Junior José Guerra Maurera (born January 16, 1985) is a Venezuelan

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

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos The Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (''Owls of the Two Laredos''), formerly known as the Tecolotes de Nuevo Laredo (''Owls of Nuevo Laredo''), are a Minor League Baseball team based in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, and Laredo, Texas in the Mexican Leagu ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He previously played in

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) for 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 ...

, Milwaukee Brewers,

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 ...

, and

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 ...

. He was originally signed by 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 2001. Guerra is notable for his development of a

split-finger fastball A split-finger fastball or splitter is an off-speed pitch in baseball that looks to the batter like a fastball until it drops suddenly. Derived from the forkball, it is so named because the pitcher puts the index and middle finger on different s ...

, a pitch which he learned while playing in the

Venezuelan Professional Baseball League The Venezuelan Professional Baseball League or Liga Venezolana de Béisbol Profesional (LVBP) is the professional baseball league in Venezuela. The league's champion takes part in the Caribbean Series each year. History Early years Baseball exp ...

and ultimately led to his 2015 return to the MLB. Guerra said of the pitch in 2017, "I have no idea where I would be without it."

Career

Early years

In October of 2001, the

signed the then 16 year old Guerra, as an international free agent out of Venezuela, to play as a catcher. After being converted to a pitcher in 2006, he was released by the Braves and signed with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

in 2008, where he gained traction but failed a PED test in 2009. In 2010, he signed with Sant Boi of the Spanish

División de Honor de Béisbol Division de Honor de Béisbol is the highest level of baseball in Spain.Spanish baseball competitions

in Sant Boi de Llobregat. Guerra spent some time at first base en route to winning a championship in the league. The following season, Guerra returned to the United States where he played for the independent

Wichita Wingnuts The Wichita Wingnuts were an independent baseball team based in Wichita, Kansas, in the United States. The Wingnuts were members of the South Division of the American Association of Professional Baseball. An expansion franchise in the 2008 seas ...

. He spent 2012 with the

Leones de Yucatán The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team play its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in , , , ...

of the

before returning to Wichita in 2013. In 2014, he pitched for the

San Marino San Marino (, ), officially the Republic of San Marino ( it, Repubblica di San Marino; ), also known as the Most Serene Republic of San Marino ( it, Serenissima Repubblica di San Marino, links=no), is the fifth-smallest country in the world an ...

of the

Italian Baseball League The Italian Baseball League (IBL; Italian: ') is a professional baseball league that is governed by FIBS (Italian Baseball & Softball Federation), which has its headquarters in Rome. The IBL is a wood bat league in which both composite and alumi ...

, winning eight games and putting up an

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

of 1.29 en route to winning the European Cup. Guerra played each winter from 2008 to 2015 with the

Tiburones de La Guaira The Tiburones de La Guaira ( en, La Guaira Sharks) are a baseball team in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. Based in the city of La Guaira, they play their home games in Estadio Fórum La Guaira and have won seven national champions ...

of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League in order to stay on the radars of MLB scouts. Before the 2015 season, he signed a minor league contract with the

Chicago White Sox

Guerra was called up to the majors for the first time on June 7, 2015. He made his major league debut a few days later on June 12, and pitched in a total of three games with the White Sox.

Milwaukee Brewers

On October 7, 2015, Guerra was claimed off waivers by the Milwaukee Brewers as the first roster move of general manager

David Stearns David Stearns (born February 18, 1985) is an American baseball executive who most recently served as the president of baseball operations for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Stearns currently holds an advisory role with th ...

. The Brewers chose to make him a starting pitcher rather than a reliever.

2016

Guerra experienced success in his first season with the Brewers, posting a 9–3

pitching record Pitch may refer to: Acoustic frequency * Pitch (music), the perceived frequency of sound including "definite pitch" and "indefinite pitch" ** Absolute pitch or "perfect pitch" ** Pitch class, a set of all pitches that are a whole number of octave ...

and a 2.81

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Comp ...

over 20 games. His rookie season, at the age of 31, resulted in accolades including the BBWAA naming Guerra the Brewers' Most Valuable Pitcher of 2016. A shoulder injury kept Guerra out of play in August 2016 and forced him to skip winter league baseball in the 2016–17 offseason. Despite that, Guerra earned his spot in the rotation with a consistent 2016 season in the majors.

2017

On April 3, 2017, Guerra was the starting pitcher for the Brewers on Opening Day. He left after three innings with a strained right calf, an injury suffered while bunting in the 3rd inning. Guerra did not return for the Brewers until late May and struggled to return to his 2016 form. He posted a 5.85 ERA in June, and was subsequently optioned to the minor leagues. Guerra returned but finished his season with a disappointing 1–4 record and career-worst 5.12 ERA in 21 games.

2018

The Brewers hoped Guerra could return to his 2016 season form for 2018, and Guerra did have mostly successful outings in 2018 at the beginning of the season. On May 30, 2018, Guerra pitched six

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

innings against the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central division. Since the 2006 season, the Cardinals ha ...

and allowed no walks. Guerra avoided the major injury problems that plagued him in prior seasons, appearing in a then-career best 31 games, but finished the 2018 campaign with a 6–9 record and a 4.09 ERA.

2019

Guerra was transitioned to a relief role for the 2019 season and led the National League in relief innings pitched at . Guerra appeared in 72 games for Milwaukee, securing a 9–5 record and 3.55 ERA, while also notching the first three saves of his career. Guerra was non-tendered on December 2, 2019, and became a free agent.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 9, 2019, Guerra signed a one-year contract, with a club option, with the

. On July 5, 2020, it was announced that Guerra had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

. On November 20, 2020, Guerra was designated for assignment. On November 23, Guerra was released by the Diamondbacks. In 25 games for Arizona, he was 1–2 with a 3.04 ERA in innings.

Los Angeles Angels

On January 30, 2021, Guerra signed a minor league contract with the

organization and was invited to Spring Training. On March 16, 2021, the Angels selected Guerra's contract to the 40-man roster. Guerra made 41 appearances for the Angels in 2021, struggling to a 6.06 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 65.1 innings pitched. He was designated for assignment following the season on November 16, 2021. He was released by the Angels three days later.

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos

On March 8, 2022, Guerra signed with the

of the

International career

Guerra pitched for

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

in the

2009 Baseball World Cup The 2009 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 38th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through t ...

. On October 29, 2018, he was selected to play for the MLB All-Stars at the

2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series The 2018 MLB Japan All-Star Series was the twelfth edition of the MLB Japan All-Star Series, a best-of-six series between an All-Star team from Major League Baseball (MLB) and for the second time in series history, the Japanese national team, Sam ...

References

External links

Pelota Binaria
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guerra, Junior 1989 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Biloxi Shuckers players Birmingham Barons players Brooklyn Cyclones players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Danville Braves players Gulf Coast Braves players Honolulu Sharks players Kingsport Mets players Leones de Yucatán players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Mexican League baseball pitchers Milwaukee Brewers players People from Bolívar (state) Rome Braves players Savannah Sand Gnats players St. Lucie Mets players T & A San Marino players Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos players Tiburones de La Guaira players Venezuela national baseball team players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in Mexico Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in San Marino Venezuelan expatriate sportspeople in Spain Wichita Wingnuts players

Career

Early years

Chicago White Sox

Milwaukee Brewers

2016

2017

2018

2019

Arizona Diamondbacks

Los Angeles Angels

Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos

International career

See also

References

External links