José Contreras

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José Ariel Contreras

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 4", Weight 224 lb.

Debut March 31, 2003
Born December 6, 1971 in Las Martinas, Cuba

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[edit] Biographical Information

Pitcher José Contreras was one of Cuba's top players and won an Olympic silver medal for them in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Contreras allowed five runs in five innings despite 8 strikeouts in the 1997 World Port Tournament. He was the top pitcher in the 1998 Haarlem Baseball Week. He was an All-Star pitcher in the 1998 Baseball World Cup, beating Byung-hyun Kim in the finale and going 2-0 with a 0.53 ERA and 28 K in 17 IP, allowing 8 hits and 3 walks for the tourney. He tied for the tourney lead in wins, was 4th in ERA and tied Kim for second in strikeouts, trailing Koji Uehara. Contreras was 2-0 in the 1998 Central American and Caribbean Games but had the worst ERA on the Cuban staff, 4.61, as they won Gold.

In the 1999 Pan American Games, Contreras beat the Dominican national team 3-1 in the quarterfinals. He then came back on one day's rest to shut down Team USA in the Gold Medal game. He struck out 13 and allowed only four hits and a run in 8 innings against the first Team USA to feature professional players. He won that game 5-1 over Brad Penny.

In the 2001 Baseball World Cup, Contreras allowed only 11 hits and four walks while striking out 22 in 21 2/3 IP. He went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, allowing only one unearned run. He one-hit a Canadian national team which used six position players who would appear in the majors - Aaron Guiel, Rich Butler, Justin Morneau, Scott Thorman, Ryan Radmanovich and Kevin Nicholson plus AAA player Todd Betts. In the semifinals, he pitched 10 2/3 innings of one-run ball against Japan to hand that club its first loss of the Cup. The only run came in the first when Tadahito Iguchi singled in Hirokazu Ibata. Contreras whiffed 11 in that game. He joined Jason Stanford as the tourney's All-Star pitchers, having led in ERA and finished third in strikeouts, tying Shugo Fujii and trailing Chih-Chia Chang and Roger Deago.

In 2002, he fled his homeland and came to the United States. After receiving offers from several major league clubs, he signed with the New York Yankees in early 2003. He posted a 7-2 record and 3.30 ERA as a rookie, splitting the season between the bullpen and the rotation. The next season, he was a full-time starter, going 8-5 for the Yanks before being sent to the Chicago White Sox in a deal at the trade deadline. In 2005 with the Sox, he had the finest year of his big league career. He posted a 4-5 record at the All-Star break, but went 11-2 from then on, winning his last eight decisions. Contreras carried his fine performance into the postseason, going 3-1 with a 3.09 ERA in four starts and winning Game 1 of the World Series. He won both the opening games of the ALDS and the World Series.

In 2006, Contreras continued to look like the Sox ace, starting the season 9-0 and stretching his regular-season win streak to 17 games, a White Sox record. He also made the All-Star team for the first time in his career. However, Contreras struggled after the break, going 4-9 with a 5.40 ERA from then forward, and ended the season with a 13-9 mark. The next season, he had his worst year in the majors, losing 17 games and putting up a 5.57 ERA.