Jose Pirela, Infield
Date of Birth: 11/21/1989
Birthplace: Valera, Venezuela
Jose Pirela, infielder, was signed by the New York Yankees in July, 2006. He played in the Yankees' minor league system from 2007 through 2014. During that time, he had 843 hits, 138 doubles, 110 stolen bases, 347 RBIs, and 483 strikeouts to 282 walks in 800 games. Defensively, he played every fielding position except catcher. He was primarily an infielder, playing 302 games at second base and 364 games at shortstop.
In 2014, Pirela joined the Yankees for just seven games. However, in that short time, he demonstrated his batting power by getting one double and three triples for a .333 batting average.
During Spring training in 2015, Pirela suffered a concussion when he ran into the outfield wall. He was on the DL through May 5th. He hit his first major league home run on June 7, 2015. He finished the 2015 season with a .230 batting average in 37 games with the Yankees.
The Yankees traded Pirela to the San Diego Padres on November 11, 2015. He played in just 15 games with the Padres in 2016.
Pirela became a free agent on December 2, 2016. He signed a minor league contract with the Padres on December 6th. He finished the 2017 season with 90 hits, 25 doubles, 10 home runs, 40 RBIs, 71 strikeouts to 27 walks, and a .288 batting average in 83 games with the Padres. Defensively, he played 5 games at first base, 7 games at second base, 1 game at third base, 68 games in left field, and 4 games in right field.
Pirela finished the 2018 season with 109 hits, 23 doubles, 32 RBIs, 89 strikeouts to 30 walks, and a .249 batting average in 146 games. Defensively, he played at first base and second base and in left field and right field.
The Padres traded Pirela to the Philadelphia Phillies on July 27, 2019. He spent most of the 2019 season in the minors, playing in just 2 games with the Padres and 12 games with the Phillies.
The Phillies released Pirella on November 1, 2019. He played in Japan in 2020, and in Korea in 2021.
Sources for Information
Wikipedia - Jose Pirela
ESPN - Jose Pirela
Baseball Reference - Jose Pirela