Manuel Elías Piña Reyes (; born June 5, 1987) 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 baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

catcher Catcher is a Baseball positions, position in baseball and softball. When a Batter (baseball), batter takes their at bat, turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home plate, home) Umpire (baseball), umpire, and recei ...

for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (often referred to as the A's) are an American professional baseball team based in Oakland, California. The Athletics compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The te ...

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). He has previously played in MLB for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. The Brewers are named for t ...

and

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) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

Career

Texas Rangers organization

Piña began his professional baseball career in 2005 in the Texas Rangers system, hitting .247 in 27 games for the

AZL Rangers The Arizona Complex League Rangers are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Texas Rangers, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

. He missed most of the 2006 season, as he was recovering from right elbow surgery.Manny Piña Stats, Fantasy & News , MLB.com
/ref> He played for the AZL Rangers again in 2007, hitting .244 in 14 games. In 2007, he played for the

Clinton LumberKings The Clinton LumberKings are a collegiate summer baseball team of the Prospect League. They are located in Clinton, Iowa, and play their home games at NelsonCorp Field. From 1956 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's Midwest Lea ...

, hitting .228 in 86 games. He split 2008 between the

Bakersfield Blaze The Bakersfield Blaze were a minor league baseball team in Bakersfield, California. They played in the Class A – Advanced California League. They played their home games at Sam Lynn Ballpark. Opened in 1941, the stadium is well known for facing ...

(61 games) and

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

(23 games), hitting .267 overall. With the RoughRiders again in 2009, he hit .259 in 86 games.

Kansas City Royals

On September 3, 2009, the Rangers traded Piña and outfielder

Tim Smith Tim, Timothy or Timmy Smith may refer to: Musicians * T. V. Smith (born 1956), British singer and songwriter *Tim Smith (Cardiacs) (1961–2020), English singer-songwriter and frontman of Cardiacs *Timmy Trumpet (born 1982), Australian DJ and prod ...

to the

for Daniel Gutierrez. On July 31, 2011, the Royals added Piña to the Royals' active roster after

Matt Treanor Matthew Aaron Treanor (born March 3, 1976) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Florida Marlins, Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, and Los Angeles Dodgers. High s ...

was placed on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

. He made his major league debut on August 3, getting two hits in a win over the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

. He also threw out

Vladimir Guerrero Vladimir Alvino Guerrero Sr. (born February 9, 1975), nicknamed "Vlad the Impaler", is a Dominican former professional baseball player who spent 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a right fielder and designated hitter. He played for ...

while trying to steal second base in the first inning of this game. In 2012, Piña underwent surgery for a

meniscus Meniscus may refer to: *Meniscus (anatomy), crescent-shaped fibrocartilaginous structure that partly divides a joint cavity *Meniscus (liquid) The meniscus (plural: ''menisci'', from the Greek for "crescent") is the curve in the upper surface ...

tear in his right knee, and missed the first three months of the season. Manny Piña behind the plate in 2017

On November 2, 2012, the Royals designated Piña for assignment and sent him outright to the

Omaha Royals Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County, Nebraska, Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. List of ...

. He began the 2013 season rehabbing from an injury to his right knee's

lateral meniscus The lateral meniscus (external semilunar fibrocartilage) is a fibrocartilaginous band that spans the lateral side of the interior of the knee joint. It is one of two meniscus (anatomy), menisci of the knee, the other being the medial meniscus. It ...

, and was on the disabled list till June 30.

Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers organizations

On January 17, 2014, Piña signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. On June 11, the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

acquired Piña from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

. He was then assigned to the Tigers' Triple-A affiliate, the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A Mud Hens team has played in ...

Milwaukee Brewers

On December 10, 2015, the Tigers traded Piña to the

as the player to be named later in the Francisco Rodríguez trade to complete the deal. In 2016, he hit .254 with 2 home runs and 12 RBIs in 33 games with the Brewers. He began the 2017 splitting playing time at catcher with

Jett Bandy Jett may refer to: People by surname * Brent W. Jett Jr. (born 1958), American astronaut and naval aviator *Chip Jett (born 1974), American professional poker player; husband of Karina Jett * Dennis Jett (born 1945), American diplomat and academic ...

, hitting .279/.327/.424 with career-highs in home runs (9) and RBI (43). In 2018, Piña hit .252/.307/.395, tying his career-high in home runs (9) and getting 28 RBI as well. He began the 2019 season as the backup catcher. He was placed on the disabled list on May 16, 2019, with a hamstring injury. He finished the year with a batting line of .228/.313/.411 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI. In 2020, Piña played in 15 games for the Brewers, slashing .231/.333/.410 with 2 home runs and 5 RBI before his season was cut short in August due to a torn meniscus in his right knee.

Atlanta Braves

After the 2021 season, Piña signed a two-year, $8 million contract with the

. He was placed on the injured list on April 25, 2022, due to inflammation in his left wrist. While attempting rehabilitation for the injury, Piña felt more discomfort, and a subsequent MRI revealed that surgery would be necessary, for which he missed the remainder of the season.

Oakland Athletics

The Braves sent Piña to the

in a three-team trade on December 12, 2022, in which the Braves acquired

Sean Murphy Sean Murphy may refer to: Sports * Seán Óg Murphy (1897–1956), Irish hurler * Seán Murphy (hurler) (born 1947), Irish hurler * Seán Murphy (Gaelic footballer) (born 1932), Irish Gaelic football player * Sean Murphy (footballer, born 1995), Sc ...

, the

acquired William Contreras,

Joel Payamps Joel Elias Payamps (born April 7, 1994) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Arizona Diamondbacks, Toronto Blue Jays, Kansas City Royals, a ...

, and Justin Yeager, and the Athletics also acquired

Esteury Ruiz Esteury Ruiz (born February 15, 1999) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Oakland Athletics of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the San Diego Padres and also played for the Milwaukee Brewers. C ...

, Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok, and Royber Salinas.https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/sean-murphy-trade-braves-land-catcher-from-as-in-three-team-deal-brewers-get-william-contreras/

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pina, Manuel 1987 births Living people Arizona League Royals players Atlanta Braves players Bakersfield Blaze players Bravos de Margarita players Clinton LumberKings players Colorado Springs Sky Sox players Frisco RoughRiders players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Milwaukee Brewers players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Tacoma Rainiers players Tiburones de La Guaira players Toledo Mud Hens players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Sportspeople from Barquisimeto