Álex Colomé

Álexander Manuel Colomé Pérez

• Bats Right Throws Right
• Height 6' 1" Weight 220 lb.

• Debut May 30, 2013

• Born December 31, 1988 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

BR page

Biographical Information

Álex Colomé is an American League All-Star reliever who led the league in saves in 2017 for the Tampa Bay Rays. He is the nephew of Jesús Colome.

Álex signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in March 2007; the scout was Eddy Toledo. His pro debut was a mixed bag with the DSL Devil Rays, going 1-6 with a 2.97 ERA. He fanned 50 in 39 1/3 innings but walked 31 and threw 16 wild pitches, tied for 6th most in the DSL. In 2008, he had a 0-5, 6.80 record for the Princeton Rays, striking out 52 in 46 1/3 innings while showing better control (26 walks, 6 wild pitched). Baseball America rated him the 24th best Rays prospect entering 2009. In 2009, Colomé blossomed, going 7-4 with a 1.66 ERA for the Hudson Valley Renegades, striking out 94 in 76 innings while allowing a .174 opponent average. He was 7th in the New York-Penn League in wins, first in strikeouts (11 ahead of runner-up Marty Popham) and second in ERA (behind Jose Alvarez). Baseball America upgraded him to the 8th-best Tampa Bay prospect, also naming him the second prospect in the NYPL behind Ryan Westmoreland.

The Dominican righty was 6-6 with a 3.95 ERA for the 2010 Bowling Green Hot Rods (118 strikeouts in 114 innings) and struck out 8 with one run allowed in four innings for the Charlotte Stone Crabs. Baseball America listed him the 16th best prospect in the Midwest League (between Rubby de la Rosa and Chris Owings) and 9th in the Tampa Bay organization. Colomé split 2011 between Charlotte (9-5, 3.66, .214 opponent average) and the Montgomery Biscuits (3-4, 4.15, .219 opponent average). He struck out 123 in 157 2/3 innings while walking 72 and throwing 17 wild pitches. Among Tampa Bay farmhands, he tied for second in wins (with Matt Moore and Victor Mateo, behind George Jensen), tied for third in wild pitches, tied for fifth in strikeouts and was third in walks. Baseball America ranked him the 5th best Tampa Bay prospect and the 5th best Florida State League prospect (behind Shelby Miller, Matt Harvey, Hak-ju Lee and Trevor May). He began 2012 back with the Biscuits and went 8-3 with a 3.48 ERA, striking out 75 in 75 innings. He made it to AAA for three games with the Durham Bulls (0-1, 3.24, 15 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings). He missed time that year due to shoulder problems. He opened 2013 with a 4-5 record and 2.60 ERA for Durham with 61 strikeouts in 55 1/3 innings. He was among the IL leaders in both losses and strikeouts at that point.

Colomé was called up to make his major league debut as the starting pitcher against the Miami Marlins on May 30, 2013. He replaced Jake Odorizzi, who was sent down. It was a successful debut, as he pitched 5 2/3 innings, giving up only an unearned run on five hits and two walks while striking out seven, receiving credit for the Rays' 5-2 win. Surprisingly, pitching for a team known for developing its own players, he was the first product of the Rays' Dominican Academy to reach the major leagues. He went 1-1, 2.25 in 3 starts that year, then in 2014 was 2-0, 2.66 in 5 games, 3 of them starts. Following these first two successful [cups of coffee]] in the majors, he played his first full season for Tampa Bay in 2015. Used as a swingman, he made 13 starts in 43 appearances, going 8-5, 3.94 and pitching 109 2/3 innings.

In 2016, Álex became the Rays closer and had a breakthrough season. He made the All-Star team, recorded 37 saves and went 2-4 with a sparkling ERA of 1.91. In 56 2/3 innings, he struck out 71 opponents while issuing just 15 walks. In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he got a win for the Dominicans over championship-bound Team USA. He was less dominant in 2017 but led the American League in saves with 47 as he went 2-3, 3.24. He made 65 appearances, pitched 66 2/3 innings, but saw his K/BB ratio fall to 58/23. Despite the large number of saves he compiled, he was playing in relative anonymity, as the Rays were a middling team not attracting much media attention. Tampa Bay decided to start a major rebuild during spring training 2018, a decision that was quite controversial as it seemed to confirm the developing narrative that a third of major league teams had no intention whatsoever of fielding a competitive team. As an established closer just coming into his prime, a luxury on what was expected to be a losing team, he was widely expected to be among those traded, but he started the year in his familiar role. On May 25th, the anticipated trade came, as he joined fellow veteran Denard Span in a trade to the Seattle Mariners for two young pitchers, Andrew Moore and Tommy Romero. Colomé was 2-5, 4.15 in 23 games with 11 saves at the time. With the Mariners, he was the set-up man for major league saves leader Edwin Diaz and went 5-0, 2.53 in 47 games with a save and 30 holds. Seattle, sadly, faded in the second half after having made a bid for a postseason slot.

After the 2018 season, the Mariners decided to shed some payroll. Álex was one of the players to be cast off: on November 30th he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for catcher Omar Narvaez. He pitched 62 times for the Sox, saving 30 games with a 4-5, 2.80 record in 2019. In 2020, his numbers were kept down by the season being chopped to 60 games by the Coronavirus pandemic, but he was outstanding in his 21 appearances, going 2-0, 0.81 with 12 saves and limiting opponents to 13 hits and 8 walks in 22 1/3 innings for a WHIP of 0.940. He appeared in the postseason for the first time, pitching twice in the Wild Card Series, giving up just a walk in two innings and picking up the save in the Sox's lone win against the Oakland Athletics, in Game 1 of the series. Following the season, he became a free agent and on February 3, 2021 he reportedly signed a one-year contract with the Minnesota Twins for $5 million in a depressed free agent market.

Notable Achievements

• AL All-Star (2016)
• AL Saves Leader (2017)
• 30 Saves Seasons: 3 (2016, 2017 & 2019)
• 40 Saves Seasons: 1 (2017)

Source

• 2012 Rays Media Guide

Related Sites

• Alex Colomé on mlb.com
• BR Minors page