Alexander Claudio (born January 31, 1992) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Los Angeles Angels and New York Mets. Claudio pitches in an unorthodox sidearm manner.
| Alex Claudio | ||||||||||||||
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Claudio with the Texas Rangers in 2014 | ||||||||||||||
| Free agent | ||||||||||||||
| Pitcher | ||||||||||||||
| Born: (1992-01-31) January 31, 1992 (age 30) San Juan, Puerto Rico | ||||||||||||||
Bats: Left Throws: Left | ||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | ||||||||||||||
| August 13, 2014, for the Texas Rangers | ||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | ||||||||||||||
| Win–loss record | 16–10 | |||||||||||||
| Earned run average | 3.60 | |||||||||||||
| Strikeouts | 249 | |||||||||||||
| Teams | ||||||||||||||
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Medals
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Claudio attended Isabel Flores High School in Juncos, Puerto Rico. Claudio was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 27th round of the 2010 MLB draft.[1]
Claudio spent his first professional season of 2010 playing for the AZL Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, going 0–1 with a 6.60 ERA in 15 innings.[2] He split the 2011 season Between the AZL Rangers and the Spokane Indians of the Class A Short Season Northwest League, going a combined 5–0 with a 1.91 ERA over 28 innings. He returned to the AZL Rangers in 2012, going 4–0 with a 1.79 ERA over 45 innings.[2] Following the 2012 season, Claudio converted from a traditional over the top pitching delivery to a sidearm delivery.[1]
Claudio played for the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League and the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League in 2013, going a combined 4–6 with a 1.83 ERA over 78+2⁄3 innings.[2] He split the 2014 minor league season between the Myrtle Beach Pelicans of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, Frisco, and the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League, combining to go 6–3 with a 1.66 ERA over 91+1⁄3 innings.[2]
The Rangers selected Claudio's contract and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time on August 13, 2014. He pitched a scoreless inning, and struck out Kevin Kiermaier for his first major league strikeout in his debut that night.[3] He went 0–0 with a 2.92 ERA over 12 innings for Texas in 2014.[2]
Claudio split the 2015 season between Texas and Round Rock.[2] With the Rangers, he went 1–1 with a 2.87 ERA over 15.2 innings. With Round Rock, he went 3–1 with a 2.93 ERA over 40 innings. Claudio once again split the season between Texas and Round Rock in 2016. With the Rangers, he went 4–1 with a 2.79 ERA in 51+2⁄3 innings. With Round Rock, he went 0–0 with a 0.55 ERA in 16 innings.[2]
Claudio was named the 2017 Texas Rangers Pitcher of the Year, following a season where he posted a 4–1 record with a 2.50 ERA, 56 strikeouts, and 11 saves over 82+2⁄3 innings in 70 games.[4][5]
In 2018, Claudio went 4–2 with a 4.48 ERA over 68 innings.[6] Right-handed batters had a higher batting average against him, .359, than against all other MLB pitchers in 30 or more innings.[7]
Claudio was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers on December 13, 2018, in exchange for a competitive balance Round A draft pick.[8][9] In 2019, he posted a 2–2 record with a 4.06 ERA over 62 innings. He led all major league pitchers in games played (83).[10] Claudio was non-tendered and became a free agent on December 2, 2019.[11] He re-signed with Milwaukee on a one-year contract on December 9, 2019.[12] Claudio made 20 appearances for the Brewers in 2020, recording a 4.26 ERA with 15 strikeouts and 6 walks in 19.0 innings of work.[13] On December 2, 2020, Claudio was non-tendered by the Brewers and became a free agent.[14]
On December 16, 2020, Claudio signed a one-year, $1.125 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels.[15] On July 25, 2021, Claudio was designated for assignment by the Angels after struggling to a 5.51 ERA across 41 appearances.[16] He was released on July 30, 2021.
On August 10, 2021, Claudio signed minor league deal with the Boston Red Sox. He was assigned to the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.[17] Claudio made 8 appearances for Worcester, recording a 6.17 ERA with 13 strikeouts. On September 21, the Red Sox released Claudio.[18]
On January 13, 2022, Claudio signed a minor league contract with the New York Mets.[19] He had his contract selected on September 7, 2022. On September 30, Claudio was designated for assignment.
Claudio was a member of the 2017 Puerto Rico national baseball team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.[20][21]
Puerto Rico roster – 2017 World Baseball Classic runners-up | |
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