Miguel Antonio González (born December 3, 1990) is a Venezuelan 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

who currently serves as a

bullpen catcher The bullpen catcher is a member of a baseball team's staff, often a former professional player, who catches the ball for relief pitchers warming up before entering a game and starting pitchers before games. A bullpen catcher differentiates from a ...

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

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). He played in MLB for the White Sox.

Playing career

Chicago White Sox

On June 16, 2008, González signed with the

organization 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 ...

. He made his professional debut with that season with the

Dominican Summer League White Sox The Dominican Summer League White Sox or DSL White Sox are a rookie league affiliate of the Chicago White Sox based in the Dominican Republic. They play in the Boca Chica Baseball City division of the Dominican Summer League. History The team fir ...

, hitting .294 in 45 games. In 2009, González spent the year with the rookie–level

Bristol White Sox Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, also appearing in three games for the Triple–A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

. In 45 contests for Bristol, he batted .311/.385/.503 with 4 home runs and 19 RBI. In 2010 and 2011, González played for the Single–A

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. ...

, hitting .218 with 2 home runs and 19 RBI in 92 games, and .255 with 2 home runs and 21 RBI in 55 games, respectively. He split the 2012 season between the High–A

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games ...

and Double–A

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

. In 72 total games, he accumulated a combined .237/.301/.293 slash line with one home run and 23 RBI. In 2013, González played in 53 games split between Birmingham and Charlotte, accumulating a .254/.326/.349 batting line with 2 home runs and 20 RBI. On September 2, 2013, González was selected to the

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

and promoted to the major leagues for the first time after

Tyler Flowers Cole Tyler Flowers (born January 24, 1986) is an American former professional baseball catcher. Flowers was drafted by the Braves in the 33rd round of the 2005 MLB draft. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Chicago White Sox from 20 ...

suffered a shoulder injury. On September 11, González collected his first MLB hit against

Cleveland Indians 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 , the team ...

pitcher Josh Tomlin. He played in five games for the White Sox, going 2–for–9 (.222) with no home runs or RBI. On September 30, he was removed from the 40–man roster and sent outright to Triple–A. In 2014, González spent the year split between Birmingham and Charlotte, hitting .253/.306/.384 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI in 43 total games for the two affiliates.

Detroit Tigers

On December 18, 2014, González signed a minor league contract with 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 ...

organization. During the 2015 season, he split time between the Double-A

Erie SeaWolves The Erie SeaWolves are an American professional baseball team based in Erie, Pennsylvania. They compete in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) as a member of the Eastern League's Southwest Division, serving as the Double-A affiliate of the Detroit Ti ...

and Triple-A

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 baseball team nicknamed the ...

, appearing in 69 games and hitting .242 with 18 doubles, two home runs and 26 RBIs. On December 11, 2015, González re–signed with Detroit on a new minor league deal, and was invited to

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 ...

. In 2016, he played in 67 games for the Triple–A

, hitting .243/.298/.327 with 2 home runs and 33 RBI. In 2017, González played in 52 games (26 games each) for Triple–A Toledo and the Double–A

, hitting a cumulative .220/.279/.305 with 4 home runs and 12 RBI. He elected free agency following the season on November 6, 2017.

Winnipeg Goldeyes

On March 5, 2018, González signed with the

Winnipeg Goldeyes The Winnipeg Goldeyes are a professional minor-league baseball team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. The Goldeyes play in the American Association of Professional Baseball, which they joined in 2011. Previously, the Goldeyes were members of ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor ...

Coaching career

For the 2020 season, González was hired by the White Sox as a

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 ...

catcher.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Miguel 1990 births Living people Birmingham Barons players Bristol White Sox players Charlotte Knights players Chicago White Sox players Dominican Summer League White Sox players Erie SeaWolves players Kannapolis Intimidators players Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen People from Nueva Esparta Tiburones de La Guaira players Toledo Mud Hens players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Winston-Salem Dash players