MD USA

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Biographical Information

The son of Gary Roenicke and nephew of Ron Roenicke, pitcher Josh Roenicke made his major league debut with the Cincinnati Reds in 2008. His brothers Jarett Roenicke and Jason Roenicke and cousin Lance Roenicke also played pro baseball.

Roenicke was not used much in his first two seasons at UCLA. As a junior, he hit .277 with a .368 OBP while playing errorless ball in the outfield. In his senior season, he batted .248 and also pitched a bit, going 2-3 with a 3.46 ERA and striking out 13 in 13 innings. He also played college football, where he was a wide receiver.

He was selected by the Reds in the 10th round of the 2006 amateur draft and they decided to use him strcitly as a relief pitcher. He was signed by scout Rex de la Nuez and made his pro debut that summer with the GCL Reds, posting a 1-0 record and a 1.17 ERA in 7 games before being promoted to the Billings Mustangs and going 1-0 with a 6.32 ERA and 6 saves. Roenicke began 2007 with the Sarasota Reds and was 2-1 with a 3.25 ERA and 16 saves there. In June, he was promoted to the AA Chattanooga Lookouts, for whom he went 1-1 with an 0.95 ERA and 8 saves. His 24 saves led Reds farmhands. He went 4-2 in 22 games with Chattanooga to start the 2008 season, recording 10 saves and a 3.27 ERA and was promoted to the AAA Louisville Bats for whom he went 2-0, 2.54 in 35 games.

He was called up to the major leagues for the first time on September 9, 2008 and made his debut on September 13th, pitching a third of an inning in relief against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Roenicke relieved Jeremy Affeldt with a 1-1 tie, two men in scoring position and one out. He walked Chris Young, the first batter he faced in The Show. Josh then plunked Adam Dunn to force in Justin Upton before fanning Mark Reynolds. Cincinnati came back for a 3-2 win.

On July 31, 2009 Roenicke was traded by the Reds with Edwin Encarnacion and Zach Stewart to the Toronto Blue Jays for Scott Rolen. He pitched 13 times for Toronto that year and another 16 times in 2010 but could never claim a permanent spot in the team's bullpen. On June 2, 2011 Roenicke was selected off waivers by the Colorado Rockies from the Blue Jays. He did well in two seasons in Denver, with an ERA of 3.78 in 19 games after joining the team in 2011, and 3.25 in 63 games in 2012. Yet he was placed on waivers again at the end of that second season and was claimed by the Minnesota Twins. He spent the 2013 season with Twins, pitching another 63 games and going 3-1, 4.35. It was his last major league season.

Sources

• 2008 Baseball Almanac
• UCLA player bio

Related Sites

• Josh Roenicke on mlb.com
• MLB.com: Seven Triple-A players to join the Reds