Geonel Gutiérrez

Geonel Gutiérrez Jiménez

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 1", Weight 216 lb.

• Born April 10, 1994 in Artemisa, Artemisa Cuba

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Biographical Information

Geonel Gutiérrez has pitched in Cuba (leading in K twice) and for the Cuban national team.

He debuted in 2011-2012, allowing one run in four innings for the Cazadores de Artemisa. In 2012-2013, he was 4-7 with a 3.58 ERA for Artemisa and 0-1 with a 20.25 ERA in 3 games for the Cocodrilos de Matanzas. He had a 2-4, 7.62 record for Matanzas in 2013-2014, with a WHIP of 1.98. He improved to 1-3, 5.56 in 2014-2015.

In 2015-2016, he was 0-5 with a 6.51 ERA and 1.98 WHIP. He was 1-3 with a 3.83 ERA in a much-improved 2016-2017. He had a 4.26 ERA in two outings for Cuba in the 2017 World Port Tournament. He was 5-9 with a 3.90 ERA in 2017-2018, though he did walk 55 in 80 2/3 IP. He led the league in losses, walks and wild pitches (9, tied).

Gutiérrez threw a no-hitter against Santiago de Cuba early in 2018-2019. He then was the winning pitcher in the Cuban All-Star Game. He was 4-2 with a 2.64 ERA for 2018-2019.

After going 3-3 with a 2.62 ERA for Artemisa in 2019-2020 (but with 37 BB in 44 2/3 IP), he reinforced Santiago de Cuba for the second half and was 3-4 with a 4.61 ERA for them. His 56 walks led the league, one ahead of Bryan Chi and Wilson Paredes. In 2020-2021, he slumped to 2-10 with a 8.88 ERA and 2.45 WHIP. He tied Dairon Mena for the loss lead. He got back on track in 2021-2022, when he had a 7-5, 4.35 record. He led the league in K with 78, one ahead of José Rodríguez, and did not make the top ten in walks.

In 2022, Cuba rolled out the Cuban Elite League. He was 2-5 with a 5.40 ERA for the Tabacaleros. He threw a five-inning perfect game against the Industriales in the 2022-2023 Serie Nacional. He was 9-3 with a 2.85 ERA that season. The lefty was among the leaders in complete games (4, 6th), wins (tied for 2nd, one behind Islav Sotolongo), shutouts (2, tied for 2nd, one behind Yunieski García), IP (91 2/3, 6th), strikeouts (86, 1st by 13 ahead of Naykel Cruz), WHIP (1.18, 4th) and ERA (9th, between Dariel Góngora and Denis Quesada). He made his first postseason appearance, getting the win with 2 runs in 7 1/3 IP. He was named the league's All-Star LHP. He pitched one shutout inning for Cuba when they won the 2023 Caribbean Baseball Cup. In the 2023 Pan American Games, he also made one appearance. Relieving Yankiel Mauris in the 5th with a 6-3 deficit, one on and no outs against Venezuela, he walked Engelb Vielma then Yonathan Mendoza bunted the runners over. Bryant Flete hit into a force at home, though, and he got Osman Marval on a grounder to escape the jam. In the 6th, he retired Edgar Durán, walked Eduardo Díaz then got Edgardo Fermín and Juan Carlos Torres. Cuba pulled within 6-5 but the game then ended due to the shorter WBSC rules in use.