This recently traded pitcher gets the December Double POTD!
Carlos Silva pitches against the Blue Jays during the eighth inning of Roy Halladay's final start at the Rogers Centre September 25th. It was also Silva's final appearance in a Mariners uniform as he allowed one run on a Lyle Overbay two-out double that cashed in an Edwin Encarnacion walk during his inning of relief. That was the Jays final run in an eventual 5-0 victory.
Silva waits outside of the Mariners bullpen moments after the Jays wrapped up a 5-4 come from behind victory in their home finale September 27th.
The cost to the Chicago Cubs to send the mercurial Milton Bradley to Seattle was $6-million dollars (the latest magic number in baseball trades lately!) and the rights to Carlos Silva. The 30 year-old Venezuelan returns to the National League after beginning his career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Silva made his big league debut in 2002 and went a combined 8-1 out of the Phillies bullpen in his two seasons there with a 3.83 ERA and a couple of saves. He was then traded to Minnesota in the off-season with infielder Nick Punto and pitcher Bobby Korecky for lefty Eric Milton. Silva hit his stride in the Twin Cities as he became a starter and enjoyed a mostly decent four year run. He went 14-8 with a 4.21 ERA in 2004 and followed that up with a 9-8 record with a 3.44 mark in '05. Silva's most memorable accomplishment that year was issuing just nine walks in 188 1/3 innings which led to a major league record 0.43 walks per nine innings and his K-BB ratio was 7.89 after whiffing 71 batters. His '06 season saw him set a record he didn't want as he gave up a league leading 38 homers that led to a 11-15 record with an ERA just six points shy of six. Silva was able to rebound in 2007 by lowering his ERA 4.19 in '07 and improved his record to 13-14.
Silva showed he was pretty durable during his four seasons in Minny as his innings per season ranged from 180 to 203. Despite striking out just 3.6 batters per nine innings, his walk rate per nine was 1.3 and that was apparently enough to convince Seattle to sign Silva to a four-year deal worth $48-million dollars. His first year in the Emerald City was a disaster as he went just 4-15 with a 6.46 ERA after he finished April 3-0. This season, Silva was bothered by a shoulder injury and he only made six starts and two relief appearances in which he went 1-3 with an 8.60 ERA. Now he hopes for a fresh start with the Cubs. With a ground ball rate in the high 40 percent range, Silva will need to keep the ball down and regain his control in order to succeed at Wrigley Field and other NL ballparks in 2010.
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20091218210802418