Eliécer Navarro

Eliécer Navarro

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 9", Weight 177 lb.

• Born October 26, 1987 in David, Chiriqui Panama

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Biographical Information

Eliécer Navarro has been a minor league pitcher.

Navarro signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006. In 2007, he went 8-2 with a save and 2.83 ERA for the DSL Pirates, striking out 85 while walking 17 in 70 innings. He was 8th in the Dominican Summer League in strikeouts and tied for 6th in wins. In 2008, the southpaw was 4-3 with a 1.42 ERA for the same club; he fanned 108 while walking only 8 and allowing just 50 hits in 76 innings. He was third in the DSL in K's.

He was on Panama's roster for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Navarro pitched one game, relieving Bruce Chen in the loss to Puerto Rico. Navarro got Mike Aviles to ground to short but Aviles reached on a Ruben Tejada error. Eliecer then tried to pick-off Aviles but an error by 1B Julio Zuleta sent the runner to third. Ramon Vazquez hit a sacrifice fly, then Navarro got Carlos Beltran on a grounder and Carlos Delgado on a pop-out. In the 6th, the young hurler got Alex Rios on a grounder. Ivan Rodriguez and Geovany Soto hit back-to-back doubles to produce a run, and Arquimedes Nieto came in to relieve Navarro.

Navarro was 4-2 with a 3.77 ERA for the 2009 GCL Pirates. He split 2010 between the State College Spikes (Sv, 1 R in 8 2/3 IP) and West Virginia Power (1-2, Sv, 3.49). In the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament, he had a 2.79 ERA and saved Angel Cuan's win over the Dominican national team. In '11, the lefty toiled for the Power (5-0, 2.83, 9 BB in 57 1/3 IP) and the Bradenton Marauders (1-2, 6.12 in 13 G).

In the 2011 Baseball World Cup, Eliecer led Panama's qualifiers with a 3.18 ERA; his five games pitched tied Gustavo Gómez for third on Panama, behind Yeliar Castro and Gilberto Méndez. He was 0-2 with a 6.14 ERA in the 2011 Pan American Games, with half of 0-4 Panama's losses. He did lead the team with 8 whiffs (in 7 1/3 IP). He lost games to Team USA and 3-2 to Puerto Rico in the 7th/8th place game. He spent all of 2012 with Bradenton, going 5-8 with a 3.62 ERA and one save as a swingman.

Navarro tossed 3 2/3 shutout innings in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers despite allowing six hits, working his way out of several jams in his start against Nicaragua before Méndez relieved. In 2013, he was with Bradenton (1-9, 2.86) and the Altoona Curve (4-8, 4.52). He led Bucco farmhands in losses, four more than David Bromberg, despite a decent 3.72 season ERA. He also led all minor leaguers in defeats, one ahead of Zach Kroenke. Pittsburgh would release him the next spring.

In the 2013 Bolivarian Games, Navarro was part of a stellar Panamanian staff that allowed two runs in seven games en route to a Gold Medal. he threw 14 shutout innings (8 H, 1 BB, 11 K) and beat Guatemala and Ecuador. He allowed two runs in eight innings for the 2013-2014 Gigantes de Carolina and four unearned runs in one inning for the 2014-2015 Indios de Mayaguez.