Miguel Montero
Miguel Montero | |||
---|---|---|---|
Montero with the Chicago Cubs in 2016 | |||
Chicago Cubs – No. 47 | |||
Catcher | |||
Born: Caracas, Venezuela | July 9, 1983|||
| |||
MLB debut | |||
September 6, 2006, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |||
MLB statistics (through 2016 season) | |||
Batting average | .259 | ||
Hits | 933 | ||
Home runs | 120 | ||
Runs batted in | 534 | ||
Teams | |||
| |||
Career highlights and awards | |||
|
Miguel Angel Montero Fernandez (born July 9, 1983) is a Venezuelan professional baseball catcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Montero is a two-time MLB All-Star.
Baseball career
Arizona Diamondbacks
He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2001.
![](../I/m/Miguelmontero.jpg)
Montero made his major league debut on September 6, 2006, against the Florida Marlins. In that same game, Aníbal Sánchez of the Marlins would throw a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks. Montero would play in a total of 6 games that year, recording a .250 batting average.
In 2007 and 2008, Montero platooned with Chris Snyder at the catching position for the D-Backs and batted a .224 average with 10 home runs in 2007 and batting .255 with 5 home runs in 2008.
Montero began the 2009 season slowly, hitting just three home runs and having just a .200 batting average through the first two months. However, when Snyder was put on the disabled list in June, Montero's playing time increased markedly and he finished the season with a career-high .294 batting average.
Montero caught Edwin Jackson's no-hitter on June 25, 2010.[1] He would finish the season with a .266 batting average and 9 home runs.
In 2011, after hitting .272 with 10 home runs and 45 RBI, Montero was selected to his first All-Star Game. He also threw out 40% of baserunners trying to steal, a career high.
Montero was named to his second All-Star game in July 2014, replacing the injured Yadier Molina for the National League.[2]
Chicago Cubs
Following the 2014 season, the Diamondbacks traded Montero to the Chicago Cubs for minor leaguers Jeferson Mejia and Zack Godley.[3][4] Before a hand injury in mid-July, Montero had appeared in 73 games for the Cubs with 217 at bats. He had 10 home runs and 32 runs-batted-in with a batting average of .230. On August 12, 2015, Montero hit a walk-off home run to give the Cubs a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in the 10th inning to extend the Cubs winning streak to 6 games.
On August 30, 2015, Montero caught Jake Arrieta's no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
On October 15, 2016, during Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS, Montero hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the 8th inning to break a 3-3 tie and lead the Cubs to a 8-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was only the third pinch-hit grand slam in postseason history.
On November 2, 2016, Montero entered Game 7 of the 2016 World Series in the bottom of the 9th inning as a defensive replacement for Cubs backup catcher David Ross. In the top of the 10th inning, having batted only .091 (1-11) in the postseason to that point, Montero hit a single to left field which drove in Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and improved the team's lead to 8-6. Since the Cleveland Indians only scored one run in the bottom of the 10th inning to make the score 8-7, Montero's RBI provided the game's decisive run and sealed the Cubs' victory.[5] After the series, Montero expressed his disappointment in losing playing time to Willson Contreras and David Ross.[6]
References
- ↑ "Retrosheet Boxscore: Arizona Diamondbacks 1, Tampa Bay Rays 0". Retrosheet.org. June 25, 2010. Retrieved October 6, 2011.
- ↑ Gilbert, Steve (July 11, 2014). "Montero named to replace Yadier at All-Star Game". Major League Baseball. MLB.com. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- ↑ "Montero traded from Diamondbacks to Cubs". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 9, 2014. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
- ↑ Crasnick, Jerry. "Chicago Cubs get Montero from D-Backs". ESPN Chicago. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
- ↑ Bastian, Jordan; Muskat, Carrie. "Chicago Cubs win 2016 World Series". MLB. Retrieved November 3, 2016.
- ↑
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Miguel Montero. |
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
- Venezuelan Professional Baseball League statistics
- miguel montero on Twitter