Rocky Cherry

Rocky Ty Cherry

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 5", Weight 225 lb.
• School University of Oklahoma
• High School Coppell High School
• Debut April 23, 2007
• Final Game September 24, 2008
• Born August 19, 1979 in Dallas, TX USA

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Biographical Information

Rocky Cherry pitched 40 games in the big leagues between the Chicago Cubs and Baltimore Orioles.

Rocky was 7-5 with a 4.92 ERA as a freshman at Oklahoma in 2000. The next year, he went 8-8 with a 4.88 ERA. Cherry was drafted originally by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 10th round in 2001 but did not sign. Returning to school, he had a 3-3, 2.77 line as a junior. The Chicago Cubs took him in the 14th round in 2002. He debuted in 2003 with the Boise Hawks (5-2, 2.17, 55 strikeouts in 54 innings, .180 opponent average) and the Lansing Lugnuts (2-0, 2.76). Had he qualified (he was 7 innings shy), he would have ranked 3rd in the Northwest League in ERA, just ahead of Pat Misch. Rocky's 2004 was spent with the Daytona Cubs, where he only was 5-10 with a 5.20 ERA, tying teammate Andrew Sisco for the Cubs minor league lead in losses. Cherry only pitched three games for the 2005 West Tenn Diamond Jaxx (0-0, 2.89) before being sidelined by a torn elbow ligament on April 21. He had Tommy John surgery, then went to work in the paint department at Home Depot. His family had run "Cherry Paint" for 30 years, so Cherry had plenty of expertise to lend.

Rocky returned to baseball in 2006 and moved to the bullpen. He went 4-1 with 2 saves and a 2.22 ERA while striking out over a batter per inning in 31 games for West Tenn. He was 1-0 with a 10.13 ERA in two games for the Iowa Cubs in his AAA debut. Cherry began 2007 with the Iowa Cubs, saving 3 of 7 games and posting a 3.86 ERA with 12 strikeouts in 9 1/3 innings before getting called up Chicago. He made his big league debut on April 23rd, coming on in relief in the 12th inning. He was saddled with the loss after giving up a home run to Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers. Cherry was 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in 12 outings for the Cubs and 2-0 with 7 saves and a 4.59 ERA in 43 games for Iowa, fanning over a batter per inning. He was traded in late August, with Scott Moore, to the Baltimore Orioles for Steve Trachsel.

With the Orioles, Rocky walked 13 and allowed 17 hits in 16 1/3 innings for a 7.71 ERA. He pitched 18 games for Baltimore in 2008, but the results were not great: a 6.35 ERA with 16 walks in 17 innings. He had done well for the Norfolk Tides earlier that year, going 0-1 but with a 2.89 ERA in 37 1/3 innings with 37 strikeouts against only 9 walks. The Orioles dropped him from their major league roster, and he was picked by the New York Mets in that December's 2008 Rule V draft. Not only did he fail to make the team in spring training 2009, he was released in March. He latched on to the Boston Red Sox, pitching quite well for the Pawtucket Red Sox, going 3-1, 2.57 in 38 games, but he was released again on August 15th. He signed with the San Diego Padres organization, but he was 0-1, 12.27 in 7 games for the Portland Beavers, marking the end of his career in organized baseball.

Sources: 2002-2007 Baseball Almanacs, Scout.com interview, The Baseball Cube