Rudy Seanez

Rudy Caballero Seanez
(Action Traction)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.
• High School Brawley Union High School
• Debut September 7, 1989
• Final Game September 28, 2008
• Born October 20, 1968 in Brawley, CA USA

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Biographical Information

Rudy Seanez pitched 544 major league games, all of them as a reliever, but he had a rather unusual career arc.

He was a 4th-round choice of the Cleveland Indians in the 1986 amateur draft. Shortly after the start of his professional career, on August 2, 1986, he pitched a no-hitter for the Burlington Indians of the Carolina League against the Pulaski Braves, 4-0. He made his debut with the major league Indians in September of 1989 when he was still just 20 years old and was promoted straight from the Class A Kinston Eagles (he had pitched a totl of one inning in AAA for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox at the time). He was a fireballer then, which explains his rapid rise in spite of mediocre results, and had a 3.60 ERA in 5 games in his first cup of coffee. He had been a starter in the minors until then, but moved to the bullpen in 1990 and almost never started a game after that. He was roughed up in his next few appearances in the Show, and while he posted some good numbers in AA, also had a tough time in AAA, with ERAs of 7.50 and 7.27. In 1990 with Cleveland, his ERA was 5.60 in 24 games, then it was 16.20 in 5 games in 1991.

Seanez was involved in a couple of trades before making his next appearances in the major leagues, first being sent to the Los Angeles Dodgers in return for Mike Christopher and Dennis Cook on December 10, 1991, and then from the Dodgers to the Colorado Rockies for 2B Jody Reed on November 17, 1992. However, he did not pitch in the majors for either team and missed all of 1992 with an injury. After being released by the Rockies midway through the 1993 season, he signed with the Padres for what would be the first of four stints with the team. However, he continued to struggle, with an ERA of 13.50 in 3 games. Back with the Dodgers in 1994, he had his first success at the big league level with a 2.66 ERA in 17 games, but in 1995, he went 1-3, 6.75, and it seemed his career was over as he did not return to the majors until 1998.

When he joined the Atlanta Braves for the 1998, he was 9 years removed from his debut and had still only pitched 91 games in the majors. But from this point on, he became a familiar name in boxscores, appearing in the majors in the next 11 seasons, until 2008, although he was never a front-line pitcher. He never had more than a handful of saves in any season, but he had a few good years while changing teams almost every season, and a couple of times in mid-season as well. There were three more stints with the Padres, including what was perhaps his best year in 2005, when he went 7-1, 2.69 in 57 games, with 84 strikeouts in 60 1/3 innings. He also had a good year with Los Angeles in 2007 at age 38, going 6-3, 3.79 in 73 games. He still pitched well in his final season, which he spent with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2008, going 5-4, 3.53 in 42 games. He also had a couple of rough seasons during that span, but generally was a reliable pitcher in the limited role he was asked to fill, and always managed to find his way back to the bigs after stints in the minors. For his career, he pitched in 17 seasons, with a record of 41-30, 4.10 and 12 saves. He was in the postseason a couple of years with the Braves, pitching in the NLCS in both 1998 and 2001, and again with the Padres in 2005 and 2006.