José Mijares

José Manuel Mijares (born October 29, 1984) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. Mijares has pitched in Major League Baseball for the Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, and San Francisco Giants.

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

Mijares pitching for the Minnesota Twins in 2008.

Mijares signed with the Twins as a free agent on March 2, 2002 and bounced around every level of the Twins' farm system—having risen as high as the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings in 2007. He was awarded the Gulf Coast League Rolaids Relief Man Award in 2004 and elected as an All-Star in the Eastern League in 2007.

On January 24, 2008, he was re-signed to a one-year deal, and on March 9, 2008, he was cut from spring training and optioned to the Double-A New Britain Rock Cats of the Eastern League. He also spent part of the 2008 season with the Gulf Coast League Twins and Fort Myers Miracle before ended the minor league season again assigned to the Rock Cats.^[1]

In September 2008, Mijares received a call up to the Minnesota Twins, and made his major league debut on September 13 against the Baltimore Orioles. The Twins won that game 12–6. Mijares wound up becoming the Twins main set-up man for the remainder of the season.

Following a rocky 2009 spring training camp, he was reassigned to Rochester.^[2] On April 20, Twins set-up man Jesse Crain went on the fifteen-day disabled list with shoulder inflammation, and Mijares was brought back up to the big club to fill the roster spot.^[3] In his first appearance of the season, he pitched a perfect eighth inning in Boston in the Twins' 7–3 loss to the Red Sox.

On December 12, 2011, Mijares was non-tendered by the Twins.

Kansas City Royals

The Kansas City Royals signed Mijares to a one-year contract on December 21, 2011.^[4] He had a 2.56 ERA and a 1.267 WHIP with the Royals,

San Francisco Giants

Mijares was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants on August 6, 2012.^[5]

He pitched in 27 games with the Giants in 2012, going 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 27 appearances. He pitched in 6 games in the postseason, including in Game 1 of the World Series. He gave up 3 runs in 2.2 innings with 3 strikeouts. Mijares won his first world series with the San Francisco Giants in 2012.

Mijares pitched 2013 in the Giants bullpen. He was placed on the bereavement list on April 29 after the passing of his grandmother, and he wound up on the restricted list after not arriving to the game on May 6 in time.^[6] He was activated the next day. His first half was very solid, going 0-2 with 4 holds and a 2.45 in 33 innings. His August was very rocky, giving up 12 runs (11 earned) in 11 innings (13 games). He pitched in only 5 games in September, including going 3 appearances in a row without retiring a batter.

After the Giants re-signed Javier López to a contract on November 26, a place on the 40-man roster was needed. Mijares was the casualty; he choose free agency. Mijares would have been a non-tender candidate come the arbitration deadline.^[7]

Boston Red Sox

On January 24, 2014 the Boston Red Sox signed Mijares to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training.^[8] He opted out of his deal and became a free agent on March 23, 2014.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 24, 2014, the Cincinnati Reds signed Mijares to a minor league deal.^[9]

On March 23, 2015, Mijares was released by the Reds.^[10]

Repertoire

Mijares throws a fastball that hits 91–94 mph and can touch 95. He also throws a hard curveball in the upper 70s and a mid 80s slider.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to José Mijares.

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)