Esteban Quiroz

Jesus Esteban Quiroz

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 175 lb.

• Debut September 17, 2022

• Born February 17, 1992 in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora Mexico

BR page

Biographical Information

Esteban Quiroz played 12 seasons in the minors before making his major league debut at age 30.

Quiroz made his debut with the Tigres de Quintana Roo in 2011, going 3 for 25 with two walks. He hit .255/.337/.383 in 2012, fielding .942 at 3B, his main position. He only played 27 games in 2013, hitting .200/.343/.291 for the Tigres. In 2014, he batted .227/.397/.432 in 61 plate appearances for Quintana Roo. He made his Mexican Pacific League debut with the Yaquis de Obregón, hitting .333/.462/.549 in 24 games.

He produced at a .315/.396/.450 clip for the 2015 Tigres and was named Mexican League Rookie of the Year (though he had seen some regular action in 2012, he had not lost his rookie status apparently). He fielded .950 at 3B but also saw a little time at 2B and at all three outfield slots. In winter ball, he batted .317/.401/.463 with 39 RBI in 65 games. He was 8th in the LMP in average (between Oscar Robles and Alex Liddi), tied Liddi for 8th with 72 hits, tied Liddi for 10th with 7 home runs, tied Jose Amador for third in RBI, was 4th in OBP (between Robles and Jesus Castillo), was 8th in slugging (between Liddi and Welington Dotel) and was 4th in OPS (behind only Jose Amador, Japhet Amador and Christian Villanueva). He then was very good in the 2016 Caribbean Series (.400/.526/.533, 7 R, 3 RBI in 8 G). He scored twice in the finale to give the Venados de Mazatlán their second Caribbean Series title. For the Series, he tied Chris Roberson and Hernan Perez for 6th in average, tied Yuniesky Betancourt for the best OBP, was 6th in OPS (between Dariel Alvarez and Jorge Vazquez) and tied Jose Martinez for the most runs. He failed to make the All-Tournament team at 2B as Yulieski Gourriel got the nod.

Quiroz made his Mexican national team debut in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March 2016. Playing left field in the opener and hitting second, he was 0 for 2 with two walks and a run. He scored in the first when Marek Červenka walked him and came home on a Jesus Castillo hit in Mexico's 2-1 win over the Czech national team. Quiroz was replaced by PR Juan Perez in the 7th. He hit .333/.455/.667 for the Qualifier, with 3 runs and 4 RBI in 3 games, including a homer off Junior Téllez. Mexico cruised to a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. In the summer, he batted .335/.499/.522 with 15 homers, 69 runs and 66 walks in 97 games for Quintana Roo. He was second in the league in OBP (.009 behind Ruben Sosa), 6th in OPS (between Cyle Hankerd and Dustin Martin) and tied Martin for sixth in walks. In the winter, he slumped to .198/.287/.245.

Despite his off-winter, he was with Mexico for the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He was outstanding out of the leadoff slot, going 4 for 6 with four walks, a double, two homers (off Alessandro Maestri and Yusmeiro Petit), five runs and five RBI in three games, but Mexico's pitching struggled and the team was eliminated in the first round. He led the entire Classic in average (.052 ahead of Wladimir Balentien), OBP (.133 ahead of Balentien), slugging (.718 ahead of Balentien) and OPS. Due to his team's short stay in the event, he did not have a chance of making the All-Tournament team; Javier Báez was picked at 2B.

Over five years after his appearance in the WBC, he finally got to make his major league debut, on September 17, 2022 for the Chicago Cubs against the Colorado Rockies. He pinch-hit for right fielder Nelson Velazquez in the bottom of the 9th inning of a 3-1 loss and struck out against Daniel bard.

Related Sites

• Esteban Quiroz on mlb.com
• BR Minors page