Rafael Orellano

Rafael Antonio Orellano

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 2", Weight 160 lb.
• Born April 28, 1973 in Humacao, Puerto Rico

BR Minors page

Biographical information

Rafael Orellano is a former minor league baseball pitcher who played from 1993 to 1997 in the Boston Red Sox farm system. He was rated the club's #6 prospect in 1995 and their #9 prospect in 1996 by Baseball America.

In 1993, his professional career started off a little bumpy as he went 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Utica Blue Sox. He improved drastically in 1994 however, going 12-3 overall with a 2.36 ERA while playing for the GCL Red Sox and Sarasota Red Sox. He also struck out 113 batters in 110 2/3 innings of work, walking only 29 and allowing just 74 hits. Baseball America rated him as the #6 prospect in the Red Sox chain and the #3 pitcher after Frank Rodriguez and Jeff Suppan.

1995 was another great year for Orellano, as he went 11-7 with 160 strikeouts and a 3.09 ERA in 186 2/3 innings for the Trenton Thunder. He was 4th in the Eastern League in ERA and led the EL in both innings pitched and strikeouts. He also led Boston farmhands in innings and strikeouts. His performance was so impressive in fact he won the Boston Red Sox Minor League Player of the Year honor that year. He was also the starting and winning pitcher at the Double-A All-Star game that season. Despite the fine performance, Baseball America downgraded him to boston's 9th-best prospect, between Carl Pavano and Peter Munro.

Although his performance had been outstanding in both 1994 and 1995, he struggled greatly in 1996. Pitching for the Pawtucket Red Sox, Orellano went 4-11 with a 7.88 ERA in 22 games. He averaged less than five innings an outing, walking 62 batters and striking out 66 in only 99 1/3 innings of work. He gave up 124 hits as well. He was only two losses shy of International League leader Chris Seelbach.

1997 was his final season in American baseball as he once again struggled. Spending time with the GCL Red Sox, Trenton and Pawtucket, he went a combined 4-6 with a 7.40 ERA in 20 games, 15 of which he started. In 82 2/3 innings of work, Orellano walked 63 batters and struck out only 60.

Overall in his minor league career, Orellano went 32-29 with a 4.71 ERA. He appeared in exactly 100 games, starting 81 of those. In 497 2/3 innings of work, he allowed 447 hits, 279 runs, 260 earned runs, and 233 walks. He struck out 412 batters.

After playing in America for a few years, Orellano went to Japan where he pitched for the Nippon Ham Fighters from 1998 to 2000. In 1998, he appeared in 14 games (four starts), posting a 7.50 ERA and a 1-3 record. 1999 fared slightly better for him, as he posted a 4.99 ERA in 21 appearances (five starts). He did however post a 1-5 record. He appeared in only one game in 2000, allowing one run in one third of an inning for a 27.00 ERA. Overall, he went 2-8 with a 6.17 ERA in 36 games in Japan.

References

• Japan Baseball Daily
• The Baseball Cube
• 1995-1997 Baseball Almanacs