Venezuelan baseball player (born 1989)
Baseball player
Luis Armando Avilan
(born July 19, 1989) is a Venezuelan former
professional baseball
pitcher
. He played in
Major League Baseball
(MLB) for the
Atlanta Braves
,
Los Angeles Dodgers
,
Chicago White Sox
,
Philadelphia Phillies
,
New York Mets
,
New York Yankees
, and
Washington Nationals
.
Professional career
[
edit
]
Atlanta Braves
[
edit
]
Avilan signed with the
Atlanta Braves
as an international
free agent
in 2005
[1]
and he began his professional career the following year with the Braves affiliate in the
Dominican Summer League
.
[2]
In 2008, he joined the
Gulf Coast Braves
, his first assignment to a domestic team.
[2]
He was the GCL Braves pitcher of the month for August when he had a 2.93 ERA in three starts.
[3]
In 2009, he was promoted to the
Danville Braves
of the
Appalachian League
, where he made 14 appearances, including three starts and had a 3.05 ERA with two saves.
[2]
In 2010, he made 41 appearances between the
Rome Braves
of the
South Atlantic League
and the
Myrtle Beach Pelicans
of the
Carolina League
and was a combined 6?4 with a 4.33 ERA in 41 games. He also saved nine games that season as the
closer
for Myrtle Beach.
[2]
[4]
In 2011, with the
Mississippi Braves
of the
Southern League
, he was 4?8 with a 4.57 ERA in 36 appearances, including 13 starts.
[2]
The Braves added him to their
40-man roster
after the 2011 season to protect him from the
Rule 5 draft
.
[5]
He began the 2012 season in Mississippi, where he was 3?6 with a 3.23 ERA 16 games (12 starts).
[2]
He was promoted to the Triple-A
Gwinnett Braves
of the
International League
on July 4, 2012, but did not make an appearance for them.
[3]
On July 5, 2012, Avilan was called up by the Braves to replace the injured
Jonny Venters
.
[6]
He made his first appearance on July 14 against the
New York Mets
, striking out the only batter he faced (
Ike Davis
).
[3]
His first career win came on October 3 against the
Pittsburgh Pirates
on the final day of the season.
[7]
In 31 appearances that season for the Braves, he had an ERA of 2.00.
[1]
Avilan made 75 appearances in 2013 (4th in the NL), posting a 1.52 earned run average with a .144 batting average against and .219 on base percentage.
[1]
In addition, he made appearances in all four games of the
2013 NLDS
against the
Los Angeles Dodgers
, allowing three hits and no runs in
2
+
2
⁄
3
innings.
[8]
However, he struggled through the first half of the 2014 season, recording a 4.85 ERA in 47 games.
[9]
Avilan was demoted to Triple A Gwinnett on July 19, 2014, and replaced by
Chasen Shreve
.
[10]
He would finish the 2014 season with a 4.57 ERA in 62 games.
[1]
2015 was kinder to Avilan in a Braves uniform, as in 50 appearances, he posted a 3.58 ERA with a 1.20
WHIP
.
During his time with the Braves, Radio Announcer
Don Sutton
would often sing Avilan's name in a sing-song manner to the tune of
Feliz Navidad
.
[1]
Los Angeles Dodgers
[
edit
]
On July 30, 2015, in a three-team trade, the
Los Angeles Dodgers
acquired Avilan,
Mat Latos
,
Michael Morse
,
Bronson Arroyo
,
Alex Wood
,
Jim Johnson
, and
Jose Peraza
, while the
Miami Marlins
acquired minor league pitchers Victor Araujo, Jeff Brigham, and Kevin Guzman, and the Braves received
Hector Olivera
,
Paco Rodriguez
, minor league pitcher Zachary Bird and a competitive balance draft pick for the
2016 MLB Draft
.
[11]
He pitched in 23 games for the Dodgers with a 5.17 ERA.
[12]
At the conclusion of the season, the Dodgers signed him to a one-year, $1.39 million, contract to avoid
salary arbitration
[13]
though he began the season with the AAA
Oklahoma City Dodgers
after experiencing control problems in
spring training
.
[14]
He split the season between the minors and the majors, appearing in 33 games for Oklahoma City, with a 4.24 ERA
[2]
and 27 games for Los Angeles, with a 3.20 ERA.
[1]
He also pitched in
3
+
2
⁄
3
innings in the playoffs between the
2016 National League Division Series
and the
2016 National League Championship Series
, without allowing any earned runs.
[1]
He signed a $1.5 million contract for 2017, avoiding salary arbitration.
[15]
Avilan spent the entire 2017 season in the Dodgers bullpen. In 61 games, he had a 2?3 record and 2.93 ERA.
[1]
He felt some pain in his shoulder in September, leading to a diagnosis of "shoulder inflammation." As a result, he was left off the Dodgers playoff roster.
[16]
Chicago White Sox
[
edit
]
On January 4, 2018, Avilan was traded to the
Chicago White Sox
in a three-team trade that also sent Jake Peter and
Scott Alexander
to the Dodgers,
Joakim Soria
to the White Sox, and
Trevor Oaks
and
Erick Mejia
to the
Kansas City Royals
.
[17]
Philadelphia Phillies
[
edit
]
On August 22, 2018, Avilan was traded to the
Philadelphia Phillies
in exchange for minor league pitcher Felix Paulino.
[18]
Between the two teams, in 2018 he was 2?1 with two saves and a 3.77 ERA. He threw a change-up 48.1% of the time, tops in MLB.
[19]
He elected free agency on November 30, 2018. In his career through 2018 he had held left-handed batters to a batting average of .213, and right-handed batters to a batting average of .244.
New York Mets
[
edit
]
On January 10, 2019, Avilan signed a minor league deal with the
New York Mets
that included an invitation to
spring training
.
[20]
He made the team and had his contract purchased for opening day. On April 15, 2019, Avilan earned his first victory as a Met in a game against the
Philadelphia Phillies
. On the season, he registered an 5.06 ERA with 30 strikeouts in 32.0 innings of work.
[21]
He elected free agency on October 31, 2019.
New York Yankees
[
edit
]
On February 3, 2020, Avilan signed a minor league contract with the
New York Yankees
. On July 21, Avilan had his contract selected to the 40-man roster. On August 28, Avilan was released by the Yankees two days after being placed on the injured list due to shoulder inflammation. He had pitched to a 4.32 ERA across 8.1 innings in 2019.
[22]
Washington Nationals
[
edit
]
On December 14, 2020, Avilan signed a minor league contract with the
Washington Nationals
organization.
[23]
On March 28, 2021, Avilan was selected to the 40-man roster.
[24]
On April 17, it was announced that Avilan had suffered a tear in his left
UCL
, requiring
Tommy John surgery
and ending his season early.
[25]
He was placed on the 60-day injured list on April 30.
[26]
In 4 games for the Nationals in 2021, Avilan registered a 12.60 ERA with 4 strikeouts. Avilan became a free agent following the season and re-signed with the Nationals on a minor league contract on November 29, 2021.
[27]
In 2022, Avilan spent the season in the Nationals' minor league system. Playing in 36 games split between the High?A
Wilmington Blue Rocks
and Triple?A
Rochester Red Wings
, he recorded a cumulative 4.84 ERA with 39 strikeouts in
35
+
1
⁄
3
innings pitched. Avilan elected free agency following the season on November 10, 2022.
[28]
On October 20, 2023, Avilan retired from professional baseball.
[29]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
"Luis Avilan Statistics & History"
.
Baseball Reference
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
"Luis Avilan minor league statistics & history"
.
Baseball Reference
.
- ^
a
b
c
"Luis Avilan bio"
.
mlb.com
. Retrieved
February 14,
2017
.
- ^
Elswick, Ryan (June 15, 2010).
"Myrtle Beach Pelicans ride Joneses to victory over Potomac"
.
Myrtle Beach Online
. Retrieved
February 14,
2017
.
- ^
Priddy, Tom (November 16, 2011).
"Braves protect three pitchers from Rule 5 Draft"
.
GoUpstate.com
. Retrieved
February 14,
2017
.
- ^
"Braves put LHP Venters on DL"
.
foxsports.com
. Associated Press. 2012-07-05
. Retrieved
2012-07-05
.
- ^
Cooper, Jon (July 14, 2012).
"Braves benefiting from Prado's versatility"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
July 20,
2014
.
- ^
"2013 NL Division Series (3-1): Los Angeles Dodgers (92-70) over Atlanta Braves (96-66)"
.
Baseball Reference
. Retrieved
February 14,
2017
.
- ^
Morgan, Joe (July 19, 2014).
"Braves option Avilan and promote fellow lefty Shreve"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
July 20,
2014
.
- ^
"Braves option LHP Avilan to minors"
.
ESPN.com
. Associated Press. July 19, 2014
. Retrieved
July 20,
2014
.
- ^
Hoornstra, J.P. (July 30, 2015).
"Dodgers get pitchers Mat Latos, Alex Wood in three-team deadline deal"
.
San Gabriel Valley Tribune
. Retrieved
July 30,
2015
.
- ^
"2015 Los Angeles Dodgers Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics"
.
Baseball Reference
. Retrieved
October 5,
2015
.
- ^
"Dodgers avoid arb with Jansen, all eligible players"
.
MLB.com
. January 15, 2016
. Retrieved
January 18,
2016
.
- ^
"OKC Dodgers Release 2016 Opening Day Roster"
.
news9.com
. April 6, 2016
. Retrieved
April 7,
2016
.
- ^
Stephen, Eric (January 13, 2017).
"Dodgers avoid arbitration with Luis Avilan, Josh Fields"
.
SB Nation
. Retrieved
January 13,
2017
.
- ^
Plunkett, Bill (October 3, 2017).
"Dodgers lefty reliever Luis Avilan out for NLDS with shoulder injury"
.
LA Daily News
. Retrieved
October 20,
2017
.
- ^
Stephen, Eric (January 4, 2018).
"Dodgers acquire Scott Alexander in 3-team, 5-player trade"
.
SB Nation
. Retrieved
January 4,
2018
.
- ^
"Phillies get lefty Avilan from White Sox"
.
ESPN.com
. August 22, 2018.
- ^
"Statcast Pitch Arsenals Leaderboard"
.
baseballsavant.com
.
- ^
Adams, Steve (January 10, 2019).
"Mets Sign Luis Avilan To Minor League Deal"
.
mlbtraderumors.com
. Retrieved
January 10,
2019
.
- ^
"Luis Avilan: 2019 Mets Relief Pitcher"
. 7 October 2019.
- ^
Adams, Steve (August 28, 2020).
"Yankees Release Luis Avilan, Select Jordy Mercer"
.
mlbtraderumors.com
. Retrieved
August 28,
2020
.
- ^
"Nationals Sign Luis Avilan To Minors Deal"
.
MLB Trade Rumors
. 14 December 2020.
- ^
"Nationals Select Luis Avilan's Contract, Designate Dakota Bacus"
.
MLB Trade Rumors
. 28 March 2021.
- ^
"Nationals' Luis Avilan Suffers UCL Tear"
.
MLB Trade Rumors
. 28 April 2021.
- ^
"Nationals Activate Jon Lester"
.
MLB Trade Rumors
. 30 April 2021.
- ^
"Luis Avilan Stats, Fantasy & News"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
"2022-23 Minor League Free Agents For All 30 MLB Teams"
.
baseballamerica.com
. 13 November 2022
. Retrieved
September 21,
2023
.
- ^
"Former New York Mets Reliever Avilan Retires from Baseball"
.
si.com
. 20 October 2023
. Retrieved
October 20,
2023
.
External links
[
edit
]