José Luis Hernández Urquidy (born May 1, 1995) is a Mexican

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 Houston Astros 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). Urquidy signed with the Astros 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 2015 under the name of José Luis Hernández, as whom he was known until the start of the 2019 season. He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Professional career

Minor leagues

Urquidy signed with the Houston Astros as an international

on March 2, 2015. He made his professional debut that same year, and spent his first professional season with both the

Greeneville Astros The Greeneville Astros were a Minor League Baseball team that played in the Rookie-level Appalachian League from 2004 to 2017. They represented the town of Greeneville, Tennessee, though Pioneer Park, their home stadium, was located in nearby T ...

and

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats (often shortened to Cats) are a professional independent baseball team based in Troy, New York. The Tri-City name refers to the three nearby cities of Albany, Schenectady, and Troy which make up New York State's Capital D ...

, pitching to a combined 2–1 record and 3.35 ERA in innings. He pitched 2016 with the

Quad Cities River Bandits The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park (formerly John O'Donnell Stadium) in Davenport, Iowa, o ...

and

Lancaster JetHawks The Lancaster JetHawks were a baseball team located in Lancaster, California. They were named for the city's association with the aerospace industry and played their home games at The Hangar. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League ...

, posting a 6–5 record and 2.94 ERA in 24 games (21 starts). Urquidy missed the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2018 and pitched for Tri-City and the

Buies Creek Astros The Fayetteville Woodpeckers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and play their home games at Segra Stadium. From 2017 to ...

, going 2–2 with a 2.35 ERA in 13 games (11 starts). He started 2019 with the

Corpus Christi Hooks The Corpus Christi Hooks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Houston Astros. They are located in Corpus Christi, Texas, and are named for the city's association with fishing. The team is owned by ...

before being promoted to the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

Houston Astros

2019 (Rookie season)

On July 2,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, the Astros promoted Urquidy to the major leagues. He made his debut that night in a start versus the Colorado Rockies, pitching innings. In 2019, he was 2–1 with a 3.95 ERA, as in nine games (seven starts) he pitched 41 innings. In Game 4 of the 2019 World Series versus the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, Urquidy started for the Houston Astros, making him just the third Mexican-born World Series starting pitcher. He threw five innings, giving up two hits while striking out four. With the Astros winning the game, Urquidy became the second Mexican-born pitcher to win a World Series game after

Fernando Valenzuela Fernando Valenzuela Anguamea (, born November 1, 1960) is a Mexican former professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from to and to . While he played for six MLB teams, he is best remembered f ...

2020

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, Urquidy was 1–1 with a 2.73 ERA in five starts covering innings.

2021

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

, Urquidy was 8–3 with a 3.62 ERA in 20 starts covering 107 innings. In the postseason, he started Game 3 of the ALCS versus 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 ...

, lasting less than three innings. Urquidy was the winning pitcher in both of Houston's victories versus the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. He started Game 2, throwing five innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts as the Astros defeated Atlanta, 7–2. With the win, Urquidy became the first Mexican-born pitcher to earn multiple World Series wins. Pitching in relief in Game 5, he earned the win with one scoreless inning, making him the winningest internationally-born player in World Series history.

2022

On June 26,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

, Urquidy started a contest with hitless innings versus the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

before ceding a home run to

Giancarlo Stanton Giancarlo Cruz-Michael Stanton (born November 8, 1989), formerly known as Mike Stanton, is an American professional baseball designated hitter and outfielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2010 a ...

. Urquidy's performance extended a no-hit streak to innings forged by Astros pitching, tying an expansion-era record. On July 8, he reached a career-high eight innings in an 8–3 win versus the Oakland Athletics, allowing all three runs. Urquidy spun seven scoreless innings on August 3 versus

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, delivered a

game score Game score is a metric devised by Bill James as a rough overall gauge of a starting pitcher's performance in a baseball game. It is designed such that scores tend to range from 0–100, with an average performance being around 50 points. F ...

of 83 and tied his career high of 10 strikeouts on the way to a 6–1 win. On August 15, he hurled hitless innings versus the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and ...

until allowing his lone hit against A. J. Pollock before being removed. In a rematch of the prior year's World Series, Urquidy earned the win versus

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

after allowing two runs over seven innings, striking out six, as Houston won, 5–4. The Astros had won 15 of his last 20 starts, and over his last 11, Urquidy was 7–1 with a 2.48 ERA. He earned the win after tossing seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts versus the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

on September 4. In 2022, Urquidy was 13–8 with a 3.94 ERA in 29 games (28 starts) covering innings. Urquidy made one appearance in the Astros' 2022 playoff run, pitching three scoreless innings in relief to help stabilize the Astros' bullpen in a 7–0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the

. Urquidy became the first Mexican-born player in Major League history to appear in three World Series. The Astros would go on to win in six games, earning Urquidy his first World Series championship, and become the 15th Mexican-born player to win a World Series.

2023

On January 13,

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

, Urquidy avoided arbitration with the Astros, agreeing to a one-year, $3.025 million contract for the season.

International career

On August 27, 2022, Urquidy committed to play for Team

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

in 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 ...

Personal life

Prior to the 2019 season, Urquidy was known as José Luis Hernández.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urquidy, José Living people 1995 births Sportspeople from Mazatlán Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball players from Mexico Major League Baseball pitchers Houston Astros players Greeneville Astros players Tri-City ValleyCats players Quad Cities River Bandits players Lancaster JetHawks players Buies Creek Astros players Corpus Christi Hooks players Round Rock Express players Venados de Mazatlán players