Daniel Hudson, who pitched 190 games over six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks, is retiring after winning the World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, he told reporters during the celebration on Wednesday.
Hudson was instrumental to the Diamondbacks’ National League West championship in 2011 after the club traded veteran Edwin Jackson to acquire him in 2010.
The right-hander made 33 starts with a 3.49 ERA across 222 innings pitched, the same number of frames as Ian Kennedy. No D-backs pitcher has thrown that many frames in a single season since, and the two spearheaded a rotation that helped the club win 94 games under manager Kirk Gibson. Hudson threw three complete games that season.
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Injuries hampered Hudson’s remaining tenure with the club, as he went through Tommy John surgery twice and threw in only 12 games from 2012-14.
Hudson reinvented himself in a bullpen role and pitched 134 games from 2015-16 with a 4.50 ERA before moving on. Hudson ranks 17th in team, history in games, innings pitched and strikeouts. He finished his D-backs tenure with a 3.88 ERA.
Hudson jumped around to four teams over his next three seasons, landing in Washington for the home stretch of 2019. He became a key bullpen piece in the Nationals’ run to the World Series, and he recorded the final out to upset Houston in the Fall Classic.
The veteran joined the Dodgers in 2022 but tore his ACL after 25 appearances. In 2023, he sprained his MCL after only three games.
Entering his age 37 season, Hudson signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers for one more chance to contend, and this time he avoided the injured list, pitched 65 games and put up a 3.00 ERA en route to his second World Series title.
Hudson ended up pitching in 485 games plus 16 postseason games after a second Tommy John surgery, putting him on a short list of the most successful careers after receiving the procedure multiple times.