Rubby De La Rosa wasn't gifted an easy or comfortable life. The day after De La Rosa was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, his mother sent him to live with his grandmother. While she looked after him as best she could, it was a poverty-stricken childhood for the future D-backs pitcher.
"A lot of days, I would have only one or two meals, and sometimes I wouldn't have any," De La Rosa said. "I only had one pair of shoes to go to school, to play baseball, to do everything pretty much."
De La Rosa started working at a young age in an effort to support his grandmother and try to put food on the table consistently.