Andrés Alfonso Giménez Osorio (born September 4, 1998) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

second baseman In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the Infielder, infield, between Baseball field#Second base, second and Baseball field#First base, first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and f ...

for 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) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

and

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. Since , the team has played its home gam ...

. He made his MLB debut in 2020 with the Mets.

Career

New York Mets

Giménez signed with the

(MLB) as an international free agent in July 2015. He made his professional debut in 2016 with the

Dominican Summer League Mets After withdrawing their affiliate from the Venezuelan Summer League, the Major League Baseball's New York Mets have had two affiliates in the Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Base ...

and spent the whole season there, batting a combined .350 with three

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

s, 38

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBIs), and a .992

on-base plus slugging On-base plus slugging (OPS) is a sabermetric baseball statistic calculated as the sum of a player's on-base percentage and slugging percentage. The ability of a player both to get on base and to hit for power, two important offensive skills, are ...

(OPS). In 2017, he played for the

Columbia Fireflies The Columbia Fireflies are a Minor League Baseball team based in Columbia, South Carolina, and are the Single-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball. Their home stadium is Segra Park. The team was previously known as the ...

where he slashed .265/.346/.349 with four home runs and 31 RBIs in 92 games. After the 2017 season, ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' (BA) is a sports publication company that covers baseball at every level, including Major League Baseball (MLB), with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in Minor League Baseball (MiLB) college, high school, and inte ...

'' rated Giménez as the Mets' best

prospect Prospect may refer to: General * Prospect (marketing), a marketing term describing a potential customer * Prospect (sports), any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team * Prospect (minin ...

. He spent the 2018 season with both the

St. Lucie Mets The St. Lucie Mets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the New York Mets. They are located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and play their home games at Clover Park. The Mets have been members ...

and the

Binghamton Rumble Ponies The Binghamton Rumble Ponies are an American Minor League Baseball team based in Binghamton, New York. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the New York Mets major-league club. The Rumble Ponies play in Mi ...

, batting .281/.347/.409 with six home runs, 46 RBIs, and 38

stolen base In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base unaided by other actions and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out ...

s in 122 total games between the two clubs. That summer, he played in the 2018

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League- ...

. He returned to Binghamton for the 2019 season, hitting .250/.309/.387 with nine home runs, 37 RBIs, and 28 stolen bases over 117 games. The Mets added Giménez to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

following the 2019 season. Giménez made the Mets'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster in 2020, and made his Major League debut on July 24, 2020, at

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

as an eighth inning defensive replacement for

Robinson Canó Robinson José Canó Mercedes (; born October 22, 1982) is a Dominican-American professional baseball second baseman for the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League; he also captains the Estrellas Orientales of the Dominican Professio ...

at second base. On July 29, Giménez made his first start, and recorded his first career hit off of

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) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

pitcher

Nathan Eovaldi Nathan Edward Eovaldi ( ; born February 13, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Miami Mar ...

, a single, in the second inning. In the sixth inning of the same game, Giménez tripled off

Marcus Walden Marcus Walter Walden (born September 13, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox. He made his MLB debut during 2018 after a decade of m ...

to record his first career RBI. Giménez received a single vote in

National League Rookie of the Year In Major League Baseball, the Rookie of the Year Award is given annually to two outstanding rookie players, one each for the American League (AL) and National League (NL), as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America (BBWAA). The aw ...

voting, tying him for seventh place with

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...

and

Sixto Sánchez Sixto Sánchez Encarnación (born July 29, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Rieleros de Aguascalientes of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Miami Marlins. Early life ...

. According to

Statcast Statcast is an automated tool developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities in Major League Baseball (MLB). Statcast was introduced to all thirty MLB stadiums in 2015. The Statcast brand is also licensed to ESPN, which uses it to ...

, his sprint speed was tied for fourth-fastest among Major League shortstops on the season.

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

On January 7, 2021, the Mets traded Giménez,

Amed Rosario Germán Amed Rosario Valdez (born November 20, 1995) is a Dominican professional baseball utility player for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the New York Mets, Cleveland Indians/Guar ...

, Josh Wolf, and Isaiah Greene to the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. Since , the team ...

for

Francisco Lindor Francisco Miguel Lindor Serrano (born November 14, 1993), nicknamed "Mr. Smile", is a Puerto Rican professional baseball shortstop for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Cleveland Indians. ...

and Carlos Carrasco. Giménez was the team's

starter at shortstop. Giménez struggled at the start of the season and was demoted to Triple-A on May 18. In 2022 with the renamed Guardians, Giménez experienced a breakout season, batting .297 with 17 home runs and 69 RBI. He was elected to the All Star Game at 2nd base and started as a replacement for the injured

Jose Altuve Jose Carlos Altuve (; born May 6, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Having played for the Astros since 2011, he is the longest-tenured current member of the team, an ...

. His reputation as a clutch hitter developed in 2022, as he had a 281 WRC+ in high leverage situations, meaning he nearly tripled the average hitter's production in that position. Giménez won a

Gold Glove Award The Rawlings Gold Glove Award, usually referred to as simply the Gold Glove, is the award given annually to the Major League Baseball (MLB) players judged to have exhibited superior individual Fielding (baseball), fielding performances. It is awar ...

for his performance at second base. He was also selected for the second team on the 2022

All-MLB Team The All-MLB Team is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) honor bestowed upon the best players across both leagues at each position during the season. Selections to the first and second teams are determined by a fan vote and a panel consisting of ...

. Prior to the 2023 season, Giménez represented the

Venezuelan national baseball team The Venezuela national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Venezuela'' or ''Selección de Venezuela)'' is the national team of Venezuela. It is currently ranked third in the world by the World Baseball Softball Confederation, b ...

in the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

. On March 30, Giménez signed a seven-year major league contract with the Guardians worth $106.5 million. The deal includes a club option for the 2030 season. On April 12, 2023, a relay throw to home plate by Giménez struck the head of umpire

Larry Vanover Larry Wayne Vanover (born August 22, 1955) is an American former Major League Baseball umpire. Vanover worked in the National League from 1991 to 1999 and in Major League Baseball from 2002 to 2024. Vanover has umpired two All Star Games (1999, ...

, who was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries. In 2023 he batted .251/.314/.399, had the lowest average exit velocity of all AL batters (84.8 mph), and led the AL in percentage of balls that were softly hit (21.7%).

Toronto Blue Jays

On December 10, 2024, Giménez, alongside Nick Sandlin, was traded to the

in exchange for

Spencer Horwitz Spencer Elliott Horwitz (born November 14, 1997) is an American professional baseball first baseman and second baseman for the Pittsburgh Pirates of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue ...

and Nick Mitchell. In his first five games with the Toronto Blue Jays to start the season, Giménez hit three home runs, a franchise record.

References

External links