Brian Fuentes
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim — No. 40
Relief pitcher
Born: August 9, 1975 (1975-08-09) (age 34) Merced, California
Bats: Left	Throws: Left
MLB debut
June 2, 2001 for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics (through September 14, 2009)
Win-Loss	18-31
Strikeouts	522
Earned run average	3.48
Saves	156
Teams
Seattle Mariners (2001) Colorado Rockies (2002–2008) Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (2009–present)
Career highlights and awards
4x All-Star selection (2005, 2006, 2007, 2009)

Fuentes with the Colorado Rockies in 2008.

Brian Christopher Fuentes (pronounced /ˈfwɛntɨs/) (born August 9, 1975 in Merced, California) is a Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Previously, he played for the Seattle Mariners and the Colorado Rockies. He bats and throws left-handed.

[edit] Early years

Fuentes attended high school at Merced High School in Merced, California. After graduating from high school, Fuentes attended Merced Junior college.

[edit] Professional career

[edit] Seattle Mariners

Fuentes was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 25th round of the 1995 amateur draft. He spent one season for the Mariners appearing in ten games.

[edit] Colorado Rockies

On December 16, 2001, Fuentes was traded to the Colorado Rockies, along with Jose Paniagua and Denny Stark for Jeff Cirillo. Through the first four years of his Major League career, Fuentes had a record of 8-8 with a 4.04 ERA, recording only four saves in 163 games. However, in 2005, Fuentes took over the closer role for the Rockies following the season-ending shoulder surgery of right-handed pitcher Chin-hui Tsao. Fuentes had a successful season and was named to his first career All-Star Game, but did not appear in the game. He became the first reliever and only the third pitcher overall to represent the Rockies, joining starting pitchers Mike Hampton (2001) and Shawn Chacon (2003). His 31 saves matched Dave Veres (1995) for the third highest single season total in franchise history, trailing only José Jiménez (41 in 2002) and Chacon (35 in 2004). In 2006, Fuentes earned 30 saves while posting a 3-4 record and a 3.44 ERA and was selected as an All-Star for the second time.

In June 2007, after blowing four saves within an eight-day period, Fuentes was demoted from his role as Rockies closer, losing the job to Manny Corpas. Despite his struggles, he was named an NL All-Star later that week for the third straight year.

In April 2008, Fuentes regained his closer role, after Corpas had blown a number of save opportunities.^[1]

[edit] Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

On December 31, 2008, Fuentes agreed to a two-year deal with the Angels to fill in the position as closer after Francisco Rodríguez left for the Mets.^[2] On July 5, 2009, he was elected to represent Los Angeles in the 2009 All Star Game, at the time leading the majors in saves.

Brian led the major leagues in saves with 48 in 2009. Although he led the league in saves, he has been very shaky at times and has shown difficulties closing out games, unlike his predecessors Troy Percival and Francisco Rodriguez. On October 17, 2009 during game two of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees, Fuentes gave up a game tying home run to Alex Rodriguez in the bottom of the 9th inning, adding on to his shaky closer play. The Angels would eventually lose the game.

[edit] Pitching style

Fuentes' pitching delivery is a unique and sometimes confusing one, especially for left-handed hitters. He pitches sidearm, which is difficult for hitters to pick up and keeps them off balance. Many batters, mainly left-handers, say the ball appears to be coming out of the sleeve of his jersey.

[edit] Personal

Brian Fuentes has a wife (Barbara), his oldest son Giovanni, two fraternal twins, Benecio and Gabriella, and their youngest child Farrah .^[3][4]

Fuentes currently makes his offseason home in Merced, California.^[3]

Fuentes comes from a Mexican-American family.^[5]

[edit] Statistics

Career Statistics at September 5, 2009

[edit] See also

• List of Major League Baseball saves champions
• List of Major League Baseball all-time saves leaders

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube
• Baseball Almanac - career statistics and analysis