Eddie Oropesa

Edilberto Oropesa (born November 23, 1971), is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher, who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies (2001), Arizona Diamondbacks (2002–2003), and San Diego Padres (2004).^[1] On April 8, 2004, he was credited with the win, in the first-ever big league game played at Petco Park, as the Padres defeated the San Francisco Giants, 4 to 3.^[2]

Oropesa defected from the Cuban national team at the World University Games in Buffalo, New York in 1993, becoming the second active Cuban player (after René Arocha) to openly defect to the United States.^[3] In 2012, he was hired by the Los Angeles Dodgers to work with their newly signed Cuban player, Yasiel Puig.

He has two children with his wife Rita.^[4]

Oropesa is estimated to have earned $1.15 million total in 3 of the 4 major league seasons he appeared in (2001, 2002, and 2004).^[1]

Eddie Oropesa threw three pitches, a fastball, slider and changeup. Oropesa's pitching delivery was unique. Against right-handed hitters, he went from the full windup. He would hide the ball by turning his back to the hitter utilizing a high leg kick and release the ball from a high three-quarters arm angle. Against lefties, he would work exclusively from the stretch, even with no runners on base. Against lefties, he would turn his back slightly however his leg kick was not nearly as exaggerated and he would use a sidearm release point. This delivery made it really tough for lefties to hit him, as they only hit .242 against him in his entire career. However, these inconsistent mechanics often led to control problems.

• List of baseball players who defected from Cuba

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet

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