Pedro Manuel Ávila (born January 14, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher in the San Diego Padres organization. He made his MLB debut in 2019.
| Pedro Ávila | |
|---|---|
| San Diego Padres – No. 60 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1997-01-14) January 14, 1997 (age 25) Caracas, Venezuela | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| April 11, 2019, for the San Diego Padres | |
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 0–1 |
| Earned run average | 2.70 |
| Strikeouts | 15 |
| Teams | |
| |
Ávila signed as an international free agent by the Washington Nationals in 2014. He made his professional debut in 2015, and played for the Rookie-level DSL Nationals and the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Nationals, going 7–3 with a 2.12 ERA in 63.2 innings. He played for the Class A Hagerstown Suns in 2016, going 7–7 with a 3.48 ERA in 93 innings.[1]
He was acquired by the Padres in December 2016, in a trade for Derek Norris.[2]
In 2017, Ávila split the season between the Class A Fort Wayne TinCaps and the Class A-Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm. He accumulated a 8–5 record with a 3.70 ERA in 128.1 innings, and finished the season with 170 strikeouts, the most by a Padres minor leaguer that season.[3] In 2018, he pitched the full season in Lake Elsinore, making 20 starts with a 4.27 ERA and striking out 142 batters in 130.2 innings.[1]
The Padres added him to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season.[3] He opened the 2019 season with the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Double-A Texas League.[1] On April 11, 2019, he was promoted to the major leagues for the first time.[4] In a start versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went 5+1⁄3 innings and allowed one run while recording five strikeouts in his debut.[5] He became to the first player in Sod Poodle history to reach MLB.[6] He was optioned back to Amarillo on April 12.[7] Ávila suffered an elbow injury in August and underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2019.[8]
Ávila was designated for assignment on November 27, 2019.[9] He was non-tendered on December 2, and became a free agent.[10] He re-signed with San Diego the next day on a minor league contract.[11] San Diego selected his contract to the active roster on October 1, 2021.[12] He was sent outright on June 6, 2022.