Ángel Guzmán

Infobox MLB player


width = 150
name = Ángel Guzmán
team = Chicago Cubs
number = 37
position = Pitcher
birthdate = birth date and age|1981|12|14
birthplace = Caracas, Venezuela
bats = Right
throws = Right
debutdate = April 26
debutyear = 2006
debutteam = Chicago Cubs
statyear = September 30, 2008
stat1label = Win-Loss
stat1value = 0-7
stat2label = Earned run average
stat2value = 6.00
stat3label = Strikeouts
stat3value = 96
teams =
*Chicago Cubs (by|2006-present)

Ángel Moisés Guzmán (born December 14, 1981 in Caracas, Venezuela) is a 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. His brother Daniel Guzmán is a drummer for the Venezuelan rock band Subsonus. He made his major league debut on April 26, mlby|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 by|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.Fact|date=August 2008

Guzmán had two dominating stints in the Chicago Cubs farm system in by|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 by|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 All-Star Futures Game, but was unable to do so when he injured his right shoulder, cutting his year short. The by|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.Fact|date=August 2008

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.

2007 season

Guzmán started the by|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 was injured on April 22. 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 Triple-A level.

Guzmán took advantage of the opportunity by giving up only one run in five innings of work against the Washington Nationals. [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070506cubsbits,1,5920385.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines] 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.

Guzmán was replaced by Sean Marshall as the fifth starter on May 22. [http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/cs-070522cubsbits,1,4871807.story?coll=cs-cubs-headlines]

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/guzmaan01.shtml His statistics at Baseball Reference.com]
* [http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7280 Yahoo bio]
* [http://www.minorleaguesplits.com/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?pl=425768 Minor League Splits and Situational Stats]