Worked as a security guard at a supermarket and in construction in Venezuela in his early 20s, pitching solely on the weekends in amateur and independent leagues...His brother, Albert, has also pitched in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.
2023
In his second Major League season with SD, made 26 appearances out of the SD pen and posted a 4.23 ERA (13 ER, 27.2 IP), 0.90 WHIP and .155 opponents’ AVG...Began the season on the 15-day IL (right elbow inflammation) and was transferred to the 60-day IL on April 20 before beginning a rehab assignment on July 1...Made four rehab assignments between the Arizona Complex League (R), Lake Elsinore (A) and El Paso (AAA) before being reinstated from the 60-day IL on July 20...Earned the hold in the eighth inning of both of his first two appearances of the season with SD on July 21 @ DET and July 25 vs. PIT before allowing his first hit/run of the campaign July 26 @ PIT, an eventual game-winning HR by Carlos Santana … Santana’s HR was one of just two hits and the only run he allowed across his first six appearances from July 21 to Aug. 1 (1.50 ERA, 0.33 WHIP, .100 AVG against)...Allowed career highs in ER (five) and walks (three) on Aug. 4 vs. LAD in SD’s 10-5 defeat...Was scoreless in 14 of his final 19 outings on the season from Aug. 8 to Sept. 29 (3.00 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, .151 AVG against)...Reinstated from suspended list on Sept. 11 after serving 10 games for "violating the prohibitions on foreign substances" on Aug. 23 vs. MIA...dropped his appeal and began serving it on Aug. 31...Limited left-handed batters to a .146 clip (6-41) and righties hit just .161 (9-56) … first batters he faced hit just .192 (5-26) with zero walks and nine strikeouts. The Padres were 18-9 in games in which he appeared...Per Statcast, he relied on five pitches: 4-Seam Fastball (36.5%), Changeup (33.6%), Sinker (24.3%), Slider (4.5%) and Cutter (1.1%) … he ranked in the 94th percentile in fastball velocity (97.6 mph), and opponents hit .242 (8-33) against the pitch … opponents hit .080 (2-25) against his changeup and .086 (3-35) against his sinker.
2022
Made 45 appearances out of the SD pen in his first Major League season, and led all SD hurlers in ERA (2.27), opponents’ AVG (.176), SLG (.285) and OPS (.569)....His five wins also tied with Nabil Crismatt and Adrian Morejon for most among all SD relievers, and his 12 holds trailed only Luis Garcia's 20 for most on the club....Allowed a career-high-tying 3 earned runs in his Major League debut on Opening Day on April 7 at ARI…entered the game with a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the ninth before failing to record an out, while walking two and hitting one batter in SD’s eventual 4-3 defeat…it would be his only losing decision of the regular season....Was scoreless in 15 of his next 21 outings from April 10-June 5, going 2-0 with 1 SV, 5 HLD, a 1.93 ERA (5 ER, 23.1 IP) and a .152 opp. AVG ...Placed on the 15-day IL on June 7 with right knee inflammation before being transferred to the 60-day IL on July 12...began a rehab assignment on July 26 before being reinstated on August 6, missing 55 team games....Was scoreless in 21 of his 23 final regular season outings after being reinstated from the 60-day IL, going 3-0 with 7 HLD, a 1.48 ERA (4 ER, 24.1 IP), .198 opp. AVG and 11.84 SO/9 IP....Finished the season with a career-best 13.1 consecutive scoreless IP across his final 13 regular season appearances Made 45 appearances out of the SD pen in his first Major League season, and led all SD hurlers in ERA (2.27), opponents’ AVG (.176), SLG (.285) and OPS (.569)....His five wins also tied with Nabil Crismatt and Adrian Morejon for most among all SD relievers, and his 12 holds trailed only Luis Garcia's 20 for most on the club....Allowed a career-high-tying 3 earned runs in his Major League debut on Opening Day on April 7 at ARI…entered the game with a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 9th before failing to record an out, while walking 2 and hitting 1 batter in SD’s eventual 4-3 defeat…it would be his only losing decision of the regular season....Was scoreless in 15 of his next 21 outings from April 10-June 5, going 2-0 with 1 SV, 5 HLD, a 1.93 ERA (5 ER, 23.1 IP) and a .152 opp. AVG ...Placed on the 15-day IL on June 7 with right knee inflammation before being transferred to the 60-day IL on July 12...began a rehab assignment on July 26 before being reinstated on Aug. 6, missing 55 team games....Was scoreless in 21 of his 23 final regular season outings after being reinstated from the 60-day IL, going 3-0 with 7 HLD, a 1.48 ERA (4 ER, 24.1 IP), .198 opp. AVG and 11.84 SO/9 IP....Finished the season with a career-best 13.1 consecutive scoreless IP across his final 13 regular season appearances 8th frame in SD’s 2-1 victory…tossed a perfect eighth inning in SD’s 5-3, series-clinching Game 4 victory on Oct. 15 for his third consecutive hold....Entered Game 2 of the NLCS Wed vs. PHI in the 8th inning, and allowed his first run of the season (reg + Post) at home...he was scoreless in all 23 app. and 26.0 IP at Petco Park prior to that outing...he was also scoreless in each of his prior 18 app and 19.1 IP overall dating back to Sept. 6....He posted a 19.1-scoreless inning streak across his final 13 regular season appearances and his first five Postseason appearances before having the streak snapped in Game 2 of the NLCS on Oct. 19…he allowed an eighth inning solo home run to Rhys Hoskins in SD’s 8-5 victory....Tagged with his first losing decision since his Major League debut in Game 5 of the NLCS on Oct. 23 in SD’s 4-3, season-ending defeat…entered the game in the 7th inning in relief of Yu Darvish with Bryson Stott at second base and got out of the inning unscathed…in the 8th inning, he allowed a leadoff single to J.T. Realmuto before surrendering a go-ahead two-run homer to Bryce Harper
2021
Spent the 2021 season pitching for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball Organization and went 1-1 with a 1.16 ERA (8 ER, 62.1 IP), 0.77 WHIP (40 H, 8 BB) and 58 SO (25.3% SO rate) over 62 relief app... He led all NPB pitchers with 42 saves and posted a 3.5% BB rate (2 IBB)... Set a Hanshin club record with saves in 14 straight mound appearances, breaking the previous record of 11 set by Kyuji Fujikawa, who went on to pitch for the Chicago Cubs (2013-14) and Texas Rangers (2015)... Allowed 5.8 hits/9 IP, the lowest ratio of his five-year stay in Japan...allowed 40 hits to the 229 batters he faced, but not one of these was a HR...also posted NPB career highs in app. (62) and IP (62.1).
