Persistence paying off for Bañuelos in Pittsburgh

ST. LOUIS -- Manny Bañuelos had heard the bad news before.

He was being demoted. Over the last decade, Bañuelos had heard the spiel plenty of times. What differed was where he was being sent.

He was not going to Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A. He had been demoted to the Minor League affiliate of the Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League in Taiwan.

Those days feel like a distant memory for Bañuelos. At 31, he has found stability in the Major Leagues. But getting to this point took a decade longer than expected. He battled an onslaught of setbacks. He lost immeasurable time due to injury. But he maintained hope -- and that perseverance is being rewarded.

“To be honest, I'm proud of myself,” Bañuelos said. “I never gave up.”

A decade earlier, he appeared destined for a different trajectory.

Bañuelos signed with the Yankees out of the Mexican League in 2008 and quickly garnered attention as a prospect. He played in the 2009 Futures Game and started in the 2010 Arizona Fall League All-Star Game. In 2011, Bañuelos earned his first invitation to Spring Training and won the James P. Dawson Award, given to the best rookie in camp.

That March, Mariano Rivera called Bañuelos the greatest pitching prospect he had ever seen.

“When Mariano said that, I mean,” Bañuelos paused, “It's Mariano. That was huge. For him to talk about me, about my pitching, it was special, man. I'm not going to forget something like that.”

Bañuelos expected to make the Majors entering 2012, but the 21-year-old made just six starts, due to an elbow injury. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed all of the next season. He spent 2014 pitching at various levels of the Minors, but never felt pain-free.

According to Bañuelos, the Yankees told him he’d make his debut in September. To save his arm, his outings were limited to about three innings the entire year. He never got the call. The Yankees traded him to Atlanta that offseason.

On July 2, 2015, Bañuelos made his Major League debut for Atlanta. But while he threw 5 2/3 shutout innings, he grinded through pain. It was apparent in his diminished velocity. In September, Bañuelos underwent season-ending surgery to remove bone spurs.

Bañuelos contended for the 2016 Opening Day roster, but experienced elbow discomfort in March and went to extended Spring Training. He was never called up and designated for assignment in August.

The Angels signed Bañuelos to a Minor League deal shortly thereafter and sent him to Arizona with the sole intention of getting him fully healthy for the first time in a half-decade.

“I spent two months in Arizona and they got me completely healthy,” Bañuelos said. “I threw a live bullpen right before I went home -- and I was throwing 93, 94 mph. I was so happy. A couple months ago, I couldn’t even touch 90 mph.”

Aside from a cameo with the White Sox in 2019, Bañuelos spent the next couple years in the Minors. He signed with the Mariners in ’20, but was released before the pandemic-shortened season. Around this time, he received a call from his agent. The Fubon Guardians of the Chinese Professional Baseball League needed a pitcher. Bañuelos was all in.

The transition to Taiwan was difficult. He spent the first two months alone, away from friends and family. He lacked familiarity with the culture, the language -- and it was all unfolding during a global pandemic.

On the field, though, the baseball was the same. In his debut season with Fubon, Bañuelos posted a 2.60 ERA with 62 strikeouts across 10 games (nine starts). As a starter, he regularly threw 110, 115, 125 pitches in a single outing, followed by six days of rest. Despite the different workload, Bañuelos felt healthy.

But in the middle of his first season with the Guardians, Bañuelos received unexpected news: He was being sent down.

Bañuelos didn’t receive an explanation as to why. His numbers were strong. As he left the office, he let that be known.

“I said, ‘Hey, I just want to let you know that you guys sent down the best pitcher you have on the team,’” Bañuelos said.

Bañuelos remembers the reaction. They laughed. He told them not to laugh. He’d be back.

“It was frustrating for me,” Bañuelos said. “I promise you, I worked really hard. I was running with kids that were 18, 20 years old, and I was 29, 30. I remember I beat a lot of guys running. I was in great shape.

“My dream was still there. Everything that happened, I knew it was for some reason. If I got to do this to get back to the big leagues, I will do it.”

Bañuelos’s time in Taiwan's minors was brief. As he recalled, the coaching staff quickly realized that Bañuelos was, indeed, their ace.

He continued to head the rotation the next year, until the season was suspended in May due to a spike in COVID-19 cases. As Bañuelos waited, he received an invitation to pitch for Mexico in the Olympics. The Guardians released him to allow him to pursue the opportunity.

Following the Olympics, Bañuelos made two more starts for Monterrey, then pitched for Tomateros de Culiacan of the Mexican Pacific Winter League. In total, Bañuelos posted a 2.18 ERA across 62 innings with both teams. Following a dominant 12-strikeout outing, Bañuelos received a call. His old team -- his first team -- was on the line.

“I had been waiting for this,” Bañuelos said. “I told my wife, 'Trust me, I'm ready to pitch in the big leagues.' I felt 100 percent. I felt strong. I want to show everybody I can pitch in the big leagues.”

Just as he had done a decade earlier, Bañuelos impressed with the Yankees with a strong Spring Training. He didn’t break with the team, but in early-June, Bañuelos finally got the call: He was going to be a Yankee.

On June 3, he threw two scoreless innings, pain-free. It was a moment that Bañuelos had, quite literally, dreamed of.

“I remember when I was in Taiwan, I had a dream that I was pitching for the Yankees with the Yankees uniform,” Bañuelos said. “I remember that day when I pitched in Yankee Stadium. I mean, it was special.”

Bañuelos’s tenure in New York lasted just four outings. A month later, the Yankees traded him to the Pirates for cash considerations.

In Pittsburgh, Bañuelos has found stability.

Over the last couple of months, Bañuelos has been a fixture in the Bucs' bullpen. During one stretch, he allowed one run across 14 outings. A couple rough outings have inflated Bañuelos' numbers, but he projects to be part of the bullpen next year. While Bañuelos only has three scattered Major League seasons under his belt, he’s been a veteran presence for the bullpen’s younger arms.

“Manny’s not only a great teammate, but he’s a great human being,” said Yerry De Los Santos through team interpreter Mike Gonzalez. “He gives us a lot of wisdom, pours into us. I think the most beautiful part about Manny is that through much wisdom and discernment, he’s able to identify how to share his story and his process while he sees us go through certain things.”

Bañuelos became emotional, recalling the totality of his journey. What if he never had those setbacks in New York? What would his career look like then? He entertained those thoughts briefly, then quickly dismissed them.

As Bañuelos looks back at everything -- the early years with the Yankees, the bouncing around, the time in Taiwan and Mexico -- he wouldn’t change a single thing.

“Never give up, because things happen for a reason," he said. "You want to do something. You want to see something happen. But if it doesn't happen, there's a reason why. But just keep fighting. Keep waiting for that moment. You're going to get that moment, but not where you want it. It's when life wants it.”