Marco Estrada

He pitched to a 7–6 record, 4.36 ERA, and 127 strikeouts in 1502⁄3 innings pitched.

Marco René Estrada (born July 5, 1983) is a Mexican-American former professional baseball pitcher.

He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Washington Nationals, Milwaukee Brewers, Toronto Blue Jays, and Oakland Athletics.

He was selected by the Washington Nationals in the sixth round of the 2005 Major League Baseball draft.

After being drafted by Washington, Estrada began his minor league career pitching for the Vermont Expos in the short-season New York–Penn League.

In three starts and six relief appearances, he pitched 33 2⁄3 innings, compiling a win–loss record of 1–3 and an ERA of 5.08.

During that time, he struck out 37 batters while issuing 16 walks.

Estrada spent the 2006 season with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Nationals, and the Savannah Sand Gnats of the Class-A South Atlantic League.

He posted a record of 3 wins and 4 losses and a 3.98 ERA over 61 innings, consisting of 12 starts and 1 appearance in relief, striking out a total of 56 batters and walking 20.

In 2007, Estrada pitched for the GCL Nationals, the Class-A Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League, and the Advanced-A Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League.

He logged 105 2⁄3 innings in 23 starts, winning 6, losing 8, and recording a 4.85 ERA with 102 strikeouts and 37 walks.

Estrada began the 2008 season with the Harrisburg Senators of the Double-A Eastern League, where he pitched 74 1⁄3 innings in 13 starts, posting an ERA of 2.66, striking out 67 batters and walking 32.

In June he was promoted to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Triple-A International League.

He was called up to the majors on August 19 and made his debut the next day.

He made 11 appearances as a reliever that season.

From 2008 to 2010, Estrada only pitched in a total of 31.1 innings, and never posted an ERA below 6.00.

He pitched in four games (including one start) for the Nationals in 2009, but played the majority of the season with Syracuse.

On February 3, 2010, Estrada was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers.

He began the season with the Triple-A Pacific Coast League's Nashville Sounds.

On April 6, 2011, Estrada was again called up to the majors, taking the injured Zack Greinke's spot in the starting rotation.

Estrada became the long reliever and the backup starter for the Brewers pitching rotation.

2011 was Estrada's first successful season in the major leagues.

Between being the long reliever and backup starter (starting in a total of seven games), Estrada pitched in 92.2 innings, posted a 4.08 ERA, and struck out 88 batters for an impressive 8.5 K/9.

It was by far Estrada's most productive stint in the majors.

Estrada spent almost the entire 2012 season in the starting rotation after a season-ending injury to Chris Narveson and an injury and eventual release of Randy Wolf.

As a result, Estrada had the best season of his career, posting a 5–7 record, a 3.64 ERA in 138.1 innings to go along with 143 strikeouts.

On January 18, 2013, the Brewers announced they had avoided arbitration with Estrada, signing him to a one-year contract worth $1.955 million.

After spending three seasons as a long reliever and alternative starter, Estrada was named to the Brewers starting rotation for the 2013 season.

He posted a 7–4 record in 2013, with a 3.87 ERA and 118 strikeouts in 21 starts.

In 2014, Estrada made 39 appearances for the Brewers, including 18 starts.

On November 1, 2014, Estrada was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays for Adam Lind.

He and the Blue Jays avoided salary arbitration when he agreed to a one-year, $3.9 million contract on January 16, 2015.

Estrada opened spring training in competition for the fifth starter role with Aaron Sanchez.

He began the 2015 regular season in the bullpen, but was moved into the starting rotation after the Blue Jays optioned Daniel Norris to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on May 1.

He was an All-Star in 2016.

Estrada graduated from Sylmar High School in Sylmar, California, and then attended Glendale Community College and Long Beach State University.

He was recalled to the big league club and made his Brewers debut on May 18, entering the game against the Cincinnati Reds as a relief pitcher in the 5th inning.

He recorded nine consecutive outs through three innings before giving up a solo home run to Joey Votto in the bottom of the 8th.

He also made his first official at-bat in that game, grounding out in the 6th.

He was outrighted to Nashville after the season.