Pitcher, Florida
Marlins
Age: 21
Bats – Left,
Throws – Left
Height: 6’2” Weight: 230
Prior to 2003:
A California
native who grew up in Alameda, he starred in baseball at Encinal High School.
As a senior he produced a 12-1 record with an 0.82 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 111
innings pitched. Selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 2000 amateur draft, Willis
played at the rookie level in the Arizona League where he appeared in 9 games
and had a 3-1 record with a 3.86 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 28 innings pitched. Moving up to the Boise Hawks of the
Short-Season Class A Northwest League in 2001, Willis was 8-2 with a 2.98 ERA.
He was traded by the Cubs to the Marlins during the spring of 2002 and played
for two Class A clubs where he had a combined record of 10-2 with a 1.83 ERA
and 128 strikeouts. He started the 2003 season in the Class AA Southern League
with the Carolina Mudcats where he was 4-0 with 1.49 ERA, thus earning a
call-up to the Marlins. With his unorthodox, high-kick delivery, Willis had
command of a fastball, changeup, and slider, and the affable lefthander quickly
became a fan favorite as he got off to an outstanding start at the major league
level.
2003 Season Summary
Appeared in 27
games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate NL rank in Top 20]
Pitching
Games – 27
Games Started –
27
Complete Games
– 2 [12, tied with eleven others]
Wins – 14 [12,
tied with ten others]
Losses – 6
PCT - .700
[Non-qualifying]
Saves – 0
Shutouts – 2
[4, tied with six others]
Innings Pitched
– 160.2
Hits – 148
Runs – 61
Earned Runs – 59
Home Runs – 13
Bases on Balls
– 58
Strikeouts – 142
ERA – 3.30
[Non-qualifying]
Hit Batters – 3
Balks – 1 [16,
tied with many others]
Wild Pitches – 7
Midseason
Snapshot: 9-1, ERA - 2.08, SO - 79 in 82.1 IP
---
Most strikeouts,
game – 9 (in 8 IP) at Cincinnati 5/25
10+ strikeout
games – 0
Fewest hits
allowed, game (min. 7 IP) – 1 (in 9 IP) vs. NY Mets 6/16
Batting
PA – 63, AB – 58,
R – 2, H – 14, 2B – 2, 3B – 0, HR – 1, RBI – 4, BB – 3, SO – 8, SB – 0, CS – 0,
AVG - .241, GDP – 0, HBP – 0, SH – 2, SF – 0
Fielding
Chances – 23
Put Outs – 2
Assists – 17
Errors – 4
DP – 2
Pct. - .826
Postseason
Pitching:
G – 7 (NLDS vs.
San Francisco – 2 G, NLCS vs. Chi. Cubs 2 G, World Series vs. NY Yankees – 3 G)
GS – 2, CG – 0,
Record – 0-1, PCT – .000, SV – 0, ShO – 0, IP – 12.2, H – 15, R – 12, ER – 12,
HR – 1, BB – 10, SO – 10, ERA – 8.53, HB – 0, BLK – 0, WP – 1
Awards & Honors:
NL Rookie of
the Year: BBWAA
All-Star
34th
in NL MVP voting (1 point, 0% share)
NL ROY Voting
(Top 5):
Dontrelle
Willis, Fla.: 118 pts. – 17 of 32 first place votes, 74% share
Scott Podsednik,
Mil.: 81 pts. – 8 first place votes, 51% share
Brandon Webb,
Ariz.: 73 pts. – 7 first place botes, 46% share
Marlon Byrd,
Phila..: 6 pts. –4% share
Miguel Cabrera,
Fla.: 3 pts. – 2% share
---
Marlins went 91-71
to finish second in the NL Eastern Division, 10 games behind the
division-winning Atlanta Braves and qualifying for a Wild Card playoff spot. Off
to a 16-22 start, 72-year-old Jack McKeon replaced Jeff Torborg as manager. After
bottoming out at 19-29, personnel changes that included the arrival of Willis
fueled a second-half surge that moved them into second place for good on Sept.
20 and they clinched the Wild Card spot on Sept. 26 in the midst of winning 18
games in the season’s last month. Won NLDS over the San Francisco Giants, 3
games to 1. Won NLCS over the Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3. The turning point of
the NLCS came in Game 6 when the Marlins scored 8 runs in the eighth inning on
the way to tying the series at 3 games apiece. Won World Series over the New
York Yankees, 4 games to 2.
Aftermath of 2003:
“The D-Train”
dropped to 10-11 with a 4.02 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 2004 as the Marlins
started fast and ended up in third place in the NL East. He rebounded to 22-10
with a 2.63 ERA in 2005 and was an All-Star and placed second in NL Cy Young
Award voting. Willis fell back to 12-12 with a 3.87 ERA in 2006. He dropped
further in 2007 to 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA, leading the NL in earned runs
surrendered (118), after which he was traded to the Detroit Tigers along with third
baseman Miguel Cabrera. The Tigers signed Willis to a three-year contract
extension worth $29 million. He proceeded to struggle during a 2008 season in
which he spent time on the disabled list due to a knee injury and then had
issues with his control that at one point caused him to be sent down to Lakeland
of the Florida State League. He finished out the year with the Tigers by going
0-2 with a 9.38 ERA. Willis landed on the disabled list twice in 2009 and he
had another overall poor season, with a 1-4 record and 7.49 ERA in 33.2 innings
pitched. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010, and the performance
continued to be poor, and he was released at mid-season and picked up by the
Giants, who assigned him to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. His
next stop was with the Cincinnati Reds in 2011, who sent him down to Class AAA
Louisville, from where he was recalled in July. Willis put together a 1-6
record with a 5.00 ERA for Cincinnati. He signed with the Philadelphia Phillies
in 2012 and didn’t make it beyond spring training before being released.
Further comeback attempts with the Orioles and Cubs in 2012 and ’13 also
failed. Willis went next to the independent Atlantic League, pitching for the
Long Island Ducks in 2013 and the Bridgeport Bluefish in 2014. He was 5-4 with
a 2.57 ERA with the Ducks and 0-2 with a 6.39 ERA at Bridgeport. After one last
failed attempt at a return to the major leagues with the Brewers in 2015 Willis
retired. For his major league career, he was 72-69 with a 4.17 ERA and 896
strikeouts in 1221.2 innings pitched. He started 162 games for the Marlins and
had a 68-54 record with a 3.78 ERA, 757 strikeouts, and 8 shutouts. “The
D-Train” was twice selected as an All-Star.
As a batter he hit 9 home runs, including a grand slam, and averaged
.244.
--
Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were recipients of
the Rookie of the Year Award by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America
(1947 to present). The award was presented to a single major league winner from
its inception through 1948 and from 1949 on to one recipient from each major
league.
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