Alfredo Venegas

Alfredo Orlando Venegas Morante

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 180 lb.

• Born May 11, 1986 in Guayaquil Ecuador

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Alfredo Venegas was the first player from Ecuador to reach AAA.

Venegas was signed by Seattle Mariners scout Mike Spiers in July 2003. He was 4-0 with a 2.77 ERA for Aguirre in the 2004 Venezuelan Summer League. He improved to 4-1, 1.96 for the VSL Mariners in 2005. He was on the Ecuadorian national team that won the Bronze Medal in both the 2004 South American Championship and the 2005 South American Championship. He finished 4th in the VSL in ERA behind Felix Doubront, Nelson Portillo and José Escalona. In 2006, he was 4-4 with a save and a 2.76 ERA for the VSL M's with only 13 BB in 75 IP. He tied for 5th in the circuit in innings pitched.

Alfredo split the summer of 2007 between the AZL Mariners (1-0, 0.87 in 2 G), Everett AquaSox (3-3, 5.36 in 10 G) and High Desert Mavericks (0-2, 8.68 in 2 G). He became the first Ecuadorian native to make A ball. In 2008, the 22-year-old pitched for High Desert (6-5, 4.89) and the Tacoma Rainiers (0-1, 6 H, 4 R in 2 2/3 IP). He thus became the first player from Ecuador to AAA. In his final season in the minors, he toiled on the mound for the Clinton Lumber Kings (4-4, 4.33 in 14 G) and the Mavericks (1-2, 5.46 in 11 G). He finished his minor league career 27-22; prior to Venegas, Juan Mendoza had been the best Ecuadorian pitcher in the US (9-14 in the independent leagues).

He pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings in the 2013 Bolivarian Games, fanning seven and allowing just two hits and no walks; Ecuador won the Bronze Medal. He started the Bronze Medal game but exited in the third due to injury and Jhunior Cordero finished it up in a 2-1 win over Guatemala.

Venegas' fastball was timed at 92 mph.

Sources include 2009 Mariners Media Guide, ESPN Deportes article on players from lesser baseball Latin American countries, List of Ecuadorian baseball pros, 2013 Bolivarian Games, 2005 South American Championship