| Esmerling Vásquez | |
|---|---|
 Vásquez with the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1983-11-07)November 7, 1983 (age 41) Tenares, Dominican Republic | |
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |
| Professional debut | |
| MLB: April 26, 2009, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| CPBL: March 23, 2014, for the EDA Rhinos | |
| NPB: March 29, 2015, for the Saitama Seibu Lions | |
| Last appearance | |
| MLB: October 1, 2012, for the Arizona Diamondbacks | |
| CPBL: July 17, 2014, for the EDA Rhinos | |
| NPB: August 28, 2016, for the Saitama Seibu Lions | |
| MLB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 5–12 |
| Earned run average | 4.86 |
| Strikeouts | 134 |
| CPBL statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 1–1 |
| Earned run average | 2.84 |
| Strikeouts | 35 |
| NPB statistics | |
| Win–loss record | 3–1 |
| Earned run average | 4.24 |
| Strikeouts | 34 |
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |
| Teams | |
Esmerling de Jesús Vásquez (born November 7, 1983) is a Dominican former professionalbaseballpitcher. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theArizona Diamondbacks andMinnesota Twins and inNippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for theSaitama Seibu Lions.
Vásquez signed as an undraftedfree agent in2003 by theArizona Diamondbacks.
Vásquez played for the Double–AMobile BayBears in2007. He started in all 29 games he played in and went 10–6 with a 2.99ERA. Following the season, the Diamondbacks named Vásquez as their minor league pitcher of the year.[citation needed] On November 20, 2007, the Diamondbacks added Vásquez to their40-man roster to protect him from theRule 5 draft.
Vásquez was promoted to the major leagues for the first time on April 26, 2009, and made his major league debut later that day.
Vásquez was demoted to the Triple–AReno Aces on April 17, 2010, to make room forKris Benson but was recalled 2 days later afterConor Jackson suffered an injury. On May 31, Vásquez committed a balk in the bottom of the ninth against the Dodgers, allowingCasey Blake to score the winning run. The event was known as a "balk-off".[1]
In his career with the Diamondbacks, Vásquez went 5–10 with a 4.66 ERA in 141 games with a 1.496 WHIP.
Vásquez was claimed off waivers by theMinnesota Twins on September 27, 2011. He did not pitch for the Twins that year. Vásquez spent most of 2012 with Triple-ARochester, where he went 9–6 with a 2.78 ERA with 98 strikeouts in 31 games, 8 of them starts. He was promoted to the major leagues on September 1, 2012, and went 0–2 with a 5.68 with 14 strikeouts in 6 starts.
On November 5, 2012, Vásquez re-signed with Minnesota on a minor league contract.[2] He began the 2013 season on the injured list, and did not make an appearance before he was released by the Twins organization on June 23, 2013.[3]
Vásquez signed with theEDA Rhinos of theChinese Professional Baseball League for the 2014 season.
On November 14, 2014, Vásquez signed with theSaitama Seibu Lions ofNippon Professional Baseball.[4] He made 34 appearances for Seibu in 2015, compiling a 3-1 record and 3.63 ERA with 21 strikeouts across34+2⁄3 innings pitched. Vásquez pitched in 19 contests for the Lions in 2016, working to a 5.51 ERA with 13 strikeouts over16+1⁄3 innings of work.[5]
On July 19, 2018, Vásquez signed with theAlgodoneros de Unión Laguna of theMexican League. In 16 appearances for the team, he recorded a 2.57 ERA with 12 strikeouts across 14 innings.
On March 10, 2019, Vásquez signed a minor league contract with theTexas Rangers organization. In 12 games (8 starts) split between the Double–AFrisco RoughRiders and Triple–ANashville Sounds, he accumulated a 5.86 ERA with 17 strikeouts across35+1⁄3 innings pitched. Vásquez became a free agent following the season on November 4.[6]
On March 14, 2020, Vásquez re-signed with the Rangers on a new minor league contract. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.[7] Vásquez became a free agent on November 2.[8]
