Oscar González (baseball)

Oscar González
González with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in 2025
Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles – No. 12
Corner outfielder
Born: (1998-01-10) January 10, 1998
Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Professional debut
MLB: May 26, 2022, for the Cleveland Guardians
NPB: June 10, 2025, for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles
MLB statistics
(through 2025 season)
Batting average.267
Home runs13
Runs batted in59
NPB statistics
(through 2025 season)
Batting average.229
Home runs4
Runs batted in19
Stats at Baseball Reference 
Teams

Oscar Luis González (born January 10, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball corner outfielder for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Guardians and San Diego Padres. He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians / Guardians

Minor leagues

González signed as an international free agent with the Cleveland Indians on July 2, 2014, for a $300,000 signing bonus.[1][2] He played for the Dominican Summer League Indians in 2015, hitting .203/.266/.324 with four home runs and 38 runs batted in.[3]

González split the 2016 season between the rookie-level Arizona League Indians and Low-A Mahoning Valley Scrappers, hitting a combined .297/.340/.554 with 8 home runs and 26 runs batted in.[4] He was named the 2016 Arizona League Most Valuable Player.[5] González spent the 2017 season with Mahoning Valley, hitting .283/.301/.388 with three home runs and 34 runs batted in.[3]

González spent the 2018 season with the Single-A Lake County Captains, hitting .292/.310/.435 with 13 home runs and 52 runs batted in.[6] He split the 2019 season between the High-A Lynchburg Hillcats and Double-A Akron RubberDucks, hitting a combined .293/.315/.418 with 9 home runs and 70 runs batted in.[3] González did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]

González split the 2021 season between Akron and the Triple-A Columbus Clippers. In 121 appearances for the two affiliates, he batted a combined .293/.329/.542 with 31 home runs and 83 RBI. González elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021,[8] and re-signed with the Indians to a minor league contract the same day.

Major leagues

The Guardians selected González's contract on May 26, 2022.[9] He made his major league debut that day, starting in right field against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. He singled on a line drive to center field off starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the top of the second for his first hit. In the ninth inning, he hit his first major league double.[10] On June 9, against the Oakland Athletics, González achieved his first major league four-hit game.[11] He had his only other four-hit game three months later.[12] He became the Guardians' starting right fielder by the end of the regular season.[13] González's walk-up song was the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, chosen because "deep inside I feel like a kid".[14] On June 19, González hit his first career home run off of Los Angeles Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney.[15]

On October 8, 2022, González hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 15th inning of the American League Wild Card Series to send the Guardians to the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees.[16] In the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 3 of the ALDS, with the bases loaded and two outs, González hit a walk-off single to give the Guardians a 2–1 series lead.[17] The Guardians would lose the series in 5 games. During the 2022 playoffs, Gonzalez hit .226 with 4 runs batted in and 1 home run.[18]

González did not carry over from his strong rookie season into 2023. He batted .214/.239/.312 and despite playing in only 54 games ranked as one of the worst players in baseball according to FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement.[19][20]

New York Yankees

On December 1, 2023, Gonzalez was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees.[21] However on January 17, 2024, he was designated for assignment after the signing of Marcus Stroman was made official.[22] On January 24, González cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.[23] On March 26, during a spring training game, González fouled a ball off of his face and was later diagnosed with an orbital fracture.[24][25] He began the season on the injured list as a result of the injury and was activated on April 30.[26] In 78 games for Scranton, he slashed .294/.333/.469 with 8 home runs, 45 RBI, and seven stolen bases. González elected free agency following the season on November 4.[27]

San Diego Padres

On November 26, 2024, González signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres.[28] He began the season in Triple-A but joined the Padres on April 7.[29] He batted .303 with one double in his first 12 games before slumping, batting .115 in his subsequent 9 games.[30] He was released on May 19, so he could pursue an opportunity in Japan.

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles

On May 22, 2025, Gonzalez signed a two-year, $2 million contract with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball.[31]

See also

References

  1. ^ Bretz, Matt (July 2, 2014). "Indians: International Signing Day". BelieveLandBall. FanSided. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  2. ^ Lukehart, Jason (July 3, 2014). "Indians sign six players on first day of international free agency". Lets's Go Tribe. SB Nation. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Oscar González stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  4. ^ Nikolov, Mark (February 3, 2017). "Oscar Gonzalez: A Man Among Young Men". 247Sports.com. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  5. ^ "Arizona League announces 2016 All-Stars". MiLB.com. August 30, 2016. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  6. ^ Cloonan, Noah (March 29, 2019). "Carolina Clubs: Lynchburg Hillcats". Beachbound & Down. Retrieved December 12, 2019.
  7. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  8. ^ "2021-22 Minor League Free Agents For All 30 MLB Teams". Baseball America. November 9, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2025.
  9. ^ McDonald, Darragh (May 26, 2022). "Guardians designate Yu Chang, select Oscar Gonzalez". MLB Trade Rumors.
  10. ^ Flemish, Karen (May 26, 2022). "Gonzalez shows off all 5 tools in MLB debut". MLB.com. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  11. ^ Wild, Tommy (June 10, 2022). "Oscar Gonzalez continues his hot streak with four hit night". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved June 11, 2022.
  12. ^ "Oscar González Most Hits In A Game". StatMuse. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  13. ^ "Oscar Gonzalez finding his September groove at the right time: Guardians takeaways". September 15, 2022.
  14. ^ Chavkin, Daniel (October 7, 2022). "Why Guardians' Oscar Gonzalez Uses SpongeBob Theme as Walk-Up Song". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 8, 2022.
  15. ^ "Oscar Gonzalez's first career HR | 06/19/2022". MLB.com.
  16. ^ "Guardians beat Rays on Oscar Gonzalez walk-off". beaconjournal.com. October 8, 2022.
  17. ^ Bell, Mandy (October 16, 2022). "Another Oscar winner! Guardians walk off, take 2-1 ALDS lead". MLB.com.
  18. ^ "Oscar González Postseason Batting Game Logs". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  19. ^ "2023 leaders". FanGraphs.
  20. ^ McDonald, Darragh (December 1, 2023). "Yankees Claim Oscar Gonzalez From Guardians". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  21. ^ "Yankees claim OF Oscar Gonzalez off waivers from Guardians". ESPN. Associated Press. December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  22. ^ "Yankees Designate Oscar González For Assignment". MLB Trade Rumors. January 17, 2024.
  23. ^ "Yankees Outright Oscar González, Jeter Downs". MLB Trade Rumors. January 24, 2024.
  24. ^ "Yankees' Oscar Gonzalez: Carted off field". CBS Sports. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  25. ^ "Yankees' Oscar Gonzalez: Diagnosed with orbital fracture". CBS Sports. March 26, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  26. ^ "Yankees' Oscar Gonzalez: Returns from 7-day IL". CBS Sports. May 2, 2024. Retrieved May 15, 2024.
  27. ^ "Minor League Free Agents 2024". Baseball America. November 6, 2024. Retrieved November 28, 2024.
  28. ^ "Transactions". MLB.com.
  29. ^ Franco, Anthony (April 8, 2025). "Padres Place Jackson Merrill On Injured List". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  30. ^ "Oscar González 2025 Batting Game Logs". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  31. ^ Adams, Steve (May 22, 2025). "Padres Release Oscar Gonzalez To Pursue NPB Opportunity". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved December 20, 2025.
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