Cristian José Mena (born December 21, 2002) is a Dominican 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 ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for 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 ...

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 made his MLB debut in 2024.

Career

Chicago White Sox

Mena signed with the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The club plays its ...

as an international free agent on July 2, 2019. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

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. He made his professional debut in 2021 with the rookie–level Arizona Complex League White Sox, logging a 7.82 ERA with 62 strikeouts over 13 games (12 starts). Mena began the 2022 campaign with the Single–A

Kannapolis Intimidators Kannapolis () is a city in Cabarrus and Rowan Counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina, northwest of Concord and northeast of Charlotte, and is a suburb in the Charlotte metropolitan area. The city of Kannapolis was incorporated in 1984. ...

before later being promoted to the High–A

Winston-Salem Dash The Winston-Salem Dash are a Minor League Baseball team in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They are a High-A team in the South Atlantic League and have been a farm team of the Chicago White Sox since 1997. The Dash began playing their home games ...

and Double–A

Birmingham Barons The Birmingham Barons are a Minor League Baseball team based in Birmingham, Alabama. The team, which plays in the Southern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox and plays at Regions Field in downtown Birmingham. The Baron ...

. In 24 starts split between the three affiliates, he accumulated a 2–6 record and 3.80 ERA with 126 strikeouts across innings pitched. Mena split the 2023 season between Birmingham and the Triple–A

Charlotte Knights The Charlotte Knights are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox. They are located in Charlotte, North Carolina, and play their home games at Truist Field ...

. In 27 total starts, he compiled a cumulative 8–7 record and 4.85 ERA with 156 strikeouts across innings of work. On November 14, 2023, the White Sox added Mena 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 ...

to protect him from the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

Arizona Diamondbacks

The White Sox traded Mena to the

on February 3, 2024, in exchange for Dominic Fletcher. He was optioned to 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 ...

to begin the 2024 season. On July 3, Mena was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his major league debut the same day against 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 ...

, allowing four runs on four hits with two strikeouts over three innings. On August 2, it was announced that Mena would likely miss the remainder of the season after suffering a right forearm strain. Mena was optioned to Triple-A Reno to begin the 2025 season. He was recalled to the Diamondbacks on June 1, 2025. In three appearances for Arizona, Mena posted a 1-0 record and 1.35 ERA with eight strikeouts across innings pitched. He was placed on the injured list on June 7, due to a

teres major The teres major muscle is a muscle of the upper limb. It attaches to the scapula and the humerus and is one of the seven scapulohumeral muscles. It is a thick but somewhat flattened muscle. The teres major muscle (from Latin ''teres'', meanin ...

strain. Mena was transferred to the 60-day injured list on June 10.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mena, Cristian 2002 births Living people Baseball players from San Francisco de Macorís Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball pitchers Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League White Sox players Kannapolis Cannon Ballers players Winston-Salem Dash players Birmingham Barons players Charlotte Knights players Reno Aces players