Ángel Guzmán
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Chicago Cubs — No. 37 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: December 14, 1981 Caracas, Venezuela |
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| Bats: Right | Throws: Right |
| Major League Baseball debut | |
| April 26, 2006 for the Chicago Cubs | |
| Selected MLB statistics (through 2007) |
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| Win-Loss | 0-7 |
| Earned run average | 6.05 |
| Strikeouts | 86 |
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Ángel Moisés Guzmán (born December 14, 1981 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a starting pitcher in major league baseball who plays for the Chicago Cubs. Listed at 6-3 (190 cm), 195 pounds (88 kg), Guzmán bats and throws right-handed. He is the brother of Daniel Guzmán. He made his major-league debut on April 26, 2006.
Guzmán began his professional career at age 18. That year, he went 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA for La Pradera in the Venezuelan Summer League. In 2001, he led a strong staff for the Boise Hawks, going 9-1 with a 2.23 ERA, 19 walks and 63 strikeouts in 77 innings pitched. He was second in the Northwest League in ERA, trailing Jesse Foppert, and he led the league in wins. He made the league All-Star team as the righty starter; the lefty was Dontrelle Willis, a teammate. He was rated the #4 prospect in the league according to Baseball America, two spots ahead of Willis.[1]
Guzmán had two dominating stints in the Chicago Cubs chain in 2002, going 5-2 with a 1.89 ERA for the Lansing Lugnuts and 6-2, 2.39 with the Daytona Cubs. He was the #13 prospect in the Midwest League and #11 in the Florida State League according to Baseball America. In 2003, he went 3-3 with a 2.81 ERA for the West Tenn Diamond Jaxx, striking out 87 and walking 26 in 90 innings of work. He was rated the ninth-best prospect in the Southern League and picked to perform in the Futures Game but was unable to do so when he injured his right shoulder, cutting his year short. The 2004 season was basically a lost one — he had a 5.60 ERA and 0-3 record for West Tenn and 3-1, 4.20 for Daytona in a total of 11 starts. The next year saw even less usage as he threw in four games for the AZL Cubs (with 17 strikeouts and one walk in 12 innings pitched) and two for the Peoria Chiefs.[2]
Guzmán finally made it to AAA, with the 2006 Iowa Cubs, three years after his AA debut. He was 4-4 with a 4.04 ERA. He also made 15 appearances in the majors in 2006 (10 of them starts) for the Cubs, going 0-6 with a 7.39 ERA, but with more than a strikeout per inning.[3]
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[edit] 2007 Season
Guzmán started the 2007 season with the Cubs in the bullpen, but was sent down to the minors to gain more innings of work due to a crowded staff. He gained an opportunity when the Cubs fifth starter Wade Miller became injured on April 22nd. Since the Cubs had several off-dates in their schedule, Guzmán had the opportunity for a few additional starts, but did not impress the Cubs manager Lou Piniella by pitching poorly at the AAA level.
| “ | I'm surprised this young man pitched the way he did. I was expecting six-seven innings of work, give up two or three runs, strike out a few, get his work in and get up here. A 12.19 ERA in three starts in Triple A? I don't have an explanation for it. [4] | ” |
Guzmán took advantage of the opportunity by giving up only one run in five innings of work against the Washington Nationals.[5] While he did not gain the win in the Cubs 4-3 victory, it did impress Piniella.
Piniella stuck with Guzmán for three starts before targeting him as a future setup man or closer.
| “ | We're going to put Guzman back in the bullpen, that is a certainty. With the leg cramps and so forth, there's no sense getting into that. Plus, he has a really nice arm. We can see this man developing into a nice late-inning pitcher for us.[6] | ” |
Guzmán was replaced by Sean Marshall as the fifth starter on May 22nd.[7]
Guzman has been M.I.A. for over a month now. The most recent start he has made was a one inning stint for the Arizona rookie league Cubs on July 7th. The fact that he was the starter of that game and that he pitched only one inning and hasn't been heard from since is not good news about his health.
[edit] 2007 Start Log
| Date | Opponent | Result | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO | Pitches | Decision | ERA |
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[edit] References
- ^ Angel Guzman - BR Bullpen
- ^ Angel Guzman - BR Bullpen
- ^ Angel Guzman - BR Bullpen
- ^ http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070502cubsbrite,1,4078410.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines
- ^ http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070506cubsbits,1,5920385.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines
- ^ http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070519citybits,1,3884184.story
- ^ http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070522cubsbits,1,4871807.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines
