Eugenio Vélez

Infobox MLB player
name=Eugenio Vélez


width=300
positionplain= Utility player
team=San Francisco Giants
number=8
bats=Switch
throws=Right
birthdate=birth date and age|1982|5|16
birthplace=San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
debutdate=September 5
debutyear=2007
debutteam=San Francisco Giants
statyear=May 11, 2008
stat1label=Batting average
stat1value=.292
stat2label=Hits| stat2value=28
stat3label=RBI
stat3value=10
stat4label=Stolen bases
stat4value=12
teams=
*San Francisco Giants (by|2007–present)

Eugenio Vélez (born May 16, 1982 in San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic) is a utility player in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants. Vélez is a switch hitter, and he throws right-handed. He made his major league debut on September 5 2007 in which he had his first major league at bat. On September 7th, Vélez scored his first major league run. On September 14, Vélez had his first major league hit, a triple, off Chris Young of the San Diego Padres in San Diego, California; he then scored on a wild pitch. [cite news | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/15/SPDIS6DT5.DTL | title=NewsPadres have Giants' number Greene's walk-off shot ends another frustrating night for S.F | author=Henry Schulman | publisher="The San Francisco Chronicle" | date=2007-09-15 | accessdate=2008-04-06]

In 2005, Vélez was selected by the Giants from the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2005 minor league Rule 5 Draft. In 2006, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the South Atlantic League for his offensive performance with the Giants single A affiliate the Augusta GreenJackets. He won the award by batting .315 with 63 extra base hits, 64 stolen bases and organization-high 91 runs batted in. He was placed on the Giants 40-man roster in early 2007. In his 6 year professional minor league career, he owns a .293 batting average with 398 hits in 373 games. He is considered by some to be the eventual starting second baseman for the Giants in 2008.

In spring training in 2008 he led the major leagues in stolen bases, with 16. [cite news | url=http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable_player_stats.jsp?teamPosCode=all&statType=1&statType=Overview&section1=null&timeFrame=1&Submit=Submit&c_id=mlb&sitSplit=&venueID=&baseballScope=mlb&timeSubFrame=23&&sortByStat=SB | title=Major League Baseball Hitting Stats, Spring Training 2008 | author=MLB.com | publisher="MLB Advanced Media" | date= | accessdate=2008-04-06]

In May 2008, Vélez was sent down to the AAA Fresno Grizzlies for Travis Denker. He was recalled on July 8, 2008. On August 30, 2008, Vélez hit his first career home run against the Cincinnati Reds.

References

External links

* [http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/team/player_career.jsp?player_id=464299&y=2006 "Giants Biography"]
* [http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/16/SPIHS6TJ2.DTL "Fans take notice of speedster Velez"]

Persondata
NAME= Vélez, Eugenio
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Dominican baseball utility player
DATE OF BIRTH=1982-5-16
PLACE OF BIRTH=San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=