{"id":9155,"date":"2017-09-24T20:29:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-25T00:29:50","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=9155"},"modified":"2017-09-24T20:29:50","modified_gmt":"2017-09-25T00:29:50","slug":"bronson-arroyo-decides-retire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2017\/09\/24\/bronson-arroyo-decides-retire\/","title":{"rendered":"Longtime Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Bronson Arroyo Decides to Retire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longtime Cincinnati Reds<\/a> right-hander Bronson Arroyo<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0has 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Longtime Cincinnati Reds Pitcher Bronson Arroyo Decides to Retire<\/h2>\n

Arroyo’s decision to retire shouldn’t come as a huge surprise as recent seasons in his\u00a0career have been filled with injuries which has prevented the right-hander from toeing the mound since June 18th of this year.<\/p>\n

Arroyo underwent Tommy John surgery as a member of the\u00a0Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a> in 2014 which caused him to miss all of the 2015 season. Arroyo was unable to earn a spot on the Washington Nationals<\/a> in 2016, due to a torn rotator cuff injury. He came back to Cincinnati on a minor league contract this season.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Despite his recent health issues, Arroyo was considered an innings eater early on in his career. The Pittsburgh Pirates <\/a>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.<\/p>\n

Arroyo became a reliable starter for the 2004 Red Sox in the year when they stunned the New York Yankees<\/a> by surging back from a 3-0 deficit in the American League Championship Series. The Sox went on to sweep the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>\u00a0in 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.<\/p>\n

Arroyo stayed on with the Red Sox during the 2005 season before\u00a0Theo Epstein<\/strong>, the Red Sox GM at the time, traded him to the Reds for outfielder Wily Mo Pena<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Arroyo was technically on six different teams (he was on the Atlanta Braves<\/a> and Los Angeles Dodgers\u00a0<\/a>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.<\/p>\n

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