José Manuel Mijares (born October 29, 1984) is a

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

former professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

. Mijares pitched in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

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) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

, and

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

Professional career

Minnesota Twins

Mijares signed with the Twins as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager 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 a contract at present ...

on March 2, and bounced around every level of the Twins'

farm system In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

—having risen as high as the Triple-A

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

in . He was awarded the

Gulf Coast League The Florida Complex League (FCL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in Florida, United States. Before 2021, it was known as the Gulf Coast League (GCL). Together with the Arizona Complex League (ACL), it forms the low ...

Rolaids Relief Man Award The Rolaids Relief Man Award was an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given from 1976 to 2012 to the top relief pitchers of the regular season, one in the American League (AL) and one in the National League (NL). Relief pitchers enter th ...

in and elected as an

All-Star An all-star team is a group of people all having a high level of performance in their field. Originating in sports, it has since drifted into vernacular and has been borrowed heavily by the entertainment industry. Sports "All-star" as a sport ...

in the Eastern League in 2007. On January 24, , Mijares was re-signed to a one-year deal, and on March 9, 2008, he was cut from

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

and optioned to the Double-A

New Britain Rock Cats The New Britain Rock Cats were a minor league baseball team that competed in the Eastern League (1938–2020), Eastern League. They were the Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox for 12 years, the Minnesota Twins for 20 years and the Colorado ...

of the Eastern League. He also spent part of the 2008 season with the

Gulf Coast League Twins The Florida Complex League Twins are the Rookie-level affiliate of the Minnesota Twins, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays in Fort Myers, Florida, at the Lee County Sports Complex. Prior to 2021, the ...

and

Fort Myers Miracle The Fort Myers Mighty Mussels are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. They are located in Fort Myers, Florida, and play their home games at the Lee County Sports Complex at ...

before ended the

minor league Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nort ...

season again assigned to the Rock Cats. In September 2008, Mijares received a call up to the Twins, and made his major league debut on September 13 against the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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) East Division. As one of the America ...

in the first game of a doubleheader. The Twins won that game 12–2. Mijares wound up becoming the Twins main set-up man for the remainder of the season. He made 10 relief appearances, going 0–1 with an ERA of 0.87. Following a rocky

camp, he was reassigned to Triple-A Rochester. On April 20, Twins set-up man Jesse Crain went on the 15-day

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 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

with shoulder inflammation, and Mijares was brought back up to the big club to fill the roster spot. In his first appearance of the season on April 22, he pitched a perfect eighth inning in the Twins' 7–3 loss to 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

. Mijares finished the season 2–2 with a 2.34 ERA in 71 relief appearances. On December 12, 2011, Mijares was non-tendered by the Twins.

Kansas City Royals

The

signed Mijares to a one-year contract on December 21, 2011. He had a 2–2 record with a 2.56 ERA and a 1.267 WHIP in 51 games with the Royals.

San Francisco Giants

Mijares was claimed off waivers by the

on August 6, 2012. He pitched in 27 games with the Giants in 2012, going 1–0 with a 2.55 ERA in 27 appearances. In the postseason, Mijares pitched in six games, including in Game 1 of the World Series. He gave up three earned runs in innings with three strikeouts. Mijares won his first World Series with the Giants after they defeated 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 club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

in the

2012 World Series The 2012 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2012 season. The 108th edition of the World Series, the series was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion San Francisco Giants and th ...

. Mijares pitched 2013 in the Giants bullpen. He was placed on the bereavement list on April 29 after the passing of his grandmother, and he wound up on the restricted list after not arriving to the game on May 6 in time. He was activated the next day. Mijares pitched very well in the first half of the season, going 0–2 with a 2.48 ERA in innings. However, his August was very rocky, as he gave up 12 runs (11 earned) in 11 innings (13 games). He pitched in only five games in September, including going three appearances in a row without retiring a batter. In 60 relief appearances, Mijares was 0–3 with a 4.22 ERA. After the Giants re-signed Javier López to a contract on November 26, the team chose to non-tender Mijares, making him a free agent.

Boston Red Sox

On January 24, 2014, the

signed Mijares to a minor league deal with an invitation to spring training. He opted out of his deal and became a free agent on March 23, 2014.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 24, 2014, the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

signed Mijares to a minor league deal. On March 23, 2015, Mijares was released by the Reds. On March 31, 2015, Mijares was suspended 50 games for drug abuse.

Repertoire

Mijares throws a

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch (baseball), pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. Its distinctive feature is its high speed. "Power pitchers," such as former major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, relied on the ...

that hits 91–94 mph and can touch 95. He also throws a hard

curveball In baseball and softball, the curveball is a type of pitch thrown with a characteristic grip and hand movement that imparts forward spin to the ball, causing it to dive as it approaches the plate. Varieties of curveball include the 12–6 curve ...

in the upper 70s and a mid 80s slider.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mijares, Jose 1984 births Living people Beloit Snappers players Fort Myers Miracle players Gulf Coast Twins players Kansas City Royals players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Minnesota Twins players Navegantes del Magallanes players New Britain Rock Cats players Rochester Red Wings players San Francisco Giants players Baseball players from Caracas Tigres de Aragua players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States