Hunter Wilson/Daily NewsBowling Green Hot Rods pitcher Chris Andujar throws to first last week during a game in Hickory, N.C. Andujar’s father, Joaquin Andujar, is a former MLB All-Star.

When talking about Bowling Green Hot Rods reliever Chris Andujar, the phrase “like father, like son” doesn’t necessarily apply.

Andujar is the son of former Major League Baseball pitcher Joaquin Andujar, who spent time in the 1970s and ’80s with the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros. The elder Andujar was known as much for his throwing ability as for his volatile temper and emotional style.

So while the younger Andujar – the winning pitcher in both of the Hot Rods’ victories this season – compares his technical approach to his father’s, that’s where Chris Andujar wants the similarities to end.

The father wore his emotions on his sleeve. Chris Andujar says fans shouldn’t expect the same from the son.

“From the pitching and mechanics aspect, we’re almost exactly alike,” said the 21-year-old Andujar, who signed into the Tampa Bay system as a free

agent in 2006. “But emotionally, we’re totally different.”

Just like most players who are the sons of former major leaguers, Chris Andujar says Joaquin Andujar – whose most infamous outburst resulted in an ejection from Game 7 of the 1985 World Series while pitching for the Cardinals – has offered countless pieces of advice.

And when your father has earned multiple All-Star nods and led the National League in wins in 1984, the son tends to listen to it all.

Perhaps the most important tidbit: Joaquin Andujar told Chris Andujar to “never be like him.”

“He always told me, don’t be like him that way, don’t act like that emotionally,” said Andujar, a Berkeley, Calif., native who now lives in the Dominican Republic. “He always told me to be aggressive, but to stay in control (while doing it). And playing that way keeps my mind more on the game.”

This season with the Class A Hot Rods will be Chris Andujar’s first full slate as a minor league player. He spent time with both the Princeton (W.Va.) Rays of the Rookie-Advanced level Appalachian League and the Hudson Valley (N.Y.) Renegades of the Short Season-A New York-Penn League over the past two years.

As Chris Andujar continues to work through the Tampa Bay farm system, Hot Rods manager Matt Quatraro says he sees similarities in Andujar’s pitching approaches.

“He’s got a fine arm and a great pitcher’s body and the ball comes very lively out of his hand,” Quatraro said. “But this is his first full season and we want him to accomplish his individual goals and just focus on his development.

“If he’s doing that, then he’s doing OK.”

Meanwhile, the fatherly pitching influence Chris Andujar has received excites Quatraro. Still, he said he’s equally happy Chris Andujar is nothing like his dad emotionally.

“I like that, and it’s probably a good thing,” Quatraro laughed. “It was a different era back when his dad pitched, those guys were all very excitable and it was a different time – but Chris probably has a pretty nice blend of both, to be honest.

“Anytime you step out there as a pitcher you’re going to have to have some fire and some competitiveness in you like that. But it’s probably easier on me that he’s more calm – I really wouldn’t want to have to deal with someone like that on this level.”

Chris Andujar is trying to follow in the large, major-league footsteps of his father. But for right now, he’s only interested in making sure he helps the Hot Rods’ relievers be the best they can be.

“I’m going to come out of the bullpen and just try to throw strikes,” Andujar said. “I want to come out there, be comfortable and just do my job.”