Henry Sosa
Henry Sosa Esther (July 28, 1985) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL). He was born in El Seibo, Dominican Republic. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Houston Astros, in the KBO League (KBO) for the Kia Tigers, Nexen Heroes, LG Twins, and SK Wyverns, and in the CPBL for the Fubon Guardians. Career. San Francisco Giants. Sosa was signed as an amateur free agent by the San Francisco Giants on April 23, 2004. He began his professional career in 2006 with the AZL  Giants. With them, he went 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA in nine games (six starts). He also struck out 41 batters in 32 innings. In 2007, he played for the San Jose Giants and Augusta Greenjackets. He went 6-0 with a 0.73 ERA in 13 games (10 starts) with the Greenjackets and 5-5 with a 4.38 ERA in 14 starts with the Giants. He went a combined 11-5 with a 2.58 ERA in 27 games (24 starts). In 125 innings, he struck out 139 batters. He also played for the Estrellas de Oriente of the Dominican  Winter League that year. For the San Jose Giants and Augusta Greenjackets in 2008, he went a combined 3-4 with a 4.21 ERA in 57 innings. He played only two games with Augusta. Houston Astros. On July 19, 2011 Sosa was traded to the Houston Astros along with Jason Stoffel for infielder Jeff Keppinger. He made his Major League debut on August 10, 2011 against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He started the game and allowed four runs in six innings to pick up the loss. His first win was recorded when he allowed one run in six innings against the  San Francisco Giants on August 25. In 10 starts he was 3-5 with a 5.23 ERA. Kia Tigers. He pitched with the Kia Tigers in the KBO League in 2012–2013. Los Angeles Dodgers. Sosa signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers in December, 2013 and was assigned to the AAA Albuquerque Isotopes. In seven starts for the Isotopes he was 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA. Nexen Heroes. On May 15, 2014, he signed with the Nexen Heroes of the KBO. LG Twins. Sosa signed with the LG Twins of the KBO League for the 2015  season. He re-signed with LG Twins for the 2016, 2017 and 2018 seasons. Since then, he has become one of the most well-known veteran foreign pitchers in the KBO League alongside Dustin Nippert. He became a free agent following the 2018 season. Fubon Guardians. Sosa signed with the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2019 season. SK Wyverns. On June 3, 2019, Sosa signed with the SK Wyverns of the KBO League for the remainder of the 2019 season. He became a free agent after the season. Fubon Guardians (second stint). On December 13 , 2019, Sosa signed with the Fubon Guardians for the 2020 season. In 12 games with Fubon, Sosa recorded an 8-2 record and 1.56 ERA with 85 strikeouts in 86.2 innings of work. Sosa was the Opening Day starting pitcher for the Guardians on March 14, 2021 against the CTBC Brothers. In a March 21 game against the Rakuten Monkeys, Sosa collapsed to the ground after an apparent knee injury following the delivery of a pitch. On April 19, Sosa underwent ACL surgery. On July 12, Sosa was released by Fubon. Rakuten Monkeys. On January 8, 2022, Sosa signed with  the Rakuten Monkeys of the Chinese Professional Baseball League for the 2022 season.