JIMENEZ, UBALDO  
 
Image of    Nickname:   N/A Position:   P
Home: San Cristobal, Dominican Republic Team:   ROCKIES
Height: 6' 4" Bats:   R
Weight: 215 Throws:   R
DOB: 1/22/1984 Agent: N/A
Birth City: Nagua, Dominican Republic Draft: 2001 - Rockies - Free agent
Uniform #: 38  
 
YR LEA TEAM SAL(K) G IP H SO BB GS CG SHO SV W L OBA ERA
2002 PIO CASPER   14 62 72 65 29 14 0 0 0 3 5   6.53
2002 AZL Rockies   3 18 10 25 6 3 0 0 0 2 0   0.00
2003 SAL ASHEVILLE   27 154 129 138 67 27 0 0 0 10 6   3.46
2003 CAL VISALIA   1 5 3 7 1 1 0 0 0 1 0   1.00
2004 CAL VISALIA   9 44 29 61 12 9 1 0 0 4 1   2.23
2005 CAL MODESTO   14 72 61 78 40 14 0 0 0 5 3   3.98
2005 TL TULSA   12 63 57 53 31 11 0 0 0 2 5   5.43
2006 TL TULSA   13 73.1 49 86 40 13 1 1 0 9 2 49 2.45
2006 PCL COLORADO SPRING   13 78.1 74 64 43 13 0 0 0 5 2 0.252 5.06
2006 NL ROCKIES $327.00 2 7.2 5 3 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.185 3.52
2007 PCL COLORADO SPRING   19 103 110 89 62 19 1 0 0 8 5   5.85
2007 NL ROCKIES   15 82 70 68 37 15 0 0 0 4 4 0.228 4.28
2008 NL ROCKIES $392.00 34 198.2 182 172 103 34 1 0 0 12 12 0.245 3.99
2009 NL ROCKIES $750.00 33 218 183 198 85 33 1 0 0 15 12 0.229 3.47
2010 NL ROCKIES $1,250.00 27 184.1 134 170 72 27 4 2 0 17 6 0.208 2.69
PERSONAL:

  • Jimenez's work ethic comes from his parents, who raised him and his sister, Leidys, in a San Cristobal ghetto known as Hoyo Caliente—Hot Hole.

    Ubaldo is a class act    . He is one of those guys who never takes a day off.

  • His father, Ubaldo, Sr. was a bus driver and security guard, and his mother, Ramona, a nurse. They viewed education as their son's ticked out of poverty. On weekends, he and Leidys took long bus rides to attend three-hour English classes in Santo Domingo.

    "I played baseball from eight in the morning until noon, and after games I'd take the bus to Santo Domingo," said Jimenez. "I was always so tired, I'd fall asleep. My friends back home were having fun, having girlfriends—I didn't have anything. I was always pretty angry. But now I thank my parents." (Albert Chen-Sports Illustrated-7/05/10)
  • In 2001, Jimenez signed with Rockies scout Rolando Fernandez.

  • Growing up, Ubaldo's hero was pitcher Pedro Martinez—with posters of him on his bedroom walls. Like Pedro in his prime, Jimenez is lean, loose and as flexible as a gymnast. Like his idol, Ubaldo has long, spindly fingers, which helps explain why he gets so much late action on his pitches.

    Though his favorite player was Pedro, his favorite team was the Braves. And Ubaldo still wears his socks high, llike Chipper Jones.

  • Growing up in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, Jimenez was a dreamer.

    "I dreamed about playing baseball in the major leagues, but I always thought I'd be a doctor," Ubaldo said.

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  • The Mets offered Ubaldo a $20,000 signing bonus, but his parents told the team to get back with them after he graduated from high school.

    The next year, as he was approaching graduation, the Rockies offered $50,000 and Jimenez's family accepted under one condition: that he be allowed to complete the two months of school he had left for his diploma    . Ramona also made the Rockies agree to pay for medical school for Ubaldo if baseball didn't pan out.

    (His sister, Leidys, completed her medical residency in the Dominican in 2010    .)

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  • In 2003, Ubaldo ranked third in the Rockies' organization in ERA and strikeouts.

  • Before 2004 spring training, Baseball America ranked Jimenez as the #4 prospect in the Rockies' organization. And just before 2005 spring camp opened, the magazine again had Ubaldo as 4th-best in the Colorado system.

    During the winter before 2006 spring training, Baseball America had Ubaldo as 5th-best prospect in the Rockies' farm system. And in the spring of 2007, they had Jimenez at #6 in the Colorado organzation.

  • When Jimenez made his Major League debut in 2007, he had his father move in and be his roommate for the season. During that time, Dad would help Ubaldo, Jr. unwind by playing music and going on shopping trips. They even made a trip to the mountains, although Dad came down with a bug and came to regret it.

    And in 2008, he invited his Mom and Dad, along with his sister and her husband with their son. His Dad, Ubaldo, Sr., was his roomy again in 2009 in Denver, with his Mom visiting regularly. And in 2010, Mom and Dad were back, sharing a loft apartment in downtown Denver. Ubaldo walks the three blocks to and from the ballpark.

    "I learned from my parents. They'd always tell me you should talk to everyone. It doesn't matter how poor they are, or how rich," Jimenez said.

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  • Ubaldo is a very good person. His teammates look up to him. He serves as a sounding board. Because he speaks fluent English, he is a valuable resource for Latinos who struggle with the language.

    Jimenez is very quiet and soft-spoken with and engaging smile. But on the mound, his eyes are piercing and he wears a scowl on his mouth that even surprises him. Ubaldo smiled and said he actually used to be a chatty fellow growing up in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic.

    "In high school, I used to talk a lot—they had to call my Mom to the principal's office," Jimenez said. "But in my work, on my job, I try to be a serious guy. It's like a battle. There's no way you're going to be smiling or doing anything like that. You have to beat the other guy."

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  • Ubaldo's mother was a nurse who once wanted her son to go to medical school.

  • April 17, 2010: Jimenez pitched the first no-hitter in the Rockies' 18-season history, beating the Braves, 4-0, in Atlanta. Over the final three innings, he threw only 27 pitches, though he threw 128 total during the game.

    The average velocity on his fastball was 97 mph, and topped 100 mph three times. The ninth inning brought Jimenez back to his childhood. He had never thrown a no-hitter, but he had long admired a great hitter. Chipper Jones was his idol—that's why Jimenez wears his high stirrups.

  • Ubaldo runs five or six miles every morning following a start, no matter how many pitches he pitched the night before, and no matter how late the game ended. He runs sprints in the outfield on the other days between starts.

    He is all sinew muscle—not an ounce of body fat on him    .

    TRANSACTIONS

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  • January 27, 2009: Jimenez and the Rockies agreed to a 4-year, $10 million contract with a club option for both the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

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    PITCHING:

    • Jimenez has a 92-98 mph 4-seam FASTBALL that is gaining more velocity, reaching as high as 100 mph. His 2-seamer has excellent armside running and sinking action. He keeps that excellent heater low in the strike zone, on or below the knees. And he has a SPLITTER.

      Ubaldo made his cut fastball more of a SLIDER at 87-88 mph with more late life. And he also has improved his CHANGEUP. It now has as much as a 10-inch break toward the dirt

      His CURVEBALL can buckle the knees of a righthanded batter. And he uses it against lefthanded hitters, too. It drops down like a pool ball into a pocket.
  • In 2009, Ubaldo's go-to pitch was the 4-seam fastball, sitting in the mid-90s. Now (2010 and on), he uses the 2-seam sinker, the curve and the changeup the most, but his cutter slider and 4-seamer are also in use, giving him six pitches in his incredible arsenal, reminding baseball guys of Juan Marichal.

    And Jimenez varies the six pitches, so his catcher actually has 12 different signs, instead of the usual 5 or 6 for most pitchers.

  • Ubaldo's best pitch is the 2-seam sinker. It is now considered the best pitch in the game, better than Tim Lincecum's changeup and Mo Rivera's cutter. The movement on the 2-seamer makes it unhittable. (July 2010)

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  • Jimenez is a legitimate ace of the pitching staff.

  • He has solid mechanics, but there is effort in his delivery. He used to wrap his wrist a little bit in the back of his delivery, hooking the ball behind him during his delivery, something the Rockies worked to eliminate in 2005. And they completely overhauled Ubaldo's mechanics in the spring of 2006.

    He has a more compact motion now, toning down a funky hitch in his delivery that tipped off his pitches. It is a less-stressful motion, reducing the chance for injury while not losing power. And he repeats his delivery better.

    But his motion is still unorthodox. He brings the ball downward to hip level before whipping it toward the plate. Most pitchers don't bring the ball below chest level.

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  • Ubaldo has the confidence to throw strikes. He has learned what hitters are endeavoring to do and pitching to their weakness. He has changed from a thrower to a pitcher, now setting up hitters more effectively.

  • Colorado Springs pitching coach Chuck Kniffin said, "The biggest thing with Jimenez is he needs to limit his pitch count. He has a tendency to throw five innings and 100 pitches, which really isn't going to help the bullpen situation. They're looking for somebody that can get deeper into the game -- six or seven innings to give the bullpen a rest. And he has to eliminate the bump in the road during the game where he loses his focus." (July 17, 2007)

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  • Before 2009, when Ubaldo's command was off, he would miss to the outer part of the plate and hitters could look for him to come in. You can't count on that anymore. He has command to both sides of the plate, shaving the corners on both sides.

  • In 2010, Jimenez had a great year because he has excellent command of that powerful heater, and his improved arm angle gives him a hard, downward motion that is very difficult for hitters to pick up.

    Plus, his slider is a swing-and-miss pitch, but only when he is ahead in the count.

  • Ubaldo grips the ball deep in his hand, allowing his extremely long fingers to maintain contact with the seams longer than most pitchers do. The result is a tighter, more violent spin on the ball—and exaggerated movement. He further generates velocity with an unorthodox delivery, one you would not teach any kid.

    Jimenez pulls his right arm back farther than any other pitcher in baseball, seeming to pause with his arm out-stretched before he windmills it forward. He gets tremenous speed on his arm action. It is like a slingshot.

    Like his hero, Pedro Martinez, Ubaldo has long spindly fingers that are like #2 pencils, which get him incredible late action on his pitches    .

    Watch Jimenez after he gets the ball back after an out and it's been thrown around the infield    . He takes the throw on the back of the mound. As he steps up toward the rubber, he fixes his hat with his right hand. He keeps the ball in his hand and fixes his cap with his thumb and index finger. The ball is just sitting there in his hand, and it looks like a Titleist Pro VL. That is how big his hands are.

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  • Ubaldo studies and learns from the game's greats, such as Roy Halladay. ("I love watching him locate his pitches—it's like watching a video game," Jimenez said.)

    BREAKDOWN VS. LEFTIES and VS. RIGHTIES

  • In 2008, this righty pitcher allowed a .248 average and 8 home runs in 395 at-bats vs. lefthanded hitters. Righthanded batters only hit .241 with 3 home runs in 349 at-bats.

  • In 2009, Ubaldo allowed lefty batters a .251 average with 4 home runs in 410 at-bats. Righthanded hitters only had a .206 average with 9 homers in 388 at-bats.

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  • As of the start of the 2010 season, Jimenez had a career major league recxord of 31-28 with a 3.80 ERA, having allowed only 35 home runs and 440 hits in 506 innings.
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    FIELDING:

    • Ubaldo does not do a good job of holding runners. He is easy to steal a base on.
     
    CAREER INJURY REPORT:

    • May 18-August 1, 2004: Jimenez was on the D.L. for 10 weeks at Visalia with the beginnings of a stress fracture in his right shoulder blade. When he came back and pitched on August 1, he threw just two pitches, at 58 and 62 mph, before leaving.

      He then returned to action in the fall in Instructional League ball.
     
     
    Last Updated 9/4/2010. All contents © 2000 by Player Profiles. All rights reserved.