Pedro Báez
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Pedro Alberys Báez (born March 11, 1988) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Báez signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a non-drafted free agent on January 22, 2007 and began his career as a third baseman that season with the Gulf Coast Dodgers. In 53 games, he hit .274. His 39 RBI ranked second in the Gulf Coast League and he was rated as having the best infield arm in the Dodgers organization. He split the 2008 season between the Ogden Raptors of the Pioneer Baseball League and the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League, hitting .229 in 120 games with 13 home runs and 66 RBI. He played in 79 games in 2009 for the Inland Empire 66ers of the California League, hitting .286 with 10 homers and 61 RBI. He was again cited by Baseball America as having the best infield arm in the Dodgers system and represented the World team in the 2009 All-Star Futures Game.
In 2010 Báez spent most of the season with the 66ers, but finished the year with the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Class AA Southern League. He played in 84 games, hitting .263 with six homers and 45 RBI. He was selected to the World team at the All-Star Futures Game for a second straight season. Báez appeared in 32 games early in 2011 with the Lookouts, hitting only .210 before spending most of the season on the disabled list. In 2012 with the Lookouts, he was selected to the mid-season Southern League all-star team. Between the Lookouts and the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes, he played in 128 games and hit .221 with 11 homers and 59 RBI. He was rated by Baseball America as being the Dodgers best minor league defensive infielder and having the best infield arm.
Báez began the 2014 season with the Lookouts and was called up to the Majors for the first time on May 5, 2014. He made his MLB debut later that night against the Washington Nationals. He allowed a single and a two run homer to his first two batters before retiring the next three players in his one inning of work. He returned to the minors following the game. After another one game appearance for the Dodgers in July, he joined the bullpen in August and remained there the rest of the season. In 20 appearances, he had an ERA of 2.63, struck out 18 and walked 5. In 2015, he pitched in 52 games with a 3.35 ERA. In the minors, with Chattanooga and the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes, he pitched in 40 games with a 3.86 ERA and 12 saves. He made the roster for the 2014 National League Division Series (NLDS) against the St. Louis Cardinals, and allowed two runs in 2 ?1/3 innings. The runs he allowed were on a two-run homer by Matt Holliday in game one.
In his fifth major league season Báez posted a 2.88 ERA in 55 relief appearances. He struck out 62 batters in 56 1/3 innings of work and held opposing batters to a .220 average. During the 2018 postseason, Báez went 1-0 with a 1.59 ERA in 11 1/3 innings, striking out 14 batters against 5 walks.
On September 1st, in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Báez picked up his first career save. He finished the 2019 season with a 3.10 ERA and led the Dodgers in games pitched with 71.
