Luis Miguel Rodríguez

Luis Miguel Rodríguez Ricardo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 163 lb.

• Born May 3, 1973 in Holguín, Holguín Cuba

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Luis Miguel Rodríguez has pitched 16 seasons in Cuba through 2009 but did not make his Cuban national team debut until 2008, when he was 35 years old.

Rodríguez, pitching for Holguín, tied for the shutout lead (4) in the 2000-2001 Serie Nacional. He was 13-6 with a 2.94 ERA in 2001-2002, then helped Holguín win their first title. In 2002-2003, he tied for the lead in complete games (10). His 1.21 ERA then lead the 2003 Super Liga. Two years later, he led with 159 innings pitched. He was 6-9 with a 4.22 ERA in 2005-2006. In 2006-2007, Luis Miguel was 9-9 with a 2.90 ERA, walking only 27 in 124 innings. He tied Norberto González for third in the circuit with 89 strikeouts. Through that campaign, the right-hander was 105-106 with a 3.57 ERA in 14 seasons.

Rodríguez improved to 10-7, 2.69 in 2007-2008. He was 8th in the league in ERA and tied for 8th in wins. Coming off two good years in a row, he was added to the legendary national team for the first time. He was 1-0 during the 2008 Haarlem Baseball Week, throwing 3 scoreless innings, and remained with Cuba for the 2008 Olympics. In Beijing, he struck out 10 in 9 innings and allowed 4 runs (3 earned). He got no decisions and was solid in his lone start, facing Team USA in the round-robin in a game Cuba won in extra innings. Luis helped Cuba take home Silver.

Rodríguez pitched one game in the 2009 World Baseball Classic, relieving Ciro Licea against Mexico with a 1-0 lead in the second, two on and one out. He promptly plunked Agustín Murillo but got Miguel Ojeda to ground into an inning-ending double play. In the third, he allowed back-to-back homers to Freddy Sandoval and Oscar Robles before giving way to Yulieski González.

In the 2008-2009 Serie Nacional, Rodríguez was 7-9 with a 3.96 ERA and only 18 walks in 116 innings; his ERA was better than highly heralded teammate Aroldis Chapman. Luis Miguel tied Ciro Licea for 4th in the league with 5 complete games.

Sources

• Radiococo
• Baseballdecuba.com
• Beisbolcubano.cu
• 2008 Olympics
• World Baseball Classic