Michael Tejera

• Michael Tejera and Michelle Garrido were married following a game he pitched vs. Milwaukee on August 4, 2002.
• Scouted and signed by Louie Eljaua (Marlins).
• Graduated from Miami Southwest High School in 1995.
• Played for the Cuban Jr. National team before defecting to the U.S. while team was passing through Miami International Airport en route to train in Connecticut for the 1994 World Championships in Canada.
• Has been an active participant in the South Florida community, participating in numerous youth baseball clinics and community events... makes regular appearances in the South Florida hispanic community... is an active participant in Adopt-a-Classroom and the Marlins Caravan.

2003

• Made a career-high 50 appearances (44 relief outings and six starts), posting a 3-4 record with a 4.67 ERA in 81.0 innings... was 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in his starts and 2-0 with a 4.23 ERA in relief (24 ER in 51.0 IP).
• Went 1-3 with a 5.46 ERA in 27 games (six starts) prior to the All-Star Break... went 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 22 contests after the Break... allowed a .286 batting average prior to the Break and a .205 average after... had a 0.75 ERA in nine August contests, covering 12.0 innings.
• Made each of his six starts in his first 17 games, through May 28... made his first start of the year in his second appearance, April 4 at Atlanta, and collected a no-decsion, allowing two runs in 5.0 innings.
• After 10 straight relief outings (April 10-30, 6.92 ERA), returned to the starting rotation for five straight starts, May 4-28... had a no-decision on May 4 at Houston (2 ER in 6.0 IP) before dropping three straight starts: May 10 vs. Colorado, May 17 at Los Angeles and May 22 at Montreal... went 0-3 with a 9.69 ERA in those starts (14 R, 14 ER in 13.0 IP)... allowed a .339 batting average in the starts.
• The three losses to open the year extended his losing streak to a career-long six straight games over 25 games (nine starts), dating back to August 27, 2002... in those games, posted a 7.00 ERA (49 ER in 63.0 IP).
• Ended his six-game losing streak with a win on May 28 vs. Montreal, as he pitched 6.0 shutout innings, allowing five hits and two walks with four strikeouts... was his first victory since a start on August 16, 2002 vs. San Francisco (1 ER in 6.0 IP).
• Returned to the bullpen on a permanent basis on June 1 vs. Cincinnati, where he pitched his final 33 games (3.41 ERA)... did not allow an earned run in seven straight games (June 1-24, 10.1 IP, 1 unearned run).
• Saw his relief scoreless streak end on June 27 at Boston, when he allowed five runs on four hits in 0.0 innings, joining with starter Carl Pavano to fail to retire a batter in a 14-run Boston first inning... was the first time that two pitchers failed to record an out to open a game since Kansas City Royal RHPs Wayne Simpson and Ken Wright on May 5, 1973 at Milwaukee... followed that game by allowing runs in three of his next four games (3 ER in 5.1 IP).
• From July 24 through the end of the season, made 21 appearances, covering 21.1 innings, allowing six ER on 13 hits, a 2.53 ERA.
• Recorded a six-pitch 0.1-inning save on August 17 vs. San Diego, as he retired Ryan Klesko on a popout... was his first save since April 3, 2002 at Montreal.
• Collected two wins in six appearances, September 4 vs. Pittsburgh and September 23 vs. Philadelphia... had the victories by pitching a total of one inning and throwing nine pitches... tossed eight pitches in the seventh inning to down the Pirates, fanning Jack Wilson and getting Rivera on a lineout... threw one pitch to Phillies first baseman Jim Thome in the seventh inning on September 23 for his third win of the season... was the third time in his career that Tejera had a one-pitch appearance and was the first time he collected a win.
• Allowed six home runs on the season, with five coming in his first 15 games... in his 35 games since, allowed one homer, a two-run shot by the Phillies' Jim Thome, in a 14-0 Philadelphia win.
• Produced a 2.76 ERA in 29 outings at home... allowed seven ER in his first seven home games (10.2 IP, a 5.91 ERA)... after that, allowed six ER in 31.2 innings over his last 22 home contests, a 1.71 ERA.
• Had a 2.43 ERA in 27 relief appearances at home, compared to a 7.64 relief ERA in 17 road games.
• Allowed a .267 batting average, including .392 (31x79) against left-handed hitters... allowed first batters a .275 average (11x30)... allowed 11 of 31 inherited runners to score (35.5%).

2003 Postseason:

• Made two appearances, both in the NLCS vs. Chicago, and went 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA and a .333 opponent batting average in 1.1 innings... pitched on October 8 at Wrigley Field (1 H, 1 SO in 1.0 IP) and on October 10 at Florida (L, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 H in 0.1 IP).

2002

• spent his first full season in the Majors, compiling an 8-8 record with a 4.45 ERA and one save in 47 games, including 18 starts... was named Marlins' Rookie of the Year by the South Florida capter of the BBWAA.
• made 29 relief appearances on the season and was 1-0 with one save and a 2.91 ERA... began the year pitching out of the bullpen, making 24 relief appearances, April 3-June 8... returned to the pen for his final five outings of the year, September 17-27.
• joined the Marlins' starting rotation on June 11 at Kansas City and made 18 straight starts, through September 12... posted a 7-8 record with a 4.94 ERA in his starts, totaling 105.2 innings of work.
• opponents hit .269 against him (144x536)... allowed a .289 batting average against in his starts (119x412) and a .202 mark in his his relief outings (25x124).
• collected his first Major League save and third career professional save in his first outing of the year, April 3 at Montreal... threw one pitch and retired Lee Stevens on a lineout to center field... was his first save since he collected two in the Gulf Coast League in 1995.
• collected his first Major League win on May 2 at St. Louis as the Marlins' matched a franchise record for biggest comeback in a victory... Florida erased a 6-0 third-inning deficit in a 9-6 win... pitched a perfect sixth inning to collect the victory.
• made his first Marlins' start of the season and second of his career on June 11 in Kansas City... took the loss, pitching 4.0 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits in a game called due to rain after six innings and the Royals leading 6-0... was his first Major League start since September 8, 1999 vs. Los Angeles.
• pitched six innings of shutout ball in his first home start of the year, June 16 vs. Tampa Bay... allowed four hits and three walks with one strikeout...collected wins in each of his next five five home starts, defeating Detroit on June 21, Philadelphia on June 26, Chicago on July 1, the New York Mets on July 6 and Montreal on July 19... was 5-0 with a 1.64 ERA over the six home starts, allowing seven ER in 38.1 innings and a .201 batting average... posted a 1.08 ERA over the first four home starts, recording a 3-0 record and allowing three ER in 25.0 innings... posted a .176 opponent batting average (19x108) over five outings, June 16-July 6.
• took his second loss of the season as he fell to the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 14... pitched 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits in the outing... overall, went 0-5 with a 7.36 ERA in six road starts, allowing 29 runs (27 ER) on 48 hits in 33.0 innings and allowed opponents to hit .338 in his road starts.
• saw his five-game home winning streak end by taking consecutive losses at Pro Player, July 24 vs. Atlanta and July 30 vs. St. Louis... allowed a career-high nine runs on a career-high 11 hits in 6.0 innings vs. the Braves and gave up three runs in 7.0 innings to the Cardinals.
• returned to his winning ways at home as he tossed seven shutout innings at the Brewers on August 4... allowed four hits and one walk with six strikeouts... following the game, Tejera married Michelle Garrido in a private ceremony for friends and family in Miami... added his final win of the season on August 16 vs. San Francisco as he allowed one run on five hits with a career-high six walks and six strikeouts.
• ended his season on a career-long three-game losing streak... took each of the three losses over a four-start span, August 27-September 12... pitched 17.1 innings over those outings, allowing 23 runs (21 ER), a 10.90 ERA... included his final starting assignment of the year, September 12 at Philadelphia (6 R, 4 ER in 3.2 IP) as he returned to the pen after that start.
• concluded his season with five shutout relief outings, September 17-27... tossed a total of 7.2 innings, allowing two hits and two walks with five strikeouts.
• did not allow a run in his first four outings of the season, April 3-10, spanning 2.0 innings... overall, allowed one run in his first six appearances, covering 4.1 innings, a 2.08 ERA... saw his ERA rise from 2.08 to 8.53 over a two-outing span as he allowed a combined five runs (five ER) on seven hits in 2.0 innings, pitching on April 17 (2 ER in 2.0 IP) and April 18 (3 ER in 0.0 IP) vs. Philadelphia.
• lowered his ERA from 8.53 to 3.76 over his final 16 relief appearances, April 23-June 8, allowing five runs (five ER) on 13 hits in 20.0 innings, a 2.25 ERA... included a nine-game stretch, May 2-29, where he allowed one run on six hits in 11.2 innings, a 0.77 ERA... capped off his scoreless run with a career-long 4.0-inning relief appearance on May 29 vs. Cincinnati, allowing two hits and one walk with five strikeouts.
• threw a career-high 8.0 innings on August 21 in a no-decision at Los Angeles, allowing two runs on six hits... compiled a career-best nine strikeouts in a victory over the Chicago Cubs on July 1 at home.

2001

• spent the season at AA Portland and posted a 9-8 record with a 3.57 ERA in 25 games for the Sea Dogs.
• ranked second on the team in wins, behind Kevin Olsen's 10... was third in innings pitched (141.0) and was third in strikeouts (131).
• posted a 6-4 record with a 3.26 ERA in 14 road games while compiling a 3-4 mark with a 3.98 ERA at home.
• began his season with consecutive months of ERA's under 3.00... went 2-2 with a 2.60 ERA (8 ER in 27.2 innings) in five April starts and was 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA (3 ER in 12.0 innings) in two May starts... went 6-6 with a 4.00 ERA (45 ER in 101.1 innings) in 18 starts in June, July, August and September.
• collected a season-high three-game winning streak, from July 17-August 1, over four starts... allowed a total of three earned runs on 23 hits with six walks and 17 strikeouts over 26.2 innings, a 1.01 ERA... the run included a win on July 27 vs. Erie where he allowed two hits in a season-high 7.1 scoreless innings.
• registered a season-high 11 strikeouts in an August 23 loss vs. Binghamton... recorded nine strikeouts in his both his previous and following outings, August 18 vs. Norwich and August 28 vs. New Haven... overall, collected 29 strikeouts in 18.0 innings pitched over that span.
• allowed right-handers to hit .259 (115x444) against him, while left-handers hit .298 (28x94).

2000

• did not pitch after undergoing surgery on April 4 to repair a complete rupture of the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow... the surgery was performed by Dr. James Andrews at HealthSouth Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

1999

• Named the Florida Marlins Organizational Player of the Year... was named the Organization's Pitcher of the Month in June after posting a 4-0 record coupled with a 1.60 ERA in five starts (33.2 IP, 7 BB, 29 SO).
• Named to the Eastern League's Postseason All-Star Team as the starting left-handed pitcher.
• Led all Florida Minor Leaguers with 157 strikeouts, while finishing second with a 3.13 ERA, 13 wins and 163.2 innings pitched.
• Ranked second in the Eastern League in ERA (2.62), third in strikeouts (152) and fourth in wins with 14.
• Recalled the option from AA Portland on September 7... made MLB debut with start September 8 vs LA and allowed two runs in 2.0 IP.
• Tossed a one-hit game on June 19 at Reading (7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO)... did not factor in the decision.
• Struck out a season-high 12 batters on August 5 vs. Norwich in 6.2 innings for the win... was charged with four hits, one run/earned and four walks.
• Fanned 11 batters in 6.0 innings (6 H, 3 R) in a no-decision against Norwich on May 18 and struck out another 11 in 5.2 innings (7 H, 5 R) in a 6-1 loss against Erie on August 15.
• Was 3-2, striking out 43 batters in a span of 32.0 innings from July 30-August-20.
• Went 6-0 with a 1.83 ERA in eight games May 7-June 29 (54.0 IP, 40 H, 15 R, 11 ER, 15 BB, 55 SO).
• Pitched two games at AAA Calgary in May... was 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 19 H, 14 R, 12 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO).

1998

• Split 1998 between Class A Kane County and AA Portland.
• Pitched 11.1 scoreless innings in his first two starts April 10 and 16 for Kane County... struck out eight and yielded five hits... got his first win in the first game on the 10th against Peoria (6.0 IP, 2 H, 2 BB).
• Was 4-0, 2.62 ERA in six games May 2-28 (34.1 IP, 32 H, 13 R, 10 ER, 6 BB, 31 SO).
• Struck out eight batters in 6.1 innings (7 H, 2 ER) May 28 against Quad City.
• Got the win in his first three starts as a Sea Dog... his first came at Bowie June 4 (6.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 3 HR, BB, 7 SO).
• Hurled a three-hit, 1-0 shutout at New Haven (9.0 IP, 4 BB, 5 SO) June 16, winning his third straight Double-A start... as a result was named Eastern League Player of the Week June 15-21.
• Threw 6.2 scoreless innings (8 H, 0 BB, 6 SO) in a 3-2 win at Bowie August 9, winning his third straight start (19.1 IP, 20 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 BB, 12 SO).
• Tied with teammate Geoff Duncan for Club wins with nine.