Cesar Izturis #3

Signed by the Blue Jays as a 16-year-old nondrafted free agent on July 3, 1996...signed by Blue Jays scouts Emilio Carrasquel and Mike Russell...Is the older half-brother of Blue Jays IF Maicer Izturis...Was the starting shortstop for Venezuela in the 2009 World Baseball Classic...hit .267 (4x15) with one RBI in six games...Signed a minor league contract with an invite to Astros Spring Training on Jan. 14, 2014.

2013

Was the only Reds Spring Training non-roster invitee to earn a spot on the Opening Day roster...made 25 starts, including 10 games at second base and 15 games at shortstop...played in 63 total games with the Reds...hit .273 (6x22) with two doubles and two RBI as a pinch hitter...in the 5-4 win on April 22 vs. CHC, capped a three-run 13th inning with a game-ending RBI-single off RHP Michael Bowden...in a 10-inning, 4-3 win on Sept. 7 vs LAD, his RBI-double in the seventh tied the game at 3-3...on Aug. 28 at STL made the 1,300th appearance of his Major League career...was on the Wild Card playoff roster for the Reds but did not appear in the 6-2 loss at PIT...following the season elected free agency and was not extended a qualifying offer.

2012

Combined for 52 apps at Mil and Wsh...began the season with the Brewers and made 31 apps before he went on the disabled list with a strained left hamstring...was reinstated on 6/22 and appeared in 26 more games before he was claimed off waivers by the Nationals on 8/6...made the last of his 5 apps for the Nats on 8/14 at SF, was designated for assignment on 8/17 and was released on 8/23...on 1/7 was signed by the Reds to a minor league contract with an invitation to 2013 Major League spring training camp.

2011

On the 15-day disabled list from 5/18-5/20 with an ulnar nerve injury in his right elbow. ... Transferred to the 60-day disabled list on 5/21 ... reinstated on 8/5. ... On the 15-day disabled list from 8/8-9/28 with a left groin strain. ... Signed as a free agent with Milwaukee on 12/2.

2010

Collected 1,000th career hit with a 2nd inning single off Mark Buehrle on August 8 vs. Chicago White Sox ... Batted .355 (27-76) in 23 game stretch, June 23-July 20...Finished the season 5-for-his-last-37 ... Had season-high three hits four times and season-high three RBI twice (April 27 vs. NYY, May 19 at TEX) ... Hit walk-off single on August 5 vs. Los Angeles Angels ... Hit solo home run off Texas' Cliff Lee in Arlington on July 10, his only homer of the season ... Made nine errors in 603 total chances at shortstop

2009

Started 107 games at shortstop, his seventh straight season playing 100 games or more...Was on the 15-day disabled list, June 4-July 10, with appendicitis...Went 2-for-4 with a home run off Phil Coke, two runs scored and two RBI on Opening Day...Also homered on August 14 @DET off Jarrod Washburn...Hit safely in a season-high 9 straight games, April 18-28, batting .355 (11-31)...Tied a career-high, scoring three runs, October 2 vs. TOR...Collected a season-high 3 hits five times (October 2 vs. TOR; September 15 vs. TB; August 14 and 17 vs. LAA and August 4 @DET)...Had a season-high 3 RBI three times (August 14 vs. LAA; August 4 @DET and May 14 at KC)...Batted .290 (38-131) vs. LHP and .238 (61-256) vs. RHP...Hit .321 (63-196) with a .773 OPS in 60 games at Camden Yards and .188 (36-191) with a .468 OPS in 54 road games...Batted .335 (54-161) with an .821 OPS in 46 wins and .199 (45-226) with a .480 OPS in 68 losses...Hit a team-leading four triples

2008

Played in 135 games for St. Louis, his most since 2004...Made 110 starts at shortstop (130 games played) and appeared eight times at third base (one start)...Was 3rd among NL shortstops with a .980 fielding percentage and his 11 errors were fifth fewest among SS who played 100 or more games...Batted .290 (49-169) as a right-handed hitter and .245 (60-245) from the left side...Batted .290 (20-69) in close and late inning situations (seventh inning or later, tying run at least on deck)...Led St. Louis with 24 steals (caught six times), including stealing home on June 3 @WAS...Batted in the ninth spot in 81 of his starts and led-off 17 times...Batted .302 (19-63) with seven multi-hit games after July 31 (37 starts)...Missed five games, April 23-27, with a right forearm contusion after a HBPon April 22 @MIL...Had a season-high nine-game hitting streak, April 22-May 8, during which he batted .343 (12-35)...Was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 22 (retro to the 21st) with a strained right hamstring and returned on July 6...Recorded a season-high four hits on August 22 vATL

2007

Began the season with Chicago (NL) and was traded to Pittsburgh on 7/19 for cash considerations. Hit .258 with 14 doubles and 16 RBI in 110 games with the Cubs and Pirates. Was Chicago's Opening Day shortstop on 4/2 at CIN and went on to hit safely in first five games (6-for-20). Batted .385 (15-for-39) with three doubles, two RBI and six runs while hitting safely in 10 of his 11 games from 5/1-16. Had a season high, nine-game hitting streak from 5/4-16 (14-for-31, .452). Made his first appearance with the Pirates after 7/19 trade as a starter at shortstop on 7/22 vs. HOU. Went 1-for-3 in that game and hit safely in each of his first eight starts with PIT. Singled in each of his first three pinch hitting appearances for PIT on 8/3, 8/7 and 8/10 and was 5-for-16 (.313) overall as a pinch hitter. Hit safely in seven straight games from 8/3-12 (8-for-20, .400), raising average with Bucs from .211 to .308 Struck out just three times in 130 plate appearances with Pittsburgh and hit safely in 22 of his 26 starts (30-for-101, .297). Made 21 starts at shortstop and five at third base with the Bucs with one error in 120 chances. Played all 60 games at short while with the Cubs committing seven errors.

2006

Izturis was acquired from the Dodgers on July 31 for Greg Maddux. He batted .252 with a home run and 12 RBIs in 32 games for the Dodgers, and hit .233 in 22 games for the Cubs. He had to be shut down at the end of the season because of a strained right hamstring. He did reach base safely in 12 of his final 17 games in which he had an at-bat.

2005

Was named to the National League All-Star team for the first time in his career ... Had his season cut short after being diagnosed with degenerative arthritis in his right elbow, which required season-ending Tommy John surgery on Sept. 16...the procedure was performed by Dr. Frank Jobe and and Dr. Ralph Gambardella ... Had the highest hit total of any Dodger through the month of May since 1969 according to STATS, Inc., as he compiled 75 hits in the season's first two months, three more than Willie Davis (72 in 1971) Joined teammate Jeff Kent as the seventh Dodger All-Star double play combo, joining Davey Lopes and Bill Russell (1980), Jim Lefebvre and Maury Wills (1966), Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese (1949-52), Reese and Eddie Stanky (1947), Reese and Billy Herman (1942) and Pete Coscarart and Leo Durocher (1940) ... His selection to the All-Star team was the first by a Dodger shortstop since Jose Offerman in 1995 ... On May 4, played in his 473rd game at shortstop for the Dodgers, passing Alfredo Griffi n for fourth place on the all-time L.A. Dodger list...will begin 2006 13 games behind Offerman (571) for third place ... Had two stints on the disabled list causing him to miss 48 games: June 30-July 15 (strained right hamstring) and Aug. 23 - end of the season (sprained lower back and right elbow surgery) ... Finished the season with a .257 average in 106 games...that was his lowest total of games played since his rookie season in 2001 ... Batted .303 (33-for-109) as a right-handed hitter...hit .302 (38-for-126) during day games ... Hit his first career leadoff homer on April 5 at San Francisco, marking the first time a Dodger did so on Opening Day since Steve Sax (April 4, 1988)...batted leadoff in 95 games and started in the No. 2 spot in the order 10 times ... At the time of his first injury, ranked fourth in the National League with 28 multi-hit games, including two or more hits in six of the first seven games of the year...was tied for the league lead in that category as late as June 20 ... As late as June 3, led the Major Leagues with 77 hits and 28 multi-hit games while ranking fourth in the NL with a .339 batting average ... Finished second on the Dodgers with 35 multi-hit games ... Registered his 500th career hit on April 26 vs. Arizona off Javier Vazquez ... Tied his career high with five hits on May 17 vs. Florida, giving him a Major League-leading 20 multi-hit games and raising his average to .339 for the season...the five hits equaled a Dodger season-high ... Upon first release of NL All-Star balloting results, was ranked sixth among shortstops but quickly catapulted into first place for most of the voting process before finishing second overall at shortstop with 1,659,010 votes ... Was the center of an international campaign in the U.S. and in his native Venezuela, where he was featured in nearly every major newspaper in that country during the voting period ... Had a season-high 10-game hitting streak from April 18-27, during which he hit .346 (16-for-46) ... On July 28 vs. Cincinnati, hit his second career leadoff home run, snapping an 83-game homerless streak for him ... Tied for second place in the National League in hits (34) in April, ranked second in the Major Leagues in hits (41) in May ... At the time of his season-ending injury, ranked sixth in the NL having missed on just 8.8 percent of his swings...at that time, also ranked seventh in the league in percentage of swings put into play (54.4) ... Batted .343 (24-for-70) in close and late situations (those that take place in a tied or one-run game in the seventh inning or later)...had 17 hits in his first 28 close and late situations (.607) to lead the Major Leagues at the time ... The defending Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner posted a .977 fielding percentage, committing 11 errors on the season.

2004

Earned his first Rawlings Gold Glove award while enjoying a breakthrough season at the plate Was second in the National League in at-bats with 670, which was the second-highest total in franchise history ... Ranked fourth in the National League in multi-hit games (58), second in at-bats (670), sixth in hits (193), tied for eighth in games played (159), fourth in triples (9), tied for eighth in sacrifice bunts (12) and seventh in batting average with runners in scoring position (.331) ... Set career highs in average (.288), home runs (4), RBI (62), hits (193) and stolen bases (25) ... Ranked third in the National League among shortstops with a .985 fielding percentage, .01 behind the leaders ... Joined Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki as the only two players in the Major Leagues to have five different hitting streaks of 10 games or more in 2004 ... After improving 51 points from the left side between 2002-2003, he improved another 49 in 2004, going from .246 to .295 ... Among big league shortstops, ranked fourth in hits and third in stolen bases ... His 32 doubles tied Bill Russell's L.A. club record for a shortstop set in 1978 ... His 25 stolen bases were the most by a Dodger shortstop since Jose Offerman swiped 30 in 1993 ... His nine triples tied Wilton Guerrero (1997) for the most by a Dodger since Brett Butler had 10 in 1993 ... His 62 RBI were the most by a Dodger shortstop since Offerman also had 62 in 1993 ... He was just the third Dodger shortstop to amass more than 180 hits in a season, joining Maury Wills and Jimmy Johnston, and his 193 hits were the most by a Dodger shortstop since Wills had 208 in 1962 ... Led all big league shortstops with a .881 zone rating, which measures the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS, Inc. ... His 670 at-bats ranked second on the franchise single-season list behind Maury Wills (695 in 1962) ... In the first half, led the Dodgers with 100 hits ... Became the first Dodger to make three consecutive Opening Day starts at shortstop since Offerman (1992-95) ... His 15-game hitting streak tied Greg Gagne (1997) for the longest by a Dodger shortstop since Wills hit in 20 straight in 1965 ... Was the sixth-hardest player to double up in the NL, grounding into a double play just once every 111.7 at-bats ... Grounded into a double play on July 6, snapping a streak of 322 at-bats without a GIDP, which was the best in baseball at the time ... Batted .306 (19-for-62) with five RBI in Spring Training ... Went 3-for-17 with a double in the National League Division Series against St. Louis ... Batted .261 (24-for-92) in 24 games with Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League.

2003

Established himself as a Rawlings Gold Glove candidate in just his second full season in the Major Leagues...tied for the National League lead with 481 assists and ranked third in the league with a .977 fielding percentage...ranked fifth in the Senior Circuit, having been a part of 94 double plays...batted .251 on the year, 10 points higher than his career average...improved dramatically from the left side of the plate, as he finished the year batting .246, 51 points higher than in 2002...set career highs in hits (140), runs (47), RBI (40), stolen bases (10) and games played (158)...tied for second on the Dodgers in games played...ranked 10th in the National League in percentage of swings put into play with 52.2 percent (498 of 954)...had 27 multi-hit games, including a five-hit game and seven three-hit games...became the first shortstop to start on Opening Day in back-to-back years for the Dodgers since Greg Gagne in 1996-97...was 3-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases on April 2 at Arizona...had three hits and his first multi-RBI game of the season on April 29 vs. Philadelphia...had a career-high three RBI on May 8 at New York...was 3-for-4 with a double, triple and RBI on May 29 at Milwaukee...had a career-high 11-game hitting streak from June 12- 23, during which he batted .282 (11-for-39)...had at least one hit in 23 of 28 games from June 3-July 5...went 2-for-4 with two doubles on Aug. 28 at Houston...doubled to drive in his 32nd run of the year on Aug. 29 vs. Colorado, setting his career high...had a hit in five consecutive games from Aug. 24-29, during which he batted .389 (7-for-18)...batted .370 (10-for-27) from Aug. 21-29...had a career-high five hits on Sept. 8 at Arizona, including his first home run since July 2, 2002, a span of 194 games...he barely missed hitting for the cycle, as he was caught stretching a seventh inning single into a double...the five hits were the most by a Dodger in 2003...played for Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League....batted .313 (15-for-48) with one RBI and two sacrifice bunts in 18 games during Spring Training.

2002

Finished the season batting .232 (102-for-439) with 24 doubles, two triples, a homer and 31 RBI in 135 games with the Dodgers after being acquired along with right-handed reliever Paul Quantrill from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for right-handed pitchers Luke Prokopec and Chad Ricketts on Dec. 13, 2001...batted .306 (45-for-147) vs. left-handers with a home run and 13 RBI and .195 (57-for-292) vs. right-handers with 18 RBI...recorded 24 of his 31 RBI and 72 of his 102 hits prior to the All-Star break...hit at a .290 clip in September (9-for-31) with three RBI in 16 games...finished the season batting .311 (42-for-135) in the leadoff spot, with 10 of his 24 doubles and 11 RBI...hit at a .429 (3-for-7) clip as a pinch-hitter and batted .375 (3-for-8) with eight RBI when batting with the bases loaded, including going 2-for-4 with four RBI with two-out and bases loaded...completed the season ranked tied for third among NL shortstops with a .979 fielding percentage handling 471 chances with 10 errors in 128 games...he finished behind San Francisco's Rich Aurilia (.980) and Philadelphia's Jimmy Rollins (.980) and tied with Cincinnati's Barry Larkin (.979)...committed just two errors in his final 50 games played...his fielding errors in the fourth and seventh innings of the club's April 18 5-2 victory vs. San Diego snapped a streak of 64 errorless games, starting the year with 14 errorless games and not having committed an error in last 50 games with the Toronto Blue Jays dating back to July 2, 2001 vs. Boston...had an eight-game hitting streak from April 16-24, during which he batted .323 (10-for-31) with four runs, five doubles and three RBI...put together three consecutive multihit games from May 26-28, going 2-for-6 May 26 at Arizona, followed by back-to-back 2-for-5 contests vs. Milwaukee May 27-28...recorded a four-hit game with a double, two runs scored and two RBI on June 15 during the club's 10-5 win vs. Anaheim...hit his first homer as a Dodger on July 2 at Arizona and first since July 24, 2001 at Boston, snapping a streak of 94 games without a home run...connected for a game-winning two-run double in the club's 2-1 win at Houston on Sept. 1.

2001

Split season between Triple-A Syracuse and Toronto...at Syracuse, hit .292 in 87 games with 16 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 35 RBI and 24 stolen bases...named to International League postseason All-Star team at shortstop...named best defensive second baseman in the league by Baseball America...opened season in Syracuse, but was recalled by Toronto on April 5...did not make an appearance before being optioned back on April 9...struck out just 22 times in 342 at-bats...hit .347 in May with 13 RBI...batted .333 in June and was selected to play in MLB Futures Game in Seattle...did not play because he was recalled by Toronto on June 23...in 46 games for Toronto, hit .269 (52-for-134) with two home runs and nine RBI...made Major League debut on June 23 starting at shortstop at Boston...was 1-for-4 with first Major League hit off Frank Castillo in first big league at-bat...recorded three hits on June 30 vs. Boston...on July 7 vs. Montreal, collected first home run, an inside-the-park two-run homer...had consecutive three-hit games on July 7 and 8...hit second home run on July 24 in Boston off David Cone...optioned to Syracuse on July 31...recalled Sept. 1.

2000

Jumped from Single-A in 1999 to Triple-A Syracuse ... Posted a .194 average against left-handed pitching and .226 with 24 of his 27 RBI against right-handed pitching ... Baseball America rated him as having the best infield arm in the International League and as the third-best prospect in the Blue Jays organization ... Played winter ball with Lara in Venezuela.

1999

Hit .308 in 131 games with Single-A Dunedin of the Florida State League and was selected as the R. Howard Webster award winner as team MVP...was second in the league with 165 hits, third in triples with 12 and sixth in average...the 165 hits were a club record and eighth in Single-A baseball overall...he was fourth in batting average by a switch-hitter and average by a shortstop...opened the season earning organizational Player of the Month honors in April after hitting .354 with five doubles, five triples and 21 RBI...posted a 21- game hitting streak from April 17-May 7...hit three home runs on the season, all in May including two in three days, May 1 and 3...for May, hit .323 with six doubles, three triples, three home runs and 21 RBI...average did not fall below .300 after April 13...had a five-hit game on Aug. 24 at Clearwater...posted monthly highs in August with a .370 average, 22 runs scored and eight doubles...hit .358 against left-handed pitching and .289 against right-handers...hit .319 on the road and .294 at home...with runners in scoring position, hit .340...rated by Baseball America as the third-best prospect in the organization and the fifth best in the Florida State League.

1998

With Single-A Hagerstown of the South Atlantic League, hit .262 with one home run and 38 RBI...was second in the SAL with just one strikeout every 10.40 plate appearances...led club with 20 stolen bases...hit in nine straight from April 15-24...hit .348 in August with five doubles, 15 runs scored and 18 RBI...in five SAL playoff games, he hit .319 (6-for-19) with a double, a home run and two RBI...appeared in 18 games for Lara in Venezuela in winter league play.

1997

Made professional debut with St. Catharines and hit .190 in 70 games...led club with eight sacrifice hits...posted a seven-game hit streak from July 19-25, during which he hit .360.