Pedro Manuel Ávila (born January 14, 1997) 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 ...

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

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

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 San Diego Padres. He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Career

Washington Nationals

Ávila was signed as an international free agent by 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 ...

in 2014. He made his professional debut in 2015, and played for the Rookie-level

DSL Nationals The Dominican Summer League Nationals or DSL Nationals are a rookie-level Minor League Baseball team of the Dominican Summer League that began play in 2005. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic The Dominican R ...

and the Rookie-level

Gulf Coast Nationals The Florida Complex League Nationals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Washington Nationals, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to the 2021 season, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Nationals. The ...

, going 7–3 with a 2.12 ERA in innings. He played for the Single–A Hagerstown Suns in 2016, going 7–7 with a 3.48 ERA in 93 innings.

San Diego Padres

On December 2, 2016, the Nationals traded Ávila to the San Diego Padres in exchange for Derek Norris. Ávila split the 2017 season between the Single-A Fort Wayne TinCaps and the

High-A High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Lake Elsinore Storm. He accumulated an 8–5 record with a 3.70 ERA in innings, and finished the season with 170 strikeouts, the most by a Padres minor leaguer that season. In 2018, he pitched the full season in Lake Elsinore, making 20 starts with a 4.27 ERA and striking out 142 batters in innings. The Padres added Ávila to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season. He opened the 2019 season with the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Double-A

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. On April 11, 2019, he was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In a start versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went innings and allowed one run while recording five strikeouts in his debut. He became the first player in Sod Poodle history to reach MLB. He was optioned back to Amarillo on April 12. Ávila suffered an elbow injury in August and underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

in September 2019. Ávila was designated for assignment on November 27, 2019. He was non-tendered on December 2 and became a free agent. He re-signed with San Diego the next day on a minor league contract. Ávila did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. San Diego selected his contract to the active roster on October 1, 2021. He made 1 start for San Diego, logging a 2.25 ERA with 5 strikeouts in 4 innings. Ávila was optioned to the Triple-A El Paso Chihuahuas to begin the 2022 season. He was recalled from the Chihuahuas on April 13 and joined the Padres' active roster. He made 2 appearances with a 4.50 ERA and 5 strikeouts in 4 innings before being optioned to Triple-A El Paso on May 5. On June 6, Ávila was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to the Chihuahuas. He made 30 appearances (24 starts) for the affiliate, recording a 7-2 record and 4.58 ERA with 124 strikeouts in 112 innings pitched. On November 10, 2022, the Padres selected his contract onto the 40-man roster. Ávila was optioned to Triple-A El Paso to begin the 2023 season. He was recalled from El Paso on July 1 and joined the Padres' active roster. He made 1 appearance for the team, then was optioned back to El Paso on July 3. He was recalled to the Padres' active roster again on July 23, where he remained for the rest of the 2023 season. That season, he accumulated a 2-2 record and a 3.22 ERA in 14 appearances and 6 starts for the Padres. He struck out 54 batters in innings. In 2024, Ávila made San Diego's

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roster as part of the

bullpen In baseball, the bullpen (or simply the pen) is the area where relief pitchers warm up before entering a game. A team's roster of relief pitchers is also metonymically referred to as "the bullpen". These pitchers usually wait in the bullpen if t ...

. In four appearances, he struggled to a 9.00 ERA with nine strikeouts across eight innings pitched. On April 12, 2024, Ávila was designated for assignment by the Padres.

Cleveland Guardians

On April 16, 2024, Ávila was traded to the

in exchange for cash considerations.

References

External links