Gabriel Purroy

Gabriel Alejandro Purroy Cisneros

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 207 lb.

• High School Unidad Educativa Nacional Teresa de Bolívar

• Born April 16, 1992 in Charallave, Miranda Venezuela

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Gabriel Purroy was a minor league catcher for four years and later played for the Venezuelan national team.

Purroy was signed by Detroit Tigers scout Oscar Garcia in 2008. He hit .267/.315/.417 with 7 homers in 65 games for the 2009 VSL Tigers. He led Venezuelan Summer League catchers with a .982 fielding percentage, 231 putouts, 4 double plays, 15 passed balls and a 46.7% caught stealing rate. He also tied for 10th in the VSL in dingers. Coming to the US in 2010, he saw action with the GCL Tigers (.258/.281/.366 in 26 G) as the backup to Pat Leyland and was 3 for 18 with a double for the Lakeland Flying Tigers.

Gabriel was one of three catchers to appear in 21-22 games behind the dish as co-starters for the 2011 GCL Tigers; he hit .266/.352/.405 and fielded well (.988, 36% caught stealing). With the 2012 West Michigan Whitecaps, he slumped to .173/.235/.236 in 34 games to finish his minor league career at .243/.296/.363 with 12 homers and 80 RBI in 159 games.

The Miranda native was Venezuela's starting catcher in the 2013 Bolivarian Games. He hit .250/.313/.393 with two runs and a team-high six RBI in seven games (one RBI ahead of #2 Arturo Rivas); he had 39 chances without an error and allowed two steals in three tries. He scored the winning run in the 11th inning of a semifinal battle with Guatemala, off Guillermo Valdez; Juan Fuentes drove him in. In the Gold Medal game, he was 0 for 2 with a hit-by-pitch, one of only three batters to reach against Panama's Alberto Acosta, who flung a no-hitter.

Purroy was 2 for 10 with a run in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, with two games at DH (most on Venezuela) while backing up Luis Alen at C and Willie Vasquez at 1B.

Sources

• 2013 Tigers Media Guide
• 2013 Bolivarian Games website
• 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games website