Jaime M. Cerda...participated in 2005 Royals Caravan...graduated from Selma (CA) High School in 1996...played baseball, soccer, basketball and football...named sophomore of the year for baseball team and earned first team all-outfield honors his junior and senior years.
2005
Made the Royals' Opening Day roster and was with the big league club for the first 2 months of the year, going 1-4 with a 6.63 ERA (19.1 ip, 14 er) in 20 relief appearances...opponents batted .284, with lefties at .231 and right-handers at .343...allowed 6 of 12 inherited runners to score...recorded 3 holds and did not convert his lone save opportunity...first batters went 7-for-18 (.389) with 3 doubles, a homer and 6 RBI...allowed runs in 4 of his first 8 appearances through April 24, posting a 12.27 ERA in that stretch...allowed runs in just one of next 8 outings from April 27-May 13, lowering figure to 5.84...permitted 6 runs in final 4 outings and 6.2 innings from May 17-25, finishing with a 6.63 ERA...issued just one walk, an intentional pass, over his first 9 outings, but allowed 10 walks over final 11 games...did not allow a homer in first 12 appearances, and issued just one long ball in first 18 games, but batters went deep in each of his last 2 outings...earned lone win on April 15 vs. Detroit, tossing perfect 8th inning in Royals' 6-5 come from behind victory...matched career high with 2.2 innings on May 17 vs. Baltimore...matched career high with 4 strikeouts on May 21 vs. St. Louis, but took loss and blown save in that game when he allowed a Larry Walker 3-run homer in the 7th inning...allowed a Hank Blalock 2-run homer in final appearance on May 25 at Texas and was optioned to Triple-A Omaha on May 26 for the duration of the season...went 4-1, 5.26 (49.2 ip, 29 er) in 35 relief appearances for the O-Royals...allowed 16 runs in 9.0 innings over his first 7 games, but posted 2.88 (40.2 ip, 13 er) figure over final 28 outings...recorded 29 K's over final 15 games and 25.1 innings...earned wins in 4 of 5 appearances from July 29-Aug. 13...last outing was Sept. 3 at Oklahoma as he was not added to Royals' September roster.
2004
Acquired from the New York Mets on Jan. 26, 2004 in exchange for RHP
Shawn Sedlacek...Recalled from Omaha (AAA) on April 7 after Desi Relaford was placed on
the D.L...Posted a 1-4 record and a team-best 3.15 ERA (45.2 IP, 16 ER) in a teamhigh
53 relief appearances for the Royals...Ranked 5th in the American League and 8th in the Majors in inherited runs
scored percentage (17.4)...allowed 8 of 46 to score...Struck out a career-best 4 batters at Chicago on April 13...was optioned to
Omaha on April 17...Recalled from Omaha on May 3 and earned his 1st career save that night
at Toronto in KC's 10-inning, 3-2 win...earned the save by getting Carlos
Delgado to ground into a double play...Earned his 1st win as a member of the Royals on June 16 at Atlanta, 10-4...Named Royals Pitcher of the Month for June after not allowing a run in 8.1
innings of work over 11 outings...Posted a 2.25 ERA through Sept. 21, but allowed 5 earned runs in his fi nal 4
outings (1.2 IP) to raise his ERA to 3.15, its highest mark since July 2 (3.77).
2003
MAJOR LEAGUE SERVICE: 1 Year, 40 Days
Contract Status: Signed through 2003.
How Obtained: Selected in the 23rd round of the June, 1998 Free Agent Draft.
Family: Wife, Cindy; Daughter, Maliyah Nicole (9/19/03).
Recalled from Norfolk (AAA) of the International League for a fifth time on September 2nd...Also was with New York from July 28th-August 23rd...Began the season with the Mets before he was optioned to Norfolk on April 30th...He was recalled again on May 12th and optioned back to the Tides on May 28th and recalled for a third time on June 29th before he was optioned back on July 12th.
Tossed 8.2 innings in the month of July with the Mets, allowing only one run (1.04 ERA).
Won his first major league game on July 6th at Cincinnati with a scoreless inning in a 7-5 triumph.
Held lefthanded batters to a .242 (8-33) average.
Has constructed a 2.64 ERA in 27 games over the last two years at Shea (nine earned runs in 30.2 innings).
Hurled a career-high 2.2 innings on May 24th at Atlanta.
Tossed 2.0 scoreless innings retiring all six batters faced with three strikeouts on April 3rd vs. Chicago.
Earned two holds (April 9th at Florida, April 15th at Pittsburgh).
In 22 games with Norfolk, he went 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA...In 32.1 innings, he allowed 29 hits, seven runs, six earned, with 10 walks and 35 strikeouts...Did not permit a run in 17 of his 22 appearances with the Tides.
2002
Was recalled from Norfolk (AAA) of the International League on June 27th.
Made his major league debut on June 28th at Yankee Stadium ... Worked 1.2 scoreless innings ... Entered the game with the bases loaded and one out and allowed only one run to score ... Struck out the side the next inning (eighth inning) ... Also tossed a perfect inning on June 29th at Yankee Stadium.
Did not yield a run in 12 outings, spanning 8.0 innings from July 5th-August 3rd (Game One of a doubleheader) ... Was unscored upon in 28 of his 32 appearances.
Worked a season-high 2.0 scoreless innings on July 30th vs. Houston.
Did not surrender a run in his last eight appearances, spanning 7.0 innings, dating back to August 27th.
Retired the first batter he faced in 24 of his 32 outings (75%).
Began the season with Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League ... Retired all 10 batters he faced, including a season-high four strikeouts to earn his third win in a 9-4 victory on April 29th at New Haven.
Compiled a 4-0 mark and a 1.17 ERA (two earned runs in 15.1 innings) at home with Binghamton.
Also compiled a 5-1 mark with a 2.27 ERA in 14 games in relief with the B-Mets ... In 31.2 innings, he permitted 21 hits, eight runs, earned, with 10 walks and 33 strikeouts.
Earned a promotion to Norfolk on May 29th ... Went 0-0 with an 0.43 ERA and one save in 12 outings with the Tides ... In 21.0 innings of work, he allowed 10 hits, two runs, one earned, with seven walks and 17 strikeouts.
Did not yield a run in 11 of his 12 outings at Norfolk.
Earned his first save with the Tides after hurling 2.2 scoreless innings on June 20th at Indianapolis in a 6-4 win.
Had at least one strikeout in 22 of his 26 minor league appearances.
2001
Played for St. Lucie (A) of the Florida State League, Binghamton (AA) of the Eastern League and Norfolk (AAA) of the International League.
Only permitted earned runs in five of his 28 outings at St. Lucie ... Allowed two runs in his first outing vs. Jupiter on April 6th ... Then permitted only four earned runs in his next 27 games.
Pitched a season-high 3.2 innings against Tampa on July 15th .
Joined Binghamton on July 24th ... Picked up saves in back-to-back contests, August 9th vs. Norwich and August 10th against Trenton.
At Double-A, lefthanded batters compiled a .182 (2-11) average against him.
Was promoted to Norfolk (AAA) on August 29th, where he appeared in three contests.
2000
Made his professional debut with Pittsfield (A) of the New York-Penn League.
1999
Missed the season after having reconstructive surgery of his medial collateral ligament.