Rick Roberts

Richard Charles Roberts

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.
• High School Forest Hills High School (Sidman)
• Born May 20, 1979 in Windber, PA USA

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Rick Roberts played in the minor leagues from 1997 to 2003. He spent most of his career in the low minors, but pitched briefly in Triple-A in 2003.

He was taken by the Detroit Tigers as the first pick of the 10th round of the 1997 amateur draft, one pick after Toby Hall and multiple slots ahead of Garrett Atkins and Scott Strickland. He was 2-2 with a 4.24 ERA for the '97 GCL Tigers with 40 K in 34 IP. He tied for 9th in the Gulf Coast League with 9 wild pitches. The Pennsylvania native had a 3-7, 3.15 record in 1998 for the Jamestown Jammers. He tied Matt Bruback, Pasqual Coco, Ruben Rosario and Steve Sparks for third in the New York-Penn League in losses. He allowed 5 runs in 3 innings for the West Michigan Whitecaps to open 1999.

He pitched in the Tigers system until April 16, 1999, when he was sent with Robinson Checo and fellow minor leaguer Apostol Garcia to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Dave Mlicki and Mel Rojas. He spent the rest of his career in the Dodgers system. He finished the year with the Yakima Bears (1-3, 7.27) and Vero Beach Dodgers (1-4, 6.04). In 2000, he posted a 8-5, 5.05 record for the San Bernardino Stampede, walking 53 in 108 2/3 IP. Perhaps his most notable season was 2001, split between Vero Beach (4-5, 4 Sv, 2.72 in 29 G) and the Wilmington Blue Rocks (3-1, 2.75 in 7 G). He struck out 118 but walked 54 in 105 2/3 IP. He tied Steve Colyer for 8th in the Dodgers chain in Ks and was 7th in walks (between Joel Hanrahan and Lance Caraccioli).

He remained sharp in 2002, when he went 8-2 with two saves, 17 games finished and a 3.18 ERA for the Jacksonville Suns. He tied Willie Collazo, Billy Sylvester and Arnie Munoz for 10th in the Southern League with 51 games pitched and was 4th in the Dodgers chain in appearances (trailing Colyer, Jeff Williams and Lino Urdaneta). He imploded with the 2003 Las Vegas 51s (5 BB, 2 K, 2 R in 1 1/3 IP) as a shoulder injury ended his career.

Overall, he was 30-29 with seven saves and a 4.17 ERA in 167 games (73 starts). He later coached for the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.

Sources include ERA Sports