Texas Rangers Player Spotlight

Welcome to the Texas Ranger Player Spotlight! It's the only place that has 'the real dirt' on Texas Rangers players and staff, updated throughout the season to keep you informed about the latest news. Today's spotlight is with Texas Rangers Pitcher Vicente Padilla

Vicente Padilla, #44 Pitcher

Born: 09/27/1977
Birthplace: Chinandega, Nicaragua
Height: 6'2" Weight: 220
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
College: N/A
MLB Debut: 06/29/1999
Signed w/Texas: 2006 (3rd season with Rangers)

Vicente Padilla hit the financial jackpot when he signed with the Rangers in 2006. In his first year in in Texas, he earned $4.410 million and repaid the team by winning a career-high 15 games. Last year when expectations for Padilla were high, his salary jumped to $9 million. Unfortunately, his ERA and loss totals jumped significantly, too. Battling injury, Padilla totaled only 6 wins and 23 starts in 2007. And injured triceps forced him on the disabled list last June. Once he returned from the injury, he posted only 3 more wins through the rest of the season. To add insult to injury, in the final two weeks of the 2007 season, Padilla was ejected and served a seven-game suspension for throwing at Oakland's Nick Swisher.

Padilla's goal for 2008: renew a relationship with teammates and live up to his salary ($11 million in '08) and expectations of Rangers management and fans. So far so good through the first month of the season.

"Everything is different (for Vicente)," Rangers pitching coach Mark Conner tells MLB.com. "He's healthy, number one, and I think he is on a mission this year to prove that last year was a fluke. His pitching is more along the lines of what he did the year before. He got the contract, and people were expecting big things. He tried to do that, but he was hurt. He finally admitted that after he had not pitched very well. I knew something was wrong. I think he wanted to show he could live up to the contract, but pitching while you are hurt is very difficult. You can't fault him for that, but you wish he would have said something sooner. This year he came in with a new attitude. I watch him in between innings, and he's right there patting guys on the back. I think he feels better about himself. He looks that way."

Padilla admits that injury and his contract effected his performance last year, and he's determined to continue his hot start in 2008.

"The contract affected me," Padilla says. "It's a lot of money, and they wanted me to do the work, and I wanted to demonstrate that I earned that money and I was worth it. I wanted to be better than the year before. But you can't let that affect you or make you do things you don't normally do. I know that now. No matter how old you are or how long you play this game, you are going to learn something. You can never know it all in this game. You can learn something every day if you want to pay attention to it. I see that. I know that."

Padilla began his career with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 1998 as an amateur free agent signee. His major league baseball debut came a year later in June, 1999 with Arizona. Midway through the 2000 season, he was traded from the Diamondbacks to the Phillies in a deal that sent Curt Schilling to the D-Backs. Padilla pitched for Philadelphia through the 2005 season. He was a member of the National League All Star Team in 2002. In 2006, he moved from the National League to the American League Rangers in a trade for Ricardo Rodriguez. In his debut season with Texas, he became only the 8th Rangers pitcher in the last 13 seasons to record 150-or-more strikeouts in a season.

Fun Facts:

*Padilla was the pitcher on the mound when the 2002 All-Star game was ruled a tie in the 11th inning. Due to the fact that Padilla was the only remaining pitcher on the NL team and he could not pitch any more innings, the game was called and ended officially as a "tie".

*Vincente Padilla won a bronze medal when he pitched for Nicaragua in the XXXIII World Cup, July 1998; he earned the save over Italy in the medal round to secure the bronze for his countrymen.

Career Stats (entering 2008 season)
Losses ERA Games Starts Shutouts Saves Innings Hits Runs (Earned) HR BB K