Agustín Murillo

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Agustín Patrick Murillo Pineda

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Biographical Information[edit]

Agustín Murillo has been a minor league infielder. He has led his leagues in fielding percentage, runs, doubles and times hit by pitch.

He hit .467 in the 2000 World Junior Championship and his six doubles may have led the tournament. He slugged .667. He was 4th in the event in average behind only Joe Mauer, Dae-ho Lee and Scott Wearne. Murillo made his breakthrough in the minor Northern Sonora League in 2002, winning Rookie of the Year honors after hitting .388 (leading the league) and stealing 20 bases (tied for the most). Jack Pierce signed him for the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Murillo made his USA debut in 2003, hitting .302/.357/.450 for the Missoula Osprey as the team's top offensive threat. Murillo led Pioneer League third basemen in fielding percentage (.948) and tied Ian Stewart for the most putouts (43) while leading the league with 74 games played. Stewart beat him out for All-Star honors at third.

Augie spent all of 2004 with the South Bend Silver Hawks, batting .263/.316/.347. He bounced back in 2005, hitting .296/.368/.480 for Silver Bend with 34 doubles, 17 homers, 94 runs and 82 RBI. He led the Midwest League in runs but was less of the All-Star team as David Winfree was picked at 3B. He had made the Mid-season All-Star team.

In 2006, Murillo batted .235/.322/.326 for the AA Tennessee Smokies and led the Southern League with 12 times hit by pitch. He split 2007 between the Mobile BayBears (.306/.338/.323 in 19 games) and the Dorados de Chihuahua (.342/.408/.532 with 28 doubles). In 2008, Murillo hit .322/.376/.458 and stole 19 bases in 22 tries for the Sultanes de Monterrey, who went on to the Mexican League finals.

He played for Mexico in the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup and was their lone representative on the tournament All-Star team (at 3B) after hitting .323/.353/.742 with 4 doubles, 3 homers, 7 runs and 11 RBI in 8 games. He was 4th in the tourney in slugging, tied for 6th in runs, led in RBI (one ahead of tournament MVP Carlos Rivera), tied for the most doubles, tied Rivera and Carlos Valencia for 2nd in homers (one behind Ardley Jansen) and tied Rivera for 2nd in total bases (23, trailing Jansen). He was then MVP of the 2008-2009 Mexican Pacific League after hitting .345/.435/.595 for the Yaquis de Obregón. He was third in average (behind Christian Quintero and Jorge Vázquez), led in OBP (.016 over Quintero), was second to Vázquez in slugging, led with 87 hits (3 over Chris Roberson), tied for 7th in homers (11), was third with 47 RBI (behind Adán Muñoz and Oscar Robles), was 4th with 40 walks, tied for 5th with 12 steals (even with Justin Christian and Dionys César). He not only led with 30 doubles (a whopping 14 over #2s Oscar Robles and Javier Robles) but set a new LMP record, breaking the mark shared by Miguel Fernández and Roberto Vizcarra.

Murillo was 1 for 2 with a walk, double, run and RBI off the Mexican bench in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. His hit came off Yulieski González to drive home Scott Hairston and give Mexico a 3-2 lead over Cuba in the 4th inning of a make-or-break game, but Cuba went on to rally and win.

Murillo tested positive for Clenbuterol, a performance-enhancing drug, in May 2009, and was suspended for 50 games. He hit .275/.354/.378 for the AAA Reno Aces that year. In the winter, he hit .261/.317/.364 for the Yaquis. Finishing his time in the Diamondbacks chain, he was back with Monterrey and hit .293/.392/.432 with 29 doubles, 78 runs and 13 steals in 15 tries. He tied Manny Rodriguez and Donzell McDonald for 7th in the league in runs. In the winter, he produced at a .262/.333/.452 clip for Obregón with 14 homers, 16 steals in 18 tries, 47 RBI and 57 runs in 66 games, fielding .962. He was second in the LMP in runs (three behind Justin Christian), tied for third in home runs and tied Rodriguez for 5th in RBI. In the summer of 2011, he hit .301/.389/.438 for the Sultanes and he followed with a winter of .290/.338/.371.

He hit .263/.364/.316 with one run and one RBI in five games for Mexico in the 2011 Pan American Games, handling 15 chances error-free at third. His batting line for the 2012 Sultanes was .282/.359/.416 and he stole 20 bases while only being nabbed three times. In the winter, he hit .297/.372/.390, scored 42 times in 65 games and stole 22 in 28 tries. He was second in the league in steals, six behind Chris Roberson. He was only 3 for 21 with two walks, two runs and a RBI in the 2013 Caribbean Series but the Yaquis won it all; he did score their first run and his RBI put them ahead in the 5th of the finale, which they won in 18 innings. He had a good summer for Monterrey: .337/.427/.478, 82 runs, 27 steals. He tied Joe Thurston for 8th in walks (58), was third in swipes and missed the top 10 in OBP by .003. In winter ball, he fell to .266/.323/.403.

In 2014, the veteran had one of his best seasons. He hit .340/.417/.583 with 98 runs, 29 doubles, 24 home runs, 95 RBI, 32 steals in 36 tries and fielded .967 at the hot corner. He tied Roberson for the league lead in runs, tied for 7th in doubles, was 6th in home runs, ranked 6th in RBI, tied Willy Taveras for second in stolen bases (17 behind Gilberto Mejia), was 6th in slugging (between Roberson and Jon Del Campo) and was 5th in OPS (between Roberson and Rodriguez). At age 32, he batted .288/.378/.391 for the Yaquis and only stole 4 bases in 10 attempts. In '15, he hit .279/.347/.420 for Monterrey and got a brief look in Japan. He hit .343/.375/.429 with 9 RBI in 11 games for the Rakuten Golden Eagles' farm team and .313/.405/.344 in 9 games for the big club. In his debut for the tea, he started at short and got his first hit in NPB off Yuito Mori. His longtime Yaquis club traded him to the Charros de Jalisco for Leo Heras and he hit .280/.349/.293 for them that winter.

He was 3 for 9 with a double and six RBI in three games for Mexico in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, leading the team in RBI as they qualified for the 2017 World Baseball Classic (two RBI ahead of Esteban Quiroz). In all four qualifiers, he tied Jakub Malík and Martin Červenka for third in RBI, two behind Boss Moanaroa and one behind Kyle Botha (who played one more game than Murillo). He would not remain with the team for the Classic itself as they went with import Brandon Laird instead. He hit .303/.377/.419 with 24 doubles and stole 16 bases in 20 tries for Monterrey in 2016. That winter, he hit .312/.309/.422 for Jalisco. He was 6th in the LMP in average (between Ronnier Mustelier and Joey Meneses), 5th in walks (33) and third in OBP (behind only Luis Juárez and Roberson). He struggled in the 2017 Caribbean Series, going 2 for 16.

Sources[edit]

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