Valentin Sojo:
Like John Caylor, Valentin Sojo's career numbers don't seem particularly impressive. Also like Caylor, Sojo was one of the more dominant pitchers in the early league history, making 7 All Star teams and winning one Cy Young award. In addition, Sojo's career ERA still ranks in the top 25. Sojo comes in at 15th on the career list with a 3.19 ERA.
Unlike Caylor, however, Sojo's credentials also include a great deal of postseason success. Sojo was the ace of the Pittsburgh dynasty that arose in the first ten years of the league, and won four World Series with the Pirates. Sojo was one of the best postseason pitchers ever, winning 13 games with a 2.71 ERA. In the 2010 World Series, against Memphis, Sojo tossed a 3 hit shutout in Game 3, and the Pirates went on to win in 5 games.
In addition to his pitching prowess, Sojo was known for being a decent hitter. He had a career .239 AVG, and batted .292 in 2007 and .311 in 2008.
Sojo's career stats:
Code:
Career Pitching Stats
Year G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SHO Teams
2003 36 36 15 7 0 3.08 240.0 216 88 82 39 140 2 1 ROC,NL
2004 33 33 18 4 0 2.40 221.1 183 65 59 22 186 1 1 PIT,NL
2005 33 33 13 8 0 3.55 197.2 180 87 78 41 165 0 0 PIT
2006 33 33 14 4 0 2.69 224.1 176 72 67 30 187 1 1 PIT
2007 33 33 19 7 0 2.72 218.1 177 72 66 33 172 1 0 PIT,NL
2008 33 33 19 8 0 2.83 219.1 176 78 69 30 165 4 3 PIT,NL
2009 36 36 16 7 0 2.88 218.2 187 79 70 56 175 1 1 PIT,NL
2010 33 33 16 8 0 3.65 202.0 210 92 82 37 158 2 1 PIT
2011 34 34 15 5 0 2.79 209.1 173 76 65 55 185 0 0 PIT,NL ATL
2012 34 34 11 10 0 3.98 212.2 238 114 94 47 123 0 0 TUC
2013 36 36 13 8 0 3.08 216.1 201 86 74 51 151 1 1 TUC,AL
2014 36 36 11 5 0 2.72 218.2 215 83 66 45 115 0 0 TUC
2015 33 33 13 17 0 5.18 215.1 263 146 124 91 111 2 1 TUC
Total 443 443 193 98 0 3.19 2814.0 2595 1138 996 577 2033 15 10
Career Postseason Pitching Stats
Year G GS W L SV ERA IP HA R ER BB K CG SHO
2004 3 3 1 2 0 4.58 19.2 16 10 10 5 18 0 0
2005 4 4 3 0 0 0.95 28.1 20 4 3 3 18 0 0
2006 2 2 0 2 0 5.40 8.1 12 14 5 4 6 0 0
2007 4 4 2 1 0 3.86 25.2 23 11 11 5 15 0 0
2008 4 4 3 1 0 2.05 26.1 20 7 6 5 15 0 0
2009 3 3 2 0 0 3.26 19.1 16 8 7 6 13 0 0
2010 3 3 2 0 0 1.25 21.2 16 3 3 5 19 1 1
Total 23 23 13 6 0 2.71 149.1 123 57 45 33 104 1 1
Career Batting Stats
Year G AB H 2B 3B HR RBI R BB K SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS Teams
2003 36 79 18 2 0 0 5 7 6 26 0 0 .228 .282 .253 .536 ROC,NL
2004 33 67 15 1 0 0 1 9 1 22 0 0 .224 .235 .239 .474 PIT,NL
2005 33 69 17 2 0 0 9 6 2 23 1 0 .246 .268 .275 .543 PIT
2006 33 61 14 1 0 1 7 6 4 24 0 0 .230 .277 .295 .572 PIT
2007 33 65 19 2 0 0 6 10 1 24 0 0 .292 .303 .323 .626 PIT,NL
2008 33 74 23 1 0 0 3 9 1 24 0 0 .311 .320 .324 .644 PIT,NL
2009 36 68 10 0 0 1 8 5 5 34 0 0 .147 .205 .191 .397 PIT,NL
2010 33 63 14 2 0 0 6 3 2 22 0 1 .222 .246 .254 .500 PIT
2011 34 41 10 0 0 1 4 3 1 20 0 0 .244 .262 .317 .579 PIT,NL ATL
2012 34 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 TUC
2013 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 TUC,AL
2014 36 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 TUC
2015 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 .000 TUC
Total 443 587 140 11 0 3 49 58 23 219 1 1 .239 .267 .273 .540
Player History
Drafted in 4th round, 63rd overall pick, by Rochester in 2003...
Had first career hit on 4/2/2003, off Edgardo Moreno (PIT)...
Earned first career win on 4/7/2003...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 7/1/2003, going 3-0, 1.85...
Was selected to the 2003 Allstar game...
Signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh on 2/9/2004 to a 4-year deal worth $12,000,000 per year...
Was selected to the 2004 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2005...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 9/1/2006, going 4-0, 1.59...
Hit first career homerun on 9/2/2006, off Nathan Echevarria (SAC)...
Was selected to the 2007 Allstar game...
Was selected to the 2008 Allstar game...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 9/1/2008, going 4-1, 1.50...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2008...
Won Cy Young Award in 2008, going 19-8, 2.83 ERA...
Was selected to the 2009 Allstar game...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2009...
Won World Series with Pittsburgh in 2010...
Was selected to the 2011 Allstar game...
Traded from Pittsburgh to Atlanta on 7/21/2011 (Going to ATL: P V. Sojo, 3B D. Grosvenor, LF T. Viader. Going to PIT: 3B C. Serra, LF S. Shires, LF M. Yokley)...
Signed as a free agent by Tucson on 2/10/2012 to a 4-year deal worth $13,655,000 per year...
Won Pitcher of the Month award on 6/1/2013, going 4-1, 2.16...
Was selected to the 2013 Allstar game...
Retired in 2016.
Pitching Leader Boards Appearances
ERA
2003 - 3.08 - 3rd
2004 - 2.40 - 1st
2005 - 3.55 - 5th
2006 - 2.69 - 1st
2007 - 2.72 - 3rd
2008 - 2.83 - 1st
2009 - 2.88 - 6th
2011 - 2.79 - 2nd
2013 - 3.08 - 3rd
2014 - 2.72 - 2nd
WHIP
2003 - 1.06 - 3rd
2004 - 0.93 - 2nd
2005 - 1.12 - 3rd
2006 - 0.92 - 1st
2007 - 0.96 - 1st
2008 - 0.94 - 2nd
2009 - 1.11 - 7th
2011 - 1.09 - 2nd
2013 - 1.16 - 4th
2014 - 1.19 - 2nd
Wins
2003 - 15 - 5th
2004 - 18 - 3rd
2006 - 14 - 8th
2007 - 19 - 2nd
2008 - 19 - 1st
2009 - 16 - 4th
2010 - 16 - 6th
2011 - 15 - 7th
Losses
2015 - 17 - 6th
IP
2003 - 240.0 - 2nd
2004 - 221.1 - 6th
2006 - 224.1 - 9th
2008 - 219.1 - 10th
2014 - 218.2 - 7th
K's
2004 - 186 - 9th
2006 - 187 - 9th
2007 - 172 - 10th
2011 - 185 - 9th
2013 - 151 - 10th
CG
2008 - 4 - 4th
2010 - 2 - 10th
SHO
2008 - 3 - 2nd