Carlos Alberto Asuaje (; born November 2, 1991) is a Venezuelan-American former 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 ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field, between first base and third base. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns pla ...

. He played in

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) for the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

and in the

KBO League The KBO League () is a professional baseball league in South Korea. The league comprises ten teams. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers are the most success ...

for the

Lotte Giants The Lotte Giants () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Busan. They are a member of the KBO League. The Lotte Giants are owned by Lotte Corporation. From 1982 through 1985, they played at Gudeok Baseball ...

Amateur career

A native of

Barquisimeto, Venezuela Barquisimeto (; ) is a city in Venezuela. Barquisimeto is located in the Central-Western Region, Venezuela. It is the capital of the state of Lara (state), Lara and head of Iribarren Municipality. It is an important urban, industrial, commercial a ...

, Asuaje attended St. Thomas Aquinas High School and played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played by Student athlete, student-athletes at institutions of higher education. In the United States, college baseball is sanctioned mainly by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); in Japan, ...

Nova Southeastern University Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a Private university, private research university in Florida with its main campus in Fort Lauderdale-Davie, Florida, Davie, Florida, United States. The university consists of 14 colleges, offering over ...

Broward County, Florida Broward County ( ) is a County (United States), county in Florida, United States, located in the Miami metropolitan area. It is Florida's second-most populous county after Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County and the List of the most ...

.. Asuaje posted a .356/.451/.519

slash line This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

in three seasons at Nova, being named

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly k ...

Freshman of the Year in 2011 and Sunshine State Conference Co-Player of the Year in 2012. After his freshman season in 2012, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

for the

Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox The Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox, or Y-D Red Sox, are a collegiate summer baseball team based in South Yarmouth, Massachusetts. The team is a member of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL) and plays in the league's East Division. The Red Sox play th ...

of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over 1,000 forme ...

, where he batted .298 in 52 games, and was named to the East Division All-Star team. Asuaje was selected by the

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 ...

in the 11th round of the

2013 MLB draft The 2013 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 6 through June 8, 2013. The first two rounds were broadcast from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. Each team received one selection per round, going in reverse order of t ...

, and came to terms on a contract calling for a reported bonus of $100,000.

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

Asuaje debuted professionally with the Low–A

Lowell Spinners The Lowell Spinners were a baseball team based in Lowell, Massachusetts. From 1996 to 2020, they were members of Minor League Baseball's New York–Penn League (NYPL) as the Class A Short Season affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. With Major Leagu ...

in their 2013 season, starting his career as a

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

, but eventually moved full-time to third base where his skills profiled best. He also showed the ability to play

second base In baseball and softball, second baseman, abbreviated 2B, is a fielding position in the infield, between second and first base. The second baseman often possesses quick hands and feet, needs the ability to get rid of the ball quickly, and must ...

left field In baseball, a left fielder, abbreviated LF, is an outfielder who plays defense in left field. Left field is the area of the outfield to the left of a person standing at home plate and facing towards the pitcher's mound. In the numbering syst ...

and spent some time at

designated hitter The designated hitter (DH) is a baseball player who bats in place of another position player, most commonly the pitcher. Unlike other players in a team's lineup, they generally only play as an offensive player and usually do not play defense as ...

. In just 52 games for Lowell, he hit .269/.366/.368 with 19 runs scored and 20 RBI. In 2014, Asuaje hit for a .305 average in 90 games for the Low–A

Greenville Drive The Greenville Drive are a Minor League Baseball team based in Greenville, South Carolina. They are the High-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox and are a member of the South Atlantic League. They play their home games at Fluor Field at the West E ...

, driving in 73 runs and scoring 69 times, while boasting a .391 OBP and collecting 45

extra-base hit In baseball, an extra-base hit (EB, EBH or XBH), also known as a long hit, is any hit (baseball), base hit on which the batting (baseball), batter is able to advance past first base without the benefit of a fielder either committing an error (base ...

s. With 11

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, 10

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

and 24 doubles, he topped the

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...

with a .542 slugging percentage and made the All-Star team before joining the High–A

Salem Red Sox The Salem Red Sox are a Minor League Baseball affiliate of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB), based in Salem, Virginia, Salem, an independent city adjacent to Roanoke, Virginia. The team competes at the Single-A level in the Car ...

on July 14. At Salem, Asuaje reached base safely in 35 of his 39 games against the more advanced High–A

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

pitching. He showed a progressive approach with an 11-game hitting streak from August 14–25, 2014, to finish the year with a .323/.398/.516 line, four home runs and 28 RBI. Overall, Asuaje hit .310 and slugged .533 in 129 games in his two stints. Additionally, he was the only player in the Sox minors system to collect 100-or-more RBI (101) and went on to post the best slugging percentage (.533). He also ended fourth in homers (15) and OBP (.393) and 10th in batting average (.310), while his

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 ...

(.927) was surpassed only by

Mookie Betts Markus Lynn "Mookie" Betts (born October 7, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder, shortstop, and second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Boston Red Sox. ...

(.960). Asuaje was named Greenville Drive Player of the Year and added another All-Star selection to his list of accomplishments, as he was chosen to the 2014 South Atlantic League Annual All-Star team. Asuaje was promoted to the Double A

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

in 2015, where was one of five Sea Dogs selected for the Eastern League All-Star team. ''SoxProspects.com. ''Retrieved on July 2, 2015. Asuaje ended 2015 with eight homers, seven triples, 23 doubles, 61 RBI, 60 runs scored and nine steals, as he hit .251/.334/.374 over 131 games. He also gained a spot in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

as a member of the

Scottsdale Scorpions The Scottsdale Scorpions are a baseball team that plays in the East Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Scottsdale, Arizona, at Scottsdale Stadium, which is also the spring training facility of the San Francisco G ...

during offseason.

San Diego Padres

The Padres acquired Asuaje along with Javier Guerra, Manuel Margot and Logan Allen in November 2015, in the same transaction that sent Craig Kimbrel to the

. Asuaje opened 2016 with the Triple-A

El Paso Chihuahuas The El Paso Chihuahuas are a Minor League Baseball team based in El Paso, Texas. The Chihuahuas compete in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) as the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. The team plays its home games at Sou ...

of the

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

as the regular second-baseman. He played in the 2016

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- ...

in his future home stadium, Petco Park, on July 10, then the Triple-A All-Star Game three days later and 2,079 miles away at BB&T Ballpark in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. He won the 2016 PCL Rookie of the Year Award, leading the league in hits (172) and runs (98), along with top-10 totals in doubles (32), triples (11), total bases (253), batting average (.321) and on-base percentage (.378). The Padres promoted Asuaje to the major leagues on September 21, 2016, once the Triple-A team ended their playoff run. He made six starts at second base for the Padres as they finished out the season. Asuaje opened the

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

season in Triple-A, where he batted .250 in 62 games. After a brief call-up in May, he joined the Padres again on June 23 to become the primary second-baseman after Yangervis Solarte went to the disabled list with an oblique strain. Asuaje continued to man the second-base position even after Solarte's return, as manager Andy Green said Asuaje had "played beyond my expectations". Asuaje finished the season with a .270/.334/.362 batting line in 307 at-bats with 78 starts at second base. The following season, Asuaje struggled offensively, hitting .196 in 79 games. He had the lowest batting average against left-handers among all MLB hitters (60 or more plate appearances), at .111. On December 7. 2018, the Padres designated Asuaje for assignment.

Lotte Giants

On December 10, 2018, Asuaje was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers. On December 19, 2018, Asuaje was sold by the Rangers to the

of the

. In 49 games for Lotte in 2019, he slashed .252/.356/.368 with two home runs, 21 RBI, and four stolen bases. Asuaje was released by the Giants on June 9.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On June 19, 2019, Asuaje signed a minor league contract with the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

organization. In 59 games for the Triple–A

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, w ...

, he batted .239/.339/.403 with five home runs and 29 RBI. Asuaje elected free agency following the season on November 4.

Chicago Cubs

On January 6, 2020, Asuaje signed a minor league deal with the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Division. Th ...

. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Asuaje was released by the Cubs organization on May 28.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On December 10, 2020, Asuaje signed a minor league contract with the

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 (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization. In 83 games for the Triple-A

Oklahoma City Dodgers The Oklahoma City Comets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and play their ho ...

, he batted .249 with two home runs, 26 RBI, and seven stolen bases. Asuaje elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Asuaje, Carlos 1991 births Living people El Paso Chihuahuas players Greenville Drive players KBO League infielders Leones del Escogido players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Lotte Giants players Lowell Spinners players Major League Baseball players from Venezuela Major League Baseball second basemen Nova Southeastern Sharks baseball players Portland Sea Dogs players Reno Aces players Salem Red Sox players San Diego Padres players Scottsdale Scorpions players Baseball players from Barquisimeto Asuaje, Carlos Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in South Korea Yarmouth–Dennis Red Sox players Oklahoma City Dodgers players

Amateur career

Professional career

Boston Red Sox

San Diego Padres

Lotte Giants

Arizona Diamondbacks

Chicago Cubs

Los Angeles Dodgers

See also

References

External links