Bronson Anthony Arroyo (born February 24, 1977 in Key West, Florida), is a Major League Baseball right-handed pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds and a rock musician. He has previously played for the Boston Red Sox from 2003 to 2005, and the Pittsburgh Pirates between 2000 and 2002. Bronson grew up in Brooksville, Florida and pitched for Hernando High School, graduating in 1995.

Pitching Report

Arroyo's fastball is in the 87-92 miles-per-hour range. While it's considered average among major league pitchers, it has excellent movement and Arroyo is adept at "spotting" it. He also throws a hard slider that moves away from right-handed batters, and a straight changeup as well. Arroyo's best pitch is his curveball. He throws the pitch from multiple arm angles and is known to throw it in any count. The angle of the curveball itself can vary from a straight 12-6 to a sweeping 1-7. Arroyo's delivery is somewhat unique; he incorporates a leg kick in his pitching motion, extending his front leg completely straight and lifting it up to a level above his waist before delivering the ball. His kick often appears to reach head level and deceives hitters with its exaggerated motion. From the set position, his leg-kick is much less pronounced and his delivery to home plate is very quick by major league standards. As a result, Arroyo is one of the better pitchers at holding runners on base.

Professional Career

As of the end of the 2007, Arroyo has compiled a 56-59 record with 707 strikeouts and a 4.22 Earned Run Average in 982.2 innings pitched in eight seasons. He has one career save.

Signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the third round of the 1995 draft, Arroyo made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 2000. He came to the Boston Red Sox after being selected off waivers before the 2003 season.

Arroyo improved in 2004, while jumping from middle relief to starting, to strengthen his role as the Red Sox No. 5 starter. He compiled a 10-9 mark with a 4.03 ERA in 178.2 innings, while posting a very respectable 3.02 strikeout-to-walk ratio (142-to-47). His most productive season came in 2005, when he posted career-highs in wins (14), starts (32), innings (205.1) and pitching appearances (35). He also excelled at holding runners, as he only gave up five stolen bases. Arroyo made 2 starts and 4 relief appearances in the playoffs, compiling a 0-0 record with 2 holds and a 7.82 ERA for the eventual 2004 World Series champion Red Sox.

Before the 2006 season, Arroyo signed a three year $11.2 million contract with the Red Sox. Arroyo said the deal was a "hometown discount" and agreed to the terms against the advice of his agent. Arroyo was later traded during spring training of the 2006 season for Cincinnati Reds outfielder Wily Mo Peña.

The year 2006 was a high point in Arroyo's career. Highlights of the season included a major-league leading 3,852 pitches, league-leading 240 2/3 innings pitched, his first selection to an All-Star game, as well as his first career shutout in the major leagues.

In February 2007, Arroyo signed a contract extension with the Cincinnati Reds which will keep him with the organization through the 2010 season, with an option for the year 2011.

Highlights

• On August 10, 2003, Arroyo pitched the fourth nine-inning perfect game in the 121-year history of the International League as the Pawtucket Red Sox beat the Buffalo Bisons 7–0 at McCoy Stadium. He needed 101 pitches to throw his masterpiece (73 strikes), struck out nine, and got 10 fly outs and eight ground balls from the Buffalo 27 batters. He went to a three-ball count to just three hitters all game. At the end of the month, he was promoted to the major league level.
• July 24, 2004- A struggling Red Sox team is energized when Bronson Arroyo throws a curveball that hits Alex Rodriguez, and incites a brawl that starts with catcher Jason Varitek throwing his glove in A-Rod's face. After the brawl, the Red Sox win on a walk off home run by third baseman Bill Mueller. Many Boston writers consider this game, and especially the fight, to be the turning point in the 2004 season.
• Arroyo will always have a place in Red Sox lore for holding the ball that Alex Rodriguez illegally knocked away in Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series. The umpires met and reversed the on-field ruling, forcing Derek Jeter to return to 1st base. Rodríguez was automatically out on the play. Arroyo then recorded the final out of the inning by retiring Gary Sheffield.
• Arroyo hit his first career home run on April 5, 2006 off of Chicago Cubs left-hander Glendon Rusch at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. On April 11, 2006, he struck his second career longball against Rusch and the Cubs at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Much light of this was made in the Boston media; fan favorite Arroyo had more home runs at that point in the season than the power hitter for whom he was traded, Wily Mo Peña, now with the Washington Nationals.
• On May 1, 2006, Arroyo pitched his second career complete game: a 4-hitter at home against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Reds won 6-1, bringing Arroyo's record on the young season to 5-0. Arroyo pitched 8 scoreless innings, at home against the Washington Nationals on May 11, to lower his season ERA to 2.03.
• Arroyo was named to his first All-Star team in 2006. Arroyo was hand-picked by NL All-Star team manager, Phil Garner, after being at or near the top of every pitching category in Major League Baseball.
• On August 26, 2008, Arroyo threw his third career Complete game against the Houston Astros in a close 2-1 Reds win.

Music

In 2005, Bronson Arroyo released his debut album, Covering the Bases. It included covers from bands such as Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Foo Fighters. The album also includes the Red Sox victory song Dirty Water by The Standells, in which Arroyo is accompanied by Johnny Damon, Lenny DiNardo, and Kevin Youkilis. He also taught Kevin Millar how to play guitar and performed vocals for the song Tessie as covered by the Dropkick Murphys.

In 2008, a commercial for JTM Food Group featuring a 'music video' by Arroyo; also featuring FSN Ohio Anlaslyst and former Cincinnati Reds player Chris Welsh began airing during Cincinnati Reds games.

Bronson appears as a vocalist on the song "Since You" on Chad Perrone's "Wake" album.

Statistics

Yr   Ag Tm  Lg G   GS  W  L  S ERA  CG SHO  IP    H    R   ER  HR  BB  K    OBA IBB HLD BS
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2000 23 PIT NL 20  12  2  6  0 6.41  0  0  71.2   88   61  51  10  36  50  .384  6   0   0
2001 24 PIT NL 24  13  5  7  0 5.09  1  0  88.1   99   54  50  12  34  39  .369  6   2   0
2002 25 PIT NL 9   4   2  1  0 4.00  0  0  27.0   30   14  12  1   15  22  .277  3   1   0
2003 26 BOS AL 6   0   0  0  1 2.08  0  0  17.1   10   5   4   0   4   14  .164  2   0   0
2004 27 BOS AL 32  29  10 9  0 4.03  0  0  178.2  171  99  80  17  47  142 .314  3   0   0
2005 28 BOS AL 35  32  14 10 0 4.52  0  0  205.1  213  116 103 22  54  100 .322  3   0   0
2006 29 CIN NL 35  35  14 11 0 3.29  3  1  240.2  222  98  88  31  64  184 .296  7   0   0
2007 30 CIN NL 34  34  9  15 0 4.23  1  0  210.2  232  109 99  28  63  156 .280  6   0   0
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TOTALS         195 159 56 59 1 4.22  5  1  1039.2 1065 556 487 121 317 707 .264  36  3   0
8 seasons

Stats as of March 30, 2008.

References

External links

• BronsonArroyo.com - Bronson's Official Website
• Baseball Reference - minor league statistics