Édgar González (pitcher)

Infobox MLB player


width = 150
name = Édgar González
team = Arizona Diamondbacks
number = 31
position = Pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1983|2|23
birthplace = Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
bats = Right
throws = Right
debutdate = June 1
debutyear = 2003
debutteam = Arizona Diamondbacks
statyear = 2007
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 13-18
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 5.97
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 136
teams =
*Arizona Diamondbacks (by|2003-present)

Edgar Gerardo González Elizondo (born February 23, 1983 in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México) is a Major League Baseball player with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

González signed with the Diamondbacks as a non-drafted free agent on April 18, 2000. When he did not report for his assignment in the Dominican Republic, he was placed on the suspended list for 2000-2001. Gonzalez was the sixth major leaguer from Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Mexico, joining Oscar Villarreal, Felipe Montemayor (1953 Pirates), Bobby Trevino (1968 Angels), Hector Torres (1968 Astros) and Alex Trevino (1978 Mets)He was the 94th native of Mexico to appear in the majors and the 53rd pitcher from Mexico to work a big league game when he debuted with the Diamondbacks on Jun 1, 2003. At that time, he was the youngest pitcher in Major League Baseball, at 20 years old.

He throws a 4-seam fastball, slider, 2-seam fastball, and a changeup.

Minor Leagues

2002 A

He was assigned to class A South Bend Silver Hawks of the Midwest League. On April 14 at only his second professional start he tossed a No-hitter against West Michigan for his first professional win. He didn't issue a BB and faced the minimum 27 batters because he picked off the only base runner of the game (based on an error). He was 11-8 with a 2.91 ERA and 110 K's with South Bend before earning a promotion to advance A Lancaster JetHawks of the California League (League for batters)in August, the last month of the season.He finished in Lancaster with 3-0 with a 0.78 ERA and 21 K's against 3 BB in 4 games started. His 14 victories in 2002 tied for second among Arizona minor leaguers. He was pitcher of the month of August in the Arizona farm system after combining 5-0 with a 1.18 combined in the two levels.

2003 AA and AAA

He was assigned to class AA El Paso Diablos of the Texas League. His stance at El Paso was a short one, with only 6 games started and going 2-2 with a 3.50 ERA before being called up early May to AAA Tucson SidewindersHe went 3-2 with Tucson before being called to the big team for a brief stance. He finished the season at Tucson with a 8-7 record and a 3.75 ERA in 20 games. Edgar was selected to participate in the All-Star Futures Game on July 13 in Chicago, working a scoreless frame for the World Team

2004 - 2006 with AAA Tucson Sidewinders

In 2004 he started the year at AAA Tucson and was called up and sent down a couple of times during the season. Edgar had a 5-5 record with a 4.88 ERA in 15 starts for Tucson.

In 2005 he pitched almost the complete year with the Tucson Sidewinders, except for a game with the Diamondbacks. He was a great season going 11-6 with a 4.37 ERA in 24 starts with Tucson, but most important his control improved greatly, he ended with 116 K's and only 38 BB.

In 2006 he started his 4th season at AAA Tucson. He had a brief stint with the Diamondbacks at the end of June and star of July, but pitched most of the season in Tucson. He ended with a 3-8 record but with a good ERA of 3.90, that earned him a September call up.

Major League Career

2003

He was promoted on June 1, 2003 to face the San Diego Padres in Qualcomm Stadium. Arizona won the game 10-4 and Edgar picked up his first Major League win, pitching 5.2 innings allowing 10 hits for 3 runs and striking out 4. He also collected his first Major League hit. He had another start on June 6 against the Indians at Arizona where he took his first loss before returning to Tucson.When the rosters expanded in September he was called up and pitched in 7 games (all in relief).He finished the season with a 2-1 record and a 4.91 ERA.

2004

Edgar had a rough year in the Major Leagues in 2004, mostly because pitching with a torn fingernail for most of the year ended his season short. In several stints with the big club Edgar ended with 0-9 record with a 9.32 ERA in 10 starts for the Diamondbacks.His best game came August 29 in Cincinnati were he took a No-hitter to the 7th inning and lost it to an infield hit by Felipe Lopez and later lost the shutout to a HR by Adam Dunn.

2005

Edgar had only one game at the Major Leagues in the 2005 seasons and it was on relief on June 10, one day after being called up. He allowed 4 runs in a third of an inning to leave an ERA of 108. He was demoted to Tucson on June 12.

2006

2006 was the redemption year for Edgar. After a rough 2004 in MLB and spending almost the complete 2005 season in the minors, Edgar stated his case for a spot in the rotation for the next year.Edgar was called up in June to replace in the rotation Russ Ortiz who was released. He pitched two good games (quality starts) but lost the two for no run support. After Juan Cruz was activated from the disabled list Edgar was moved to the bullpen where he struggled to adapt and was demoted to Tucson July 19 to continue to pitch as a starter. He returned to team on September and took the place in the rotation of struggling Enrique Gonzalez. Edgar had 3 starts in September, the 3 being excellent games, reaching 7 innings in two of them and not allowing more than 2 runs in each game. He ended the year 3-4 with an ERA of 4.22. His records as a starter were 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA.

2007

2007 was the first year Edgar started the season with the Major League Club. He earned a spot in the rotation after going 5-0 during Spring Training. After Randy Johnson was activated from the disabled list he lost his job to Micah Owings in a tight race. Edgar spent the remainder of the season as the long reliever of the Diamondbacks and making spot starts. He was out of minor league options so he could not be sent to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers.

2008

Edgar began the 2008 season in the bullpen but was moved into the starting rotation when starter Doug Davis was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. In five starts, Edgar was 1-2 with a 6.55 ERA, averaging 4.4 innings per start. He then lost his starting job to Max Scherzer and was moved back to the bullpen after Scherzer pitched 4 1/3 innings of perfect relief for González on April 29th.

Winter Baseball

In winter, he plays in the Mexican Pacific Winter League for the Naranjeros de HermosilloIn the season 2002-2003 he was named Rookie of the Year after and Pitcher of the Year going 8-1 with a 1.89 ERA

ee also

* Arizona Diamondbacks all-time roster

External links

*Baseballstats |mlb=429440 |espn=5498 |br=g/gonzaed01 |fangraphs=1727 |cube=G/Edgar-Gonzalez-1