Gio Urshela

Giovanny Urshela Salcedo (born October 11, 1991) is a Colombian professional baseball third baseman for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Urshela and the second or maternal family name is Salcedo.

Gio Urshela
Urshela with the New York Yankees in 2020
Los Angeles Angels – No. 10
Third baseman
Born: (1991-10-11) October 11, 1991
Cartagena, Colombia
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
MLB debut
June 9, 2015, for the Cleveland Indians
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.278
Home runs64
Runs batted in279
Teams

Urshela made his MLB debut with Cleveland in 2015. After playing sparingly for Cleveland in 2015 and 2017, he played briefly for Toronto in 2018, before being traded to the Yankees for cash considerations. Urshela emerged as a valuable hitter for the Yankees during the 2019 season and was traded to Minnesota before the 2022 season.

Career

Cleveland Indians

Urshela signed with the Cleveland Indians as an international free agent in July 2008.[1] He made his professional debut in 2009, playing for the Dominican Summer League Indians and the Arizona League Indians.[2]

Urshela batting for the Akron Aeros in 2013

Urshela started the 2014 season with Akron and was promoted to the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League during the season.[3][4] After the 2014 season, the Indians added Urshela to their 40-man roster.[5] He was named the Indians' fourth best prospect by MLB.com in 2015.[6]

Urshela began the 2015 season with Columbus. He was called up to the major leagues on June 8, 2015.[7] He got his first major league hit, a single, and first major league home run in the same game against the Seattle Mariners on June 11, 2015.[8] He spent the entire 2016 season playing with Columbus and in the offseason he played winter baseball in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League for Águilas del Zulia alongside future Yankees teammate Mike Tauchman.[9]

Urshela slides into home plate as a member of the Cleveland Indians.

Urshela batted .224 in 67 major league games for Cleveland in 2017.[10] He opened the 2018 season on the disabled list.[11] After completing his rehab assignment in the minors, Urshela was designated for assignment on May 4.[12] He had batted .225 in 453 plate appearances for Cleveland.[13]

Toronto Blue Jays

On May 9, 2018, Cleveland traded Urshela to the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations or a player to be named later.[12] Urshela batted .233 with one home run and three RBIs in 19 games for Toronto, before he was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays on June 26.[14] He cleared waivers and was assigned outright to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on July 3.[15][16] He batted .244 in 91 plate appearances for the Bisons.[13]

New York Yankees

On August 4, 2018, the Blue Jays traded Urshela to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash considerations.[17] The Yankees assigned him to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He worked with Phil Plantier, the RailRiders' hitting coach, to make changes to his batting stance. Urshela batted .307 in 107 plate appearances for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.[13]

The Yankees selected Urshela's contract on April 6, 2019, after Miguel Andújar, the Yankees' starting third baseman tore his right shoulder labrum.[18] Urshela began the season hitting 25-for-71 (.352), and continued to play for the Yankees when Andújar returned briefly in May,[19] though Andújar soon opted to have season-ending surgery.[20]

Urshela opened the 2020 season as the Yankees' starting third baseman. He played in 43 of the team's 60 games, missing time with a groin injury in late August.[21] He batted .298/.368/.490 with 6 home runs and 30 runs batted in, and led all qualifying third basemen with a .992 fielding percentage. On September 30, in Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series, Urshela became the first Yankees third baseman to hit a postseason grand slam doing so against his former team, the Cleveland Indians. This also helped the Yankees sweep the Indians in the best-of-three Wild Card Series.[22] The Yankees went on to lose in the Division Series to the Tampa Bay Rays in five games.

Minnesota Twins

On March 13, 2022, the Yankees traded Urshela and Gary Sánchez to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Josh Donaldson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Ben Rortvedt.[23] In 2022 he batted .285/.338/.429.[24] He was picked off at second base twice, leading the majors.[25]

In October 2022, it was announced that Urshela would spend the 2022 offseason playing with his hometown Tigres de Cartagena of the Colombian Professional Baseball League.[26]

Los Angeles Angels

On November 18, 2022, Urshela was traded from the Twins to the Los Angeles Angels for minor league pitcher Alejandro Hidalgo.[27] The Angels began the 2023 season with Urshela as their regular shortstop.[28] On June 16, 2023, Urshela was placed on the 10-day injured list due to a left pelvis fracture.[29] On June 21, 2023, the Angels announced Urshela would not need surgery but would miss the remainder of the 2023 season.[30]

International career

Before the 2013 season, he played for the Colombian national baseball team in the qualifiers for the World Baseball Classic, but the team lost to Panama and failed to qualify for the tournament.[31] He played for the Colombian national baseball team again after they qualified for the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[32] In 14 plate appearances, he slashed .143/.143/.143 with two hits.[33]

Personal life

Urshela and his wife, Danna, gave birth to a daughter in 2022.[34] Danna is a journalist in Colombia.[35]

References
  1. Lastoria, Tony. "Know your prospects: Giovanny Urshela". FOX Sports. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  2. "Giovanny Urshela, A sprint Ascending". Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  3. Cay, Fred. "RubberDucks 6, Curve 4: Giovanny Urshela is seeing benefits of work". www.ohio.com. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  4. "Giovanny Urshela impresses with Columbus Clippers -- Cleveland Indians AAA Insider". cleveland.com. July 18, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  5. Reedy, Joe (November 20, 2014). "Indians fill out 40-man roster". Fox Sports. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  6. Fagerstrom, August (June 7, 2015). "Indians option Ramirez, Chisenhall to Triple-A". MLB.com. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  7. "Indians send struggling Chisenhall, Ramirez to minors". ESPN.com. Associated Press. June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  8. "Urshela hits 1st big league homer, Indians top Mariners 6-0". ESPN. Associated Press. June 11, 2015. Retrieved June 11, 2015.
  9. "How 'Gio Urshela?' became 'Gio Urshela!'". ESPn.com. September 8, 2019. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  10. Noga, Joe (May 10, 2018). "Cleveland Indians trade Giovanny Urshela to Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations". cleveland.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  11. Hoynes, Paul. "Gio Urshela has hamstring injury and 4 other things we learned about the Cleveland Indians". Cleveland.com. Retrieved March 21, 2018.
  12. Chisholm, Gregor (May 9, 2018). "Blue Jays acquire Gio Urshela from Indians". MLB.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  13. Petriello, Mike (May 15, 2019). "Why Gio Urshela is hitting so well". MLB.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  14. Canadian Baseball Network (June 26, 2018). "Blue Jays call up Borucki to make MLB debut, designate Urshela — Canadian Baseball Network". Canadianbaseballnetwork.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  15. Wagner, Ben. "Jays Twitter". Twitter.com. Retrieved June 26, 2018.
  16. Blue Jays PR. "Ryan Borucki". Twitter.com. Retrieved July 3, 2018.
  17. "Blue Jays trade Gio Urshela to Yankees for cash considerations". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
  18. Hoch, Bryan (April 6, 2019). "Gio Urshela called up to play third base | New York Yankees". Mlb.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  19. Caldera, Pete. "Gio Urshela playing despite Miguel Andujar return to New York Yankees". Northjersey.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  20. Martin, Dan (May 15, 2019). "Miguel Andujar injury: Yankees star to have season-ending surgery". Nypost.com. Retrieved August 9, 2019.
  21. Kelly, Matt (August 30, 2019). "Urshela (groin) lands on IL; Voit activated". MLB.com. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
  22. "Yankees' Gio Urshela smashes 432-foot grand slam off Indians' James Karinchak". NJ.com. October 1, 2020. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  23. Aguilera, Nick (March 13, 2022). "Yankees get Donaldson, send Sánchez, Urshela to Twins". MLB.com. MLB. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  24. "Gio Urshela Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More". Baseball-Reference.com.
  25. "Statcast Custom Leaderboards". baseballsavant.com.
  26. "Tigres de Cartagena vuelven a la liga de béisbol con apoyo de Giovanny Urshela". Caracol (in Spanish). October 16, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  27. "Angels bolster depth, acquire Urshela from Twins". ESPN.com. November 18, 2022.
  28. Fletcher, Jeff (March 30, 2023). "Gio Urshela happy with Angels' decision to give him a continued look at shortstop". Orange County Register. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  29. Fletcher, Jeff (June 16, 2023). "Angels lose Gio Urshela with fractured pelvis". Orange County Register.
  30. Sanchez, Noel (June 21, 2023). "Angels News: LA Starting Infielder Gio Urshela To Miss Entirety of 2023 Season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
  31. "World Baseball Classic Colombian roster". World Baseball Classic. Retrieved October 13, 2014.
  32. Hoynes, Paul (February 9, 2017). "Cleveland Indians will send 11 players to the World Baseball Classic". cleveland.com. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
  33. "Colombia - World Baseball Classic". STATS Hosted Solution. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  34. "Ex-Yankees infielder celebrates newborn baby with walk-off home run". nj.com. August 2, 2022. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  35. "As Colombia erupts, Yankees' Gio Urshela worries about his parents' safety | Klapisch". nj.com. May 25, 2021. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
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