Butch Henry

Floyd Bluford Henry III (born October 7, 1968) is a former Major League Baseball pitcher.

Henry was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 15th round of the 1987 MLB Draft. He was 23 years old when he made his major league debut on April 9, 1992, to play for the Houston Astros.

During his career, Henry was 33-33, with a 3.89 ERA while throwing 621 total innings. In between, the left-hander also played with the Montreal Expos, Boston Red Sox and the Seattle Mariners. He had the best year of his career with the Expos in its 1994 season, when he posted a 8-3 record with a 2.43 ERA. After spending seven years in the major leagues, Henry had to retire early in 2003 due to arm troubles.

Henry later served as a coach in 2004 for the Sarasota Reds of the Gulf Coast League. The following year, he was the pitching coach for the Billings Mustangs of the Pioneer League, the advanced rookie affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds.

He then was promoted as a manager for the El Paso Diablos of the American Association in 2006, as he led the Diablos to a South Division best record of 54-40 and their first playoff berth since 2000, when El Paso was a member of the Texas League. The 2007 team batting and pitching vastly improved under Henry’s guidance. The batting average for the Diablos was 15 points higher (.279 to .294), while the pitching ERA was almost a full two runs lower (6.18 to 4.37) as compared to 2006. The Diablos also led the league in runs scored and hits and were second in team batting average. As a result, Henry won American Association Manager of the Year honors.

External links

• Career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet