Heorhii Hvrytishvili

Heorhii Hvrytishvili

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born March 23, 1999

Biographical Information

Heorhii Hvrytishvili has played for the Ukrainian national team and has starred in leagues in Austria, France and Sweden.

Hvrytishvili saved Maksym Lisnytskyi's 12-10 win over Switzerland in the 2015 B-Level European Championship, getting two outs; the team was not hesitant to turn to the 16-year-old in the clutch. Playing for KNTU Elizavetgrad, he turned in a strong start (6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K) to beat Minsk in the 2016 CEB Cup. He was 6th in the Cup in ERA, between Thomas Langloys and Yauheni Kurhun. He was 1-0 with a save and a 1.04 ERA when Ukraine won the 2016 U21 European Championship, batting .250/.333/.375 with four runs and four RBI in four games. The event only included Russia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Israel, not Europe's top teams. He was third in the event with 12 batters fanned, behind Petr Balan and Anton Kuznetsov.

He played for the Ukraine in the 2017 U18 European Championship Pool 2, going 2-0 with a 3.71 ERA and 23 K in 17 IP. He also scored eight runs despite poor offensive numbers otherwise. He tied for the event lead in runs and easily led in Ks (12 ahead of Adam Zacko).

In the 2017 U23 European Championship, he was 1-0 with a 4.05 ERA and hit better in the U18 event at .417/.481/.875 with 3 triples and 10 runs in 6 games. He was second to Martin Mužík in slugging, tied for 4th in runs, tied for 7th in hits (10), led in triples and was 2nd in total bases (3 behind Mužík). In the 2017 B-Level European Championship (his third tourney of the year for Ukraine), he beat Lithuania and Robertas Vilimas, striking out 14 in a five-hit complete game and walking two. He was 1 for 5, but his lone hit was a homer off Kurhun. He was 4th in the event in ERA (between Denis Leonov and Kurhun), 3rd in opponent average (.161, behind former Twins farmhand Andrei Lobanov and Mikhail Kechko) and tied former Reds farmhand Jakub Ižold for 4th in strikeouts.

Ukraine fell to the 2018 C-Level European Championship (after having played in the top event just eight years prior) and Heorhii did his share again, batting .364/.533/.455 with 7 runs and 4 RBI in 4 games in the round-robin. He tied Klaus Nicolici for 9th in average and 7th in OBP, was 2nd in runs (one behind David Mukhadze) and tied for 7th in RBI. In the finale, he was 1 for 3 with a steal and a run as their cleanup man in a 3-2 win over Romania and Eduard Pirvu. He did not pitch in the tournament. At the 2018 CEB Cup, he struggled for Biotechkomanda KNTU, hitting .200/.250/.200 and walking seven and giving up six runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 IP in a loss to Minsk and Leonov.

Hvrytishvili played for Sweden's Sölvesborg Firehawks in 2019 and did very well on both ends of the ball: .355/.413/.434, 20 RBI; 8-0, 3.00, 63 K in 42 IP. He was 5th in ERA (between Pontus Byström and Nicklas Melin), 1st in wins (one ahead of Keiran Moore), 2nd in opponent average (.154, behind Moisses Pargas), 5th in strikeouts (between Jesper Svedhem and Eddie Aucoin) and 3rd in K/IP (after Pargas and Aucoin). In the finals, he helped the Firehawks win their second title, driving in five on four hits in Game 2. His battery mate was also from a former Soviet Union country, Lithuania's Kestas Vilimas.

He still saw plenty of action for Ukraine that summer. In the 2019 U23 European Championship, he was 1 for 7 with a double, run and a RBI and got their lone win in their five games, allowing two runs in five to beat Borna Strelec and Croatia. He did not pitch in the 2019 B-Level European Championship but hit and ran well (.375/.450/.438, 3 SB, 0 CS, 5 R in 5 G). He tied for 9th in swipes.

Heorhii's next stop was the Austrian Baseball League in 2020. He signed with the Traiskirchen Grasshoppers and produced at a .403/.477/.681 clip with 25 runs and 27 RBI in 20 games. He stole six bases without being caught and was 3-3 with a 4.36 ERA (77 K in 53 2/3 IP but also 44 BB). He was 4th in the ABL in average, 3rd in slugging, tied for 9th in runs, tied Sammy Hackl for 5th in hits, was 4th in RBI (between Michael Varga and Ferdinand Obed), tied for 2nd in home runs (5, 4 behind Varga), was 6th in total bases (49), ranked 5th in opponent average (.207), was 3rd in IP (between Rick van Dijck and Tobias Kiefer), was 2nd in K (14 behind Kiefer, four ahead of Ryan Rupp), tied for 8th in wins, tied for 2nd with 10 appearances (one behind Moritz Scheicher) and tied for 7th in losses. It was the first time in six years that he did not play for the Ukrainian national team, but that is because there were no international tournaments held due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He then signed with France's Sénart Templiers. In 2021, he was 5-for-8 with double, run and three RBI while going 1-0 with one run in three innings. He may have been the first Ukrainian player in France's top league; searching for the term Ukraine at stats.free.fr only lists him. Ukraine made the first European Championship of his career. In the 2021 European Championship, he was Ukraine's main DH and also pitched. He struck out against former Astros farmhand Carlos Sierra his first time up in a European Championship. He allowed only two runs (one earned) in seven to outduel Croatia's Andrew Jones but Andrii Kostashchuk could not hold on. His first Euros hit was off Germany's Lukas Steinlein. He got Ukraine's first European Championship win in 14 years; relieving Sergii Shtapura with a 2-0 deficit in the first, no outs and men on the corners, he escaped the inning with one inherited runner scoring then went nine innings of relief for the day, giving up only one run and beating Martin Lukačka. He whiffed nine. He was 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA for the 2021 Euros, hitting .133/.278/.200 with 3 runs in 5 games. He tied Joey Wagman for the most innings in the tournament and tied for 5th in K (13, even with Jose Diaz, Sven Schüller, Andrei Lobanov, Enorbel Marquez, Tobias Kiefer, Owen Ozanich and Ondřej Satoria). He led Ukraine in ERA (.87 ahead of Kostiantyn Chukhas) and opponent average (.155, .067 ahead of Myroslav Zhylka).

It is unclear where he played in 2022. In '23, he batted .286/.400/.345 for the Templiers, driving in 25 runs in 24 games. He was also their top pitcher, going 7-2 with a 2.15 ERA, .178 opponent average and 57 K in 46 IP. He was second in French Division I in RBI (3 behind Ivan Acuña), tied Léo Jiminian for 5th in HBP (6), 6th in opponent average, missed the top 10 in ERA by .01 behind Nathan Laot and tied for 3rd in wins (behind Kevin Canelon and Gilbert Perdomo).