Gilberto Chu

Gilberto Antonio Chu

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 5' 11", Weight 195 lb.

• Born November 19, 1997 in Ciudad de Panamá Panama

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Panamanian Gilberto Chu began pitching in the Washington Nationals organization in 2015 as a 17-year-old after having been signed as an international amateur free agent on July 5, 2014. His first professional stop was with the DSL Nationals, going 3-3, 2.55 in 18 games, 17 of them relief appearances. He returned to the same team in 2016, this time as a starter and went 1-4, 3.18.

In 2017, he moved to the U.S. and pitched for both the Auburn Doubledays of the New York-Penn League and the GCL Nationals, for a total of 16 games, all in relief. On July 23rd, he was part of a historic day in the Gulf Coast League as the Nats' pitchers combined to throw seven-inning no-hitters in both ends of a doubleheader against the GCL Marlins. In the first game, Joan Baez and Jose Jimenez combined on a 4-0 shutout, and in the second Gilberto took over for starter Jared Johnson, who pitched the first four innings, and ended the day's work with a flourish, setting down all nine batters he faced in order to complete the exceptional feat with a 1-0 shutout. Overall, he was 3-2, 3.35 that year, with 36 strikeouts in 37 innings.

He then spent all of 2018 and 2019 with Auburn, going 2-2, 3.66 the first year and 3-2, 2.68, the second. Like hundreds of other minor leaguers, he then had to sit out the 2020 season when the minor leagues were shut down by the Coronavirus pandemic and he was not high enough on the prospect totem pole to score one of the rare invitations to the major league team's alternate training site. He returned in 2021 with a good season for the Fredericksburg Nationals of the Low-A East, going 3-0, 3.79 in 19 games before earning a late-season promotion to the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the High-A East. On August 14th, he was part of a combined no-hitter for the second time of his career, a 12-0 win over the Salem Red Sox in the first game of a doubleheader. In that game, he was the starting pitcher and pitched the first three innings, giving up just a pair of walks, before a one-hiur rain delay forced him to turn the ball over to Amos Willingham and Leif Strom, who completed the effort. It was rthe first no-hitter in team history.

He continued his slow but steady progression up the Nats' organizational ladder in 2022 by starting the year with Wilmington, now in the renamed South Atlantic League.

Further Reading

• David Driver: "Washington Nationals prospect Gilberto Chu makes strides at Fredericksburg: Pitcher was signed in 2014 by the Nationals, doesn’t turn 24 until November ...", federalbaseball.com, September 1, 2021. [1]