Chad Cordero
Seattle Mariners — No. 33
Relief pitcher
Born: March 18, 1982 (1982-03-18) (age 27) Upland, California
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 30, 2003 for the Montreal Expos
Career statistics (through 2008 season)
Win-Loss	20-14
Earned run average	2.78
Strikeouts	292
Saves	128
Teams
Montréal Expos/Washington Nationals (2003-2008)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star selection (2005)

Chad Patrick Cordero (born March 18, 1982 in Upland, California) is a right-handed relief pitcher in the Seattle Mariners organization. He broke into the big league ranks with the Montréal Expos.

[edit] Biography

[edit] College years

At age 18, Cordero was drafted by the San Diego Padres in the 26th round of the 2000 draft, but he chose to enroll at Cal State Fullerton, where he was a standout reliever. With an ERA of under 1.83 he made the 1st team All-America Freshman team and was selected to the Big West All-Conference team, the latter of which he repeated in each of his next two years. In 2003, he was the Fullerton Regional MVP (College World Series), and then was drafted by the Expos in the 1st round (20th overall).

[edit] Pro career

[edit] First two years

He pitched briefly in 2003, and then appeared in 69 games for the Expos in 2004, compiling an ERA of 2.94, usually appearing as a closer.

He quickly became a fan favorite in 2004 for Expos fans.

[edit] 2005 - the breakout year

Chad Cordero in 2007

Cordero with the Nationals in 2008.

The Expos became the Washington Nationals the following year, and Cordero had a career best season. In June 2005, Cordero tied the major league record for saves in one month with 15. He shares the record with Lee Smith and John Wetteland. In addition, he also converted his 24th consecutive save, breaking the club record held by Mel Rojas. On September 9, 2005, Cordero's 44th save broke the franchise record. He completed the 2005 season with 47 saves, leading the major leagues, and was selected to the National League pitching staff for the 2005 MLB All-Star game, facing one batter, Iván Rodríguez, and striking him out. He was the 2005 Washington Nationals Player of the Year, and won the National League Rolaids Relief Man of the Year Award.

[edit] 2006

In February 2006, Cordero and his teammate Brian Schneider were chosen to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. During the season, however, his production tailed off. While he still got 29 saves (8th best in the league), his ERA went from 1.82 to 3.19.

[edit] 2007

In the beginning of the 2007 season, Cordero faced a tough time against batters. By May 6, his ERA was 4.70. Cordero admitted he was distracted by the illness of his ailing grandmother^[1], and missed six games for personal bereavement leave. He came back a changed man, and starting May 16 made 12 consecutive appearances without allowing a run. On June 13, Cordero (at age 25 years and 86 days) became the second youngest player in baseball history to reach 100 saves in a career. (The Mets' Francisco Rodríguez is the youngest at 24 years and 246 days old.)^[2]

[edit] 2008 and on

Cordero missed most of the 2008 season after undergoing surgery to repair a labrum tear. His expected recovery time is 12–18 months, meaning he may miss the majority - if not all - of the 2009 season. On October 30, 2008 the Nationals sent him outright to AAA Syracuse, and he rejected the assignment, becoming a free agent. On March 12, 2009, he signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners with an invitation to spring training. He was to compete for the closer role once he fully recovered from surgery,^[3] but he had still not regained his velocity by mid-July.^[4]

[edit] See also

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

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chad Cordero

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or The Baseball Cube
• Sportsnet player data