Don’t know how I missed this one but I flat out did. Fortunately, I’ve got great friends, like fellow longtime Left Field Pavilion season ticketholder Armando Carrasco, looking out for me.

On Saturday morning, I received a text message from Armando, who now lives and works in Florida but is still very much a diehard Dodgers fan. Armando texted: “Did you see that the Dodgers signed Rubby De La Rosa to a Minor League deal?”

I had not, for which there was absolutely no excuse.

Allow me to digress.

Back in the day (as they say) I was a huge Rubby De La Rosa fan. I had followed the Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic native closely when, in 2011 and at only 22 years-old, he posted a 4-5 record and 3.71 ERA with the Los Angeles Dodgers. That’s not a typo. The (very) hard throwing righthander had been promoted from the Dodgers (then) Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts directly to baseball’s highest level … at 22 years old.

And then disaster struck.

After posting a 4-5 record and a 3.71 ERA with the Dodgers, De La Rosa required Tommy John surgery … twice.

After an extensive rehab period with the (then) Advanced Single-A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (where I met him) and the (then) Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts, the extremely polite right-hander finally made it back to The Show.

It did not go well.

In his only appearance back with the Dodgers in 2012, De La Rosa allowed two runs in his 0.2 innings pitched, for a horrible 27.00 ERA. Shortly thereafter, he was packaged into the blockbuster deal in which he, Jerry Sands, Iván De Jesús, James Loney and Allen Webster were sent to the Boston Red Sox for Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, Adrián González, Nick Punto and cash. That deal still remains one of the biggest in Dodgers history.

De La Rosa did not fair well in Beantown, going 4-10 with a 4.54 ERA in his 30 games (18 starts) in his two season there.

Although the Red Sox did not re-sign Rubby as a free agent following the 2014 season, the Arizona Diamondbacks did. In his combined three(-ish) seasons with Arizona, De La Rosa posted a combined 18-15 record and 4.59 ERA, with Arizona ultimately releasing him on June 24, 2019.

De La Rosa spent parts of the next four seasons with the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball League in Japan, where he went a perfect 4-0 with an excellent 2.53 ERA in his combined 137 games and 124.1 innings pitched – all in relief.

Do you see where this is going?

As arguably the best in the business, it came as a surprise to no one that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman scooped De La Rosa up earlier this month, signing him to a Minor League contract.

Needless to say, soon-to-be (on March 4) 34-year-old Rubby De La Rosa has an excellent shot at breaking Spring Training camp on the Dodgers 40-man roster as a reliever.

Welcome home, Rubby!

Play Ball!

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