David Robertson (baseball)

David Robertson
New York Yankees — No. 30
Relief pitcher
Born: April 9, 1985 (1985-04-09) (age 26) Birmingham, Alabama
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 29, 2008 for the New York Yankees
Career statistics (through 2011 season)
Win–loss record	14–6
Earned run average	3.03
Strikeouts	270
Teams
New York Yankees (2008–present)
Career highlights and awards
All-Star (2011) World Series champion (2009) Led AL in holds (2011) Led AL in ERA (2011) Led MLB in ERA+ (2011)

David Alan Robertson (born April 9, 1985) is a Major League baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees.

High school career

Robertson was born in Birmingham, Alabama, and played his first three years at Central-Tuscaloosa High School. He was a 2-year starter for the Falcons at shortstop and pitcher. He helped lead his team to back-to-back area titles, as well as back-to-back 6A State Playoff appearances. After his junior year, Central High School was split into three smaller high schools, and Robertson attended Paul W. Bryant High School. He led the Stampede to an area title and the Class 5A State Playoffs in the school's first year of existence.

College career

Robertson played college baseball at the University of Alabama. As a freshman in 2005, Robertson appeared in a team-high 32 games with 3 starts. He compiled a 7-5 record with 8 saves and a 2.92 ERA. He led the Southeastern Conference by limiting hitters to a .183 batting average. He was named Freshman All-SEC and Freshman All-America by Baseball America.

In his sophomore season, Robertson helped lead the Crimson Tide to their 25th SEC Championship. He appeared in 29 games, compiling a 4-4 record with a 3.02 ERA. He led the SEC with 10 saves. Due to Robertson being 21 at the time of the 2006 draft, he was a draft eligible sophomore and was drafted in the 17th round by the New York Yankees. He played summer league in Cape Cod and was named MVP of the Cape Cod League Playoffs. On his way back to Tuscaloosa to begin the fall semester, the Yankees offered him a contract, and he signed in August of 2006.

Professional career

Robertson was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 17th round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.

In 2007, pitching for three minor league teams, he was 8-3 with 4 saves and a 0.96 ERA in 84 ¹⁄₃ innings, allowing 45 hits while striking out 114 batters. In 2008, pitching for two minor league teams, he was 4-0 with 3 saves and a 1.68 ERA in 53 ²⁄₃ innings, allowing 28 hits while striking out 77.

Robertson pitching in 2010

On June 28, 2008, the Yankees called him up from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.^[1] On August 28, 2008, the Yankees optioned him back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees with an earned run average of 6.31. He was recalled back to the majors on September 13.^[2][3]

After starting the 2009 regular season in Triple-A, Robertson was recalled to the majors on April 16, 2009, to replace Xavier Nady, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list. The next day he was optioned back to Triple-A to open a roster spot for Juan Miranda. On May 25, 2009, he was again recalled to the majors to replace reliever Brian Bruney.^[4] Robertson finished the season with a 3.30 ERA and 13.0 strikeouts per 9 innings in 43 ²⁄₃ innings.^[5]

In the 2009 playoffs, Robertson entered two games in high-pressure situations with multiple runners on base, once in the ALDS and once in the ALCS, and managing to escape the inning without letting any runs score.^[6] Robertson received the win in both games.

Robertson finished the 2010 season with a 3.82 ERA and 10.4 strikeouts per 9 innings in 61 ¹⁄₃ innings.^[5]

The Yankees entered the 2011 season with the additions of Pedro Feliciano and Rafael Soriano. Robertson lost out to Joba Chamberlain to be the 7th inning pitcher who manager Joe Girardi wanted to bridge to Soriano and closer Mariano Rivera.^{[citation needed]} Injuries to Feliciano, Soriano and Chamberlain put Robertson in the 8th inning setup role, where he achieved 55 strikeouts half way through the season. Robertson was named to the 2011 American League All Star roster replacing David Price for his first All Star appearance.^[7] He finished the season with 100 strikeouts, becoming the first Yankee reliever since Rivera (in 1996) to record 100 strikeouts in a single season.^[8][9] Robertson finished his breakout season with an AL leading 1.08 ERA, 13.5 K/9 ratio (2nd in the AL), and an MLB leading ERA+ of 410.^[5] He also received exactly one (1) point in the voting for both the AL Cy Young Award (the only non-starter or non-closer with a vote) and AL MVP (the only reliever with a vote).

Personal life

His brother, Connor, formerly played for the Oakland Athletics and the Arizona Diamondbacks.^[10][11] Robertson married Erin Cronin in January 2009.^[12][13] The couple started a charitable foundation called "High Socks for Hope" to help the victims of Robertson's hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama deal with the tornado strikes in 2011. Robertson agreed to donate $100 for every strikeout he recorded in the season.^[14][15] For his work, Robertson was nominated for the 2011 Marvin Miller Man of the Year Award.^[16]

References

1. ^ Botte, Peter (2008-06-29). "Kei Igawa takes demotion in stride". New York Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/yankees/2008/06/28/2008-06-28_kei_igawa_takes_demotion_in_stride.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23. 
2. ^ "Yankees Demote Robertson". WFTV. The Sports Network. 2008-08-28. http://www.wftv.com/mlb/17324705/detail.html. Retrieved 2011-07-23. 
3. ^ "Hughes returns to majors after 12 K's in International League title game". ESPN. Associated Press. 2008-09-13. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3585747. Retrieved 2011-07-23. 
4. ^ Farrell, Tim (2009-05-25). "New York Yankees recall reliever David Robertson". Nj.com. http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/2009/05/new_york_yankees_recall_reliev.html. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} "David Robertson Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roberda08.shtml. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
6. ^ DiComo, Anthony (October 18, 2009). "Robertson proving invaluable for Yanks". Major League Baseball. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20091018&content_id=7489440&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb. Retrieved October 27, 2009. 
7. ^ Brennan, Sean (July 10, 2011). "David Robertson lands All Star spot". NY Daily News. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/yankees/2011/07/david-robertson-lands-all-star-spot. Retrieved 2011-8-27. 
8. ^ Ehalt, Matt (September 29, 2011). "Robertson ready for the eighth inning". ESPN. http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/yankees/post/_/id/24364/robertson-ready-as-the-set-up-man. Retrieved 2011-10-01. 
9. ^ Barbarisi, Daniel (September 27, 2011). "100 Reasons Robertson Is the Closer in Waiting". WSJ.com. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204422404576595240930205006.html?mod=googlenews_wsj. Retrieved 2011-10-01. 
10. ^ "Ex-Tide player eager to show he belongs in the Major Leagues". Tidesports.com. http://www.tidesports.com/article/20080705/NEWS/485640594/1011. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
11. ^ "Connor Robertson". Baseball-Reference. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/roberco01.shtml. Retrieved 2009-10-26. 
12. ^ Kernan, Kevin (2008-06-15). "Joba II ... With A Twist". NYPOST.com. http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/item_kNZyK98X4ZvQlUoK8GyqaN. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
13. ^ "David Robertson Stats, Bio, Photos, Highlights | yankees.com: Team". Newyork.yankees.mlb.com. 2010-03-19. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=502085. Retrieved 2010-07-29. 
14. ^ "The David and Erin Robertson Foundation". High Socks for Hope. 2011-04-27. http://www.highsocksforhope.com/. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
15. ^ "Robertson pledges aid to ravaged hometown | yankees.com: News". Mlb.mlb.com. 2011-05-27. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110527&content_id=19646684&notebook_id=19656698&vkey=notebook_nyy&c_id=nyy. Retrieved 2011-08-24. 
16. ^ http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110912&content_id=24589704&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• David Robertson on Twitter

Persondata
Name	Robertson, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 9, 1985
Place of birth	Birmingham, Alabama
Date of death
Place of death