Cesar Carrillo

Cesar Carrillo (born April 29, 1984) is an American professional baseball pitcher who played in Major League Baseball with the San Diego Padres in 2009.

However, under NCAA regulations, a low score on the ACT exam which Carrillo took to gain entry into the university forced him to sit out the entire 2003 season.

In 2004 Carrillo went 12–0 with two saves while keeping his ERA at 2.69 and compiling 91 strikeouts in 113.2 innings pitched.

After the 2004 season, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Carrillo was a 2005 first round draft pick by the Padres, selected #18 overall.

Carrillo continued the undefeated streak at Miami in 2005 by going 12–0 in his first 15 games until his winning streak was ended against the Clemson University Tigers.

Carrillo still managed to obtain one of the most remarkable (albeit not record breaking) streaks in the history of college baseball by starting his career with a record of 24–0.

However, Carrillo lost his last two decisions as a starter, the final one coming against Nebraska and Joba Chamberlain in the 2005 Super Regional.

Carrillo still compiled impressive stats in the 2005 season by going 13–3 with one save and a 2.22 ERA while striking out 127 batters in 125.2 innings pitched.

Carrillo was drafted in the 1st round, 18th overall in the 2005 MLB Draft by the San Diego Padres.

Carrillo signed immediately even though he felt that what the Padres offered him did not match what he felt he deserved.

However, Carrillo felt that in the end, his skills would do all the negotiating for him and when he signed his next contract, his loyalty and willingness to prove himself would ultimately translate into a large contract.

Carrillo, by most scouts' accounts, was the most "Major League ready" pitcher in the entire draft and it was expected that he could reach the big leagues as a starter within the next year or so.

According to Sports Illustrated, Carrillo's "stuff" (his array of pitches) is of Major League caliber.

In 2007 scout.com ranked him as the number 1 prospect in the Padres' organization, while Baseball America moved him down to the number 2 prospect, after ranking him number 1 the year before.

Carrillo throws a fastball, which has been clocked at 97 MPH, along with a change-up, curveball, and two-seam fastball that reaches somewhere between 89 and 91 MPH and has a lot of movement.

Carrillo began his professional career with the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm where he started 7 games and went 1–2 with a 7.01 ERA with 29 strikeouts in 25.2 innings pitched.

He then made his way up to Double-A Mobile where he went 1–3 with a 3.02 ERA to go along with 43 strikeouts in 50.2 innings pitched.

On May 19, Carrillo joined the Triple-A Portland Beavers.

However, he was only able to pitch 2.2 innings because of tightness in his right throwing elbow.

Carrillo was sent to the Padre team specialist in San Diego and was told that he would need to rehab the elbow for roughly a month.

Carrillo, as well as the Padre organization, were pleased with this as opposed to Carrillo being forced to have surgery.

However, in early 2007, Carrillo's arm had not responded to rest and it was determined he needed Tommy John surgery on his elbow.

He rehabbed and came back to pitch in June 2008, finishing up the year with Lake Elsinore Storm.

His arm strength and control improved during the summer.

Carrillo played with the San Antonio Missions in 2009.

Carrillo pitched well in Class AA during the second half of 2009, and was promoted to AAA Portland on July 29.

Carrillo made his Major league debut on August 13, 2009, against the Milwaukee Brewers, giving up three home runs.

He went 1–2 in three starts with San Diego.

Carrillo competed for a spot in the starting rotation in Spring training 2010.

However, he did not make the team and was optioned to Triple A Portland.

Carrillo was released by the Detroit Tigers in 2013, after he was implicated in the Bio-Genesis scandal, he served a 100- game suspension under the Tigers minor league system.

He was with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2014.

Carrillo attended Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago which boasts other famous sports alums such as Donovan McNabb, Simeon Rice, Antoine Walker, Chris Chelios, and Denny McLain, where he was a two sport star in both basketball and baseball.

As a junior, Carrillo decided to concentrate solely on baseball.

He played both shortstop and pitcher.

As a shortstop, he broke the school's single season hit record with 52 hits his junior year to go along with a 5–1 record and a 1.12 ERA.

His senior year, Carrillo posted a 9–1 record with an ERA of 0.96 while batting .370 with 5 home runs and 48 RBI which led to his selection to the All-State team.

Carrillo chose to attend the University of Miami to play baseball for head coach Jim Morris.

He was inducted to the University of Miami Baseball Hall of Fame in 2019, where he went 24–0 to start his career.