Longtime Cincinnati Reds right-hander Bronson Arroyo has decided to retire from baseball. The 40-year-old played for Cincinnati for nine seasons (2006-2013; 2017) and was honored by the Reds before and after Saturday’s game against his former team, the Boston Red Sox.
Longtime Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Bronson Arroyo Decides to Retire
Arroyo’s decision to retire shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as recent seasons in his career have been filled with injuries which has prevented the right-hander from toeing the mound since June 18th of this year.
Arroyo underwent Tommy John surgery as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014 which caused him to miss all of the 2015 season. Arroyo was unable to earn a spot on the Washington Nationals in 2016, due to a torn rotator cuff injury. He came back to Cincinnati on a minor league contract this season.
The veteran right-hander earned a spot in the Reds rotation during Spring Training but was limited to 71 innings due to shoulder problems. Arroyo posted a 3-6 record and a 7.35 ERA in his final season.
Despite his recent health issues, Arroyo was considered an innings eater early on in his career. The Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Arroyo as a third-round pick in the 1993 draft, but he ultimately broke into the majors with the Red Sox when the Sox claimed Arroyo off waivers in 2003.
Arroyo became a reliable starter for the 2004 Red Sox in the year when they stunned the New York Yankees by surging back from a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series. The Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to break Boston’s 86-year title drought. That year Arroyo had a 4.03 ERA, 1.220 WHIP, and 142 strikeouts in 174 2/3 innings during the regular season.
Arroyo stayed on with the Red Sox during the 2005 season before Theo Epstein, the Red Sox GM at the time, traded him to the Reds for outfielder Wily Mo Pena.
Cincinnati acquired a reliable starter in Arroyo; who averaged no less than 199 innings. In 2006, his first year with the Reds, he posted a career-high 240 2/3 innings and a personal-best 3.29 ERA which awarded him an All-Star selection. Arroyo racked up a 4.05 ERA over 1,690 1/3 innings with the Reds before inking a two-year, $23.5MM deal with the Diamondbacks.
Arroyo was technically on six different teams (he was on the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers while on the DL in 2015), but he pitched for four teams as he totaled 2,435 innings. He will retire with a 148-127 record as well as a 4.28 ERA, a 1.301 WHIP, and 1,571 strikeouts in The Show.
