Javier Alexis Guerra (born September 25, 1995) is a Panamanian

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Milwaukee Brewers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). Guerra began his career as an infielder, reaching MLB as such in 2018 with the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penn ...

, before converting to pitching in 2019. He has also played in MLB for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

Guerra signed as a shortstop with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2012, coming to terms on a contract calling for a reported signing bonus of $250,000. At the time Guerra drew mixed reviews for his defense because he had fringy speed, but he showed a very quick first step and excellent range to both sides. He had very soft but quick hands and was assured in the field, which complemented his arm, perhaps the strongest in the Red Sox system. Guerra made his professional debut with the Rookie league

Dominican Summer League Red Sox The Dominican Summer League Red Sox, often called the DSL Red Sox, are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball, playing in the foreign Dominican Summer League. The team, classed as a Rookie League franchise, ...

in 2013, hitting .248/.356/.290 with nine doubles and 23

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

in 60 games. He then played for the Rookie league

Gulf Coast Red Sox The Florida Complex League Red Sox are a professional baseball team competing in the rookie-level Florida Complex League (FCL) of Minor League Baseball. The team is owned and operated by the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior ...

in 2014, batting .269/.286/.408 with two home runs and 26 RBI in the Gulf Coast League. He had a breakout season with the Class A

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

in 2015, where he displayed highlight-reel defensive plays at shortstop with the ability to drive the ball. Guerra put up a .279/.329/.449 slash line with 68 RBI, along with 23 doubles, three triples and 15 home runs in a career-high 116 games, while earning a selection to the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

All-Star Game. In addition, Guerra ranked among the best hitters in the Red Sox system, ending second in home runs, third in RBI and total bases (195), fourth in slugging (.449) and fifth in runs scored (64). On defense, he made 27 errors at shortstop, and had a .954 fielding percentage.

San Diego Padres

On November 13, 2015, the Red Sox traded Guerra,

Carlos Asuaje Carlos A. Asuaje (; born November 2, 1991) is a Venezuelan-American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He previously played for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Lotte Giants of the KBO League. Amate ...

Manuel Margot Manuel Margot Gomez (born September 28, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball center fielder for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the San Diego Padres. Minor league career Boston Red Sox The Bost ...

, and

Logan Allen Logan Shane Allen (born May 23, 1997) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Colorado Rockies organization. He previously played for the San Diego Padres, Cleveland Indians/Guardians and the Baltimore Orioles. Early life Allen was ...

to the

for

Craig Kimbrel Craig Michael Kimbrel (born May 28, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the San Diego Padres, Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicag ...

. He spent 2016 with the Class A-Advanced

Lake Elsinore Storm The Lake Elsinore Storm are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays their home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond (Pete Lehr Field), which opened in 1994; the park s ...

, where he batted .202/.264/.325 with nine home runs and 41 RBIs in 105 games, as on defense he made 30 errors at shortstop and had a .940 fielding percentage. The Padres added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season. He spent 2017 with Lake Elsinore and the Class AA San Antonio Missions, batting .222/.266/.349 with nine home runs and 53 RBIs in 128 games between both teams. He began 2018 with the Class AAA

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. They are located in El Paso, Texas, and play their home games at Southwest University Park, which opened ...

, for whom he batted .223/.269/.398 in 122 games.Javy Guerra Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History , Baseball-Reference.com
/ref> Through 2018, in 582 minor league games he had batted .237/.290/.374, while playing nearly all the games at shortstop. Guerra was called up to the majors for the first time on May 4, 2018 and made his MLB debut that night. In 16 at-bats in 2018 with the Padres, he batted .125 with one RBI.

Conversion to pitcher

During 2019 spring training, Guerra was converted into a relief pitcher. Guerra opened the season on the injured list due to an oblique injury. After being activated, he was assigned to Lake Elsinore. He was promoted to the

Amarillo Sod Poodles The Amarillo Sod Poodles, nicknamed the Soddies, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Amarillo, Texas, and play their home games at Hodgetown in downtown ...

on August 20. On September 1, Guerra was promoted to the major leagues as a pitcher for the first time. In 2020, Guerra pitched to a 1-0 record with a 10.13 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 13.1 innings of work across 14 appearances. On April 5, 2021, Guerra was placed on the 60-day injured list with a grade 1 UCL sprain. On September 21, Guerra was activated off of the injured list. On April 13, 2022, Guerra was designated for assignment by the Padres following the waiver claim of

Kyle Tyler Kyle Wade Tyler (born December 27, 1996) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Los Angeles Angels and San Diego Padres. Amateur career Tyler atten ...

. He had allowed four runs in 2.0 innings pitched two days prior against the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

in his only appearance of the season.

Tampa Bay Rays

On April 16, 2022, the Padres traded Guerra to the

for cash considerations. He pitched to an 8.44 ERA across six appearances for the Rays before he was designated for assignment on May 1. On May 6, Guerra cleared waivers and was outrighted to the

Durham Bulls The Durham Bulls are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays. They are located in Durham, North Carolina, and play their home games at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, which opened ...

. He was promoted back to the active roster on June 30, 2022. He was returned to Triple-A on July 4, 2022. He had his contract selected on September 12. On November 15, Guerra was designated for assignment.

Milwaukee Brewers

On November 18, 2022, the Rays traded Guerra to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for a player to be named later.

International career

On August 13, 2022, Guerra was named as part of the

Panama national baseball team The Panama national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Panamá'') is the baseball team that represents Panama at an international level. Along with Nicaragua, they are considered to be the best baseball team in Central America, and ...

roster for the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC), an international professional baseball tournament, is set to be the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It was originally set for 2021 (as per tradition to hold the event every four years), but wa ...

qualifiers, to be played at

Estadio Nacional Rod Carew A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

Panama City Panama City ( es, Ciudad de Panamá, links=no; ), also known as Panama (or Panamá in Spanish), is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has an urban population of 880,691, with over 1.5 million in its metropolitan area. The city is locat ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Guerra, Javy 1995 births Living people Amarillo Sod Poodles players Dominican Summer League Red Sox players El Paso Chihuahuas players Greenville Drive players Gulf Coast Red Sox players Lake Elsinore Storm players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Panama Major League Baseball shortstops Major League Baseball third basemen Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Panamanian expatriate baseball players in the United States People from David District Peoria Javelinas players San Diego Padres players San Antonio Missions players Tampa Bay Rays players Durham Bulls players Leones del Escogido players 2023 World Baseball Classic players