Marwin Javier González (born March 14, 1989) is a Venezuelan

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

utility player for the Orix Buffaloes of

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

(NPB). González was signed as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

by the Chicago Cubs in 2005. He made his

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) debut in 2012. He has played in MLB for the Houston Astros, Minnesota Twins,

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eigh ...

and

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one of ...

. González has appeared at every position in MLB except for

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the ( home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the ca ...

Professional career

Minor leagues

González was signed as an international

by the Chicago Cubs on November 23, 2005. From 2006 through 2011, he played in the Cubs' farm system, reaching the Triple-A level in 2011 with the Iowa Cubs. He was an infielder through 2008, then also started to play as an

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to c ...

in 2009. The

selected González from the Cubs in the 2011 Rule 5 draft, and then traded him to the Houston Astros for pitcher Marco Duarte.

Houston Astros

In 2012, González made the Astros' Opening Day roster. He played 80 games with the Astros and 13 games in Triple-A with the

Oklahoma City RedHawks Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. With Houston, he batted .234 with two

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

s and 12

runs batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the ba ...

(RBIs). During 2013, González again split time between MLB (72 games) and Triple-A (44 games). With the Astros on April 2, González broke up a

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

bid by

Yu Darvish , more commonly known as Yu Darvish (ダルビッシュ有), is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Darvish has also played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and ...

of the Texas Rangers with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. For the season with Houston, he batted .221 with four home runs and 14 RBIs. González spent all of the next five seasons in MLB, with Houston. From 2014 through 2016, he batted a combined .268 with 31 home runs and 108 RBIs in 364 games. He set a major league record by hitting his first 25 MLB home runs with no one on base. That streak was broken when he hit a home run on May 6, 2016, with

Evan Gattis James Evan Gattis (born August 18, 1986) is an American former professional baseball designated hitter and catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros. Gattis has also earned the nickname of "El Os ...

on second base. In 2017, González had a

slash line S sabermetrics :Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics. The term is derived from the SABR – the Society for American Baseball Research. The term was coined by Bill James, an ...

of .303/.377/.530, while seeing the lowest percentage of fastballs of all MLB hitters (45.7%). He received six votes in

AL MVP The Major League Baseball Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) award given to one outstanding player in the American League and one in the National League. Since 1931, it has been awarded by the Baseball Writers' ...

balloting, finishing 19th. In Game 2 of the

2017 World Series The 2017 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2017 season. The 113th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the National League (NL) champion Los Angeles Dodgers and th ...

, González hit a home run in the ninth inning off of

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

closer

Kenley Jansen Kenley Geronimo Jansen (born September 30, 1987) is a Curaçaoan professional baseball pitcher for the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Atlanta Braves. Signed by the ...

to tie the score at 3–3, as the Astros went on to win in 11 innings, 7–6. The World Series lasted seven games, and the Astros became MLB champions for the first time in franchise history. In 2020, it was revealed during the

Houston Astros sign stealing scandal The Houston Astros sign stealing scandal resulted from a series of rule violations by members of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB), who used technology to steal signs of opposing teams during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. For yea ...

that the Astros broke MLB rules during the 2017 season. González subsequently apologized for his role in the scandal. In 2018, González slashed .247/.324/.409, and saw the highest percentage of curveballs (14.9%) of all MLB hitters. He decided not to re-sign with the Astros and became a free agent after the season. Overall, in parts of seven seasons with Houston, González hit 76 home runs and 292 RBIs in 795 games, with a .264 batting average. Defensively, he played as an infielder during 2012 and 2013, and as both an infielder and outfielder thereafter. By the end of the 2016 season, he had appeared at every position for Houston except for pitcher and catcher. He played a career-high 92 games at one position—first base—in 2016.

Minnesota Twins

On February 25, 2019, González signed a two-year contract worth $21 million with the Minnesota Twins. During the 2019 season, he batted .264 with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs in 114 games. In the shortened 2020 season, he appeared in 53 games while batting .211/.286/.320 with 5 home runs and 22 RBIs in 175 at bats. He became a free agent in late October 2020.

Boston Red Sox

On February 24, 2021, González signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the

. González became the first player in modern major league history to start at four different positions in the field through his team's first four games of the season—he played left field on 2021 Opening Day for Boston before manning second base, third base, and first base in the ensuing contests, respectively. He made his first-ever pitching appearance in the eighth inning of a game against the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

on June 13, in which he allowed no runs to score. On July 16, he was placed on the injured list due to a right hamstring strain; he was activated on August 2. On August 13, González was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

by the Red Sox, and he was released by the team three days later. In 2021 with the Red Sox, he batted .202/.281/.285 in 242 at bats.

Houston Astros (second stint)

On August 27, 2021, González signed a minor league contract with the

Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

. The Astros added him to their major league roster on September 5. In 2021 with the Astros, he batted .176/.222/.441 in 34 regular-season at bats. He also

pinch hit In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, Americ ...

four times, collecting one hit, during the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winner of the World ...

. On November 3, 2021, he was declared a free agent.

New York Yankees

On March 20, 2022, González signed a minor league contract with the

. He made the Yankees Opening Day roster for the 2022 season. In 2022 he batted .185/.255/.321 in 184 at bats, with six home runs and 8 RBIs. He slumped especially in the second half of the season, batting .110/.185/.233, and against power pitchers, batting .094/.186/.170.

Orix Buffaloes

On December 29, 2022, Gonzalez signed with the Orix Buffaloes of

Personal life

González married his wife Noel in 2010. The couple have four children together and reside in Houston in the off season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Marwin 1989 births Living people People from Ciudad Guayana Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Houston Astros players Minnesota Twins players Boston Red Sox players New York Yankees players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Águilas del Zulia players Arizona League Cubs players Boise Hawks players Daytona Cubs players Dominican Summer League Cubs players Iowa Cubs players Leones del Caracas players Oklahoma City RedHawks players Peoria Chiefs players Sugar Land Skeeters players Tennessee Smokies players Worcester Red Sox players