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

for 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 ...

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). Urquidy signed with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. They are one of two major leag ...

as an international

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 ...

in 2015 under the name of José Luis Hernández, as he was known until the start of the 2019 season. He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Professional career

Houston Astros

Minor leagues

Urquidy signed with the

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 League, Rookie-level Appalachian League from 2004 to 2017. They represented the town of Greeneville, Tennessee, though Pioneer Park (stadium), Pioneer Park, their h ...

and

Tri-City ValleyCats The Tri-City ValleyCats are a professional baseball team based in Albany, New York. The ValleyCats compete in the Frontier League (FL) as a member of the North Division in the Atlantic Conference. The team was established in 2002, along with the ...

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

, posting a 6–5 record and 2.94 ERA in 24 games (21 starts). Urquidy missed the 2017 season recovering from

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, sometimes referred to as Tommy John surgery 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 body, ...

. 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 201 ...

, 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 b ...

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 (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home ...

Major leagues

2019 (Rookie season)

On July 2,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, the Astros promoted Urquidy to the major leagues. He made his debut that night in a start versus the

Colorado Rockies The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. Th ...

, 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 The 2019 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season. The 115th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the American League champion 2019 ...

versus the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

, 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 (; November 1, 1960 – October 22, 2024), nicknamed "El Toro", was a Mexican professional baseball pitcher. Valenzuela played 17 Major League Baseball (MLB) seasons, from 1980 to 1997 (except for a one-year sabba ...

2020

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

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

2021

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, 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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, 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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

in the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. 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 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, 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 Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Am ...

before ceding a home run to Giancarlo Stanton. 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 The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

, allowing all three runs. Urquidy spun seven scoreless innings on August 3 versus

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, 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) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

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 List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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 Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

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 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 ...

in a 7–0 loss to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

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 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, Urquidy avoided arbitration with the Astros, agreeing to a one-year, $3.025 million contract for the season. After exiting a start in the sixth inning against the

with right shoulder soreness, the Astros placed Urquidy on the 15-day injured list on May 1. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on June 23. On August 6, he returned from the IL to make a start versus the Yankees, which the Astros won, 9–7. Urquidy picked up the last four innings of a 13–5 win over

on August 28 to convert his first career save. In the third-to-last regular season game of 2023, Urquidy made and won a spot start versus the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

by authoring six shutout innings, which was instrumental in the Astros' postseason push in a tight AL West division race with

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

and

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. Urquidy started and won Game 4 of the American League Division Series (ALDS), a 3–2 win versus 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 ...

, to clinch the series. Uruqidy delivered innings with two runs allowed, both on solo home runs, three hits, one walk, and struck out six. The Astros advanced to, and extended their record, seventh-straight

American League Championship Series The American League Championship Series (ALCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. The winner of the ALCS wins the AL pennant and ...

(ALCS).

2024

Urquidy began the

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

campaign on the injured list as the result of a right forearm strain. On June 5, 2024, it was announced that he would undergo season–ending elbow surgery. On November 4,

, Urquidy was removed from the 40–man roster to be sent outright to the Triple–A Sugar Land Space Cowboys, but he rejected the assignment and elected free agency.

Detroit Tigers

On March 8, 2025, Urquidy signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the

. He was subsequently placed on the 60-day injured list as he continued to recover from Tommy John surgery.

International career

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

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

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 Buies Creek Astros players Corpus Christi Hooks players Florida Complex League Astros players Greeneville Astros players Houston Astros players Lancaster JetHawks players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Mexico 21st-century Mexican sportsmen Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States Quad Cities River Bandits players Round Rock Express players Sportspeople from Mazatlán Sugar Land Space Cowboys players Tri-City ValleyCats players Venados de Mazatlán players 2023 World Baseball Classic players World Baseball Classic players of Mexico