Iván Granados

From BR Bullpen

Iván Miguel Granados Creazzola

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 6' 2", Weight 185-240 lb.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information[edit]

Iván Granados has pitched in the US, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands. He has twice led Spain's top league in ERA and twice in wins.

Granados played in the US in 2005 and 2006 with the AZL Athletics, allowing two hits and one run (unearned) in 6 1/3 IP, walking one and striking out nine. He was 1-0. Despite his success, he was let go by the Oakland Athletics and was was signed by CB Sant Boi in Spain. There, he was 2-5 with a 4.61 ERA in 2007, striking out 69 but walking 57 in 54 2/3 IP. In the 2007 Baseball World Cup, he pitched for the Spanish national team. He allowed six walks in four innings, striking out one and allowing 4 hits, 3 of them home runs. He had a 13.50 ERA and took the loss against Taiwan.

Granados was Spain's worst hurler in the 2008 Final Olympic Qualification Tournament, walking eight and allowing 7 runs in four innings. He gave up two-bases loaded walks in a row against Canada. In the summer of 2008, Granados played for Marlins Puerto Cruz. He was 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA for the Marlins in the 2008 European Cup, going the distance and allowing just 4 hits in beating the Mainz Athletics. In the regular season, he was 12-2 with a 1.89 ERA and went 2 for 4 at the plate. He led the Division Honor in strikeouts (116, 16 ahead of Erick Arteaga), wins (one ahead of Homer Baez), starts at pitcher (16), pitching appearances (tied at 16) and fielding at pitcher (28 chances, no errors). He tied Arteaga for second in complete games (6), was second in IP (119, one behind Arteaga) and 8th in ERA (between Remigio Leal and Yulman Ribeiro).

In '09, he was even better for the Marlins (13-1, 1.31) as they repeated as league champs. He won the ERA title (.36 ahead of Ronny Malave), tied Pedro Pablo Belmonte for second in fielding at P (23 error-free chances, behind Malave), was 8th in IP (116 2/3, between Belmonte and Alberto Magallón), tied Baez for third in wins, tied for 7th in starts (16), 5th in strikeouts (113, between Oscar Alvarez and Jose Cruz) and third in opponent average (.200, behind Andoni Ortiz and Leslie Nacar). He beat Martin Almstetter and the Buchbinder Legionäre Regensburg in the 2009 European Cup (8 IP, 7 H, 6 BB, 3 K, 5 R, 3 ER). Granados was back with Spain for the 2009 Baseball World Cup. He surprisingly battled evenly with defending champion Cuba's Maikel Folch, facing a star-studded lineup of Héctor Olivera, Michel Enríquez, Yuli Gurriel, Frederich Cepeda, Alfredo Despaigne, Yoennis Céspedes, José Abreu, Ariel Pestano and Luis Miguel Navas. He did not allow a run (4 H, 2 BB, 2 K) before Belmonte took over; Spain lost by only a 5-4 margin. His next outing was not nearly as strong as Nicaragua chased him after 2 2/3 IP, having scored five runs (3 on a homer by Juan Oviedo); Leal took over. He also came in a crucial situation against South Korea, relieving Belmonte with one on and one out in the 8th and a 1-1 tie. He walked Young-hun Cho and struck out Ho-sin Lee; Fernando Gutiérrez relieved and one of the inherited runners scored as Spain fell.

The San Carlos native had a 13-2, 1.93 record with 149 K in 112 IP for the 2010 Marlins Puerto Cruz, with a WHIP just under 1, but the team failed to repeat this time as champs. He led the league in wins (two ahead of future major leaguer Junior Guerra), was 3rd in strikeouts (behind Juan Jose Lopez and Nacar), 7th in IP (between Nacar and Magallón) and 7th in ERA (between Lopez and Belmonte). In the 2010 European Cup, he went the distance in a 6-1 loss to France's Savigny Lions (9 H, 6 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 7 K in 8 IP). He also lost his start in the 2010 European Championship, going 5 2/3 innings against Great Britain and surrendering 5 hits, 4 walks and two runs before Cruz relieved. He struck out five in the game but hit Michael Trask with the bases loaded and later served up a homer to Matt McGraw. Spain tied for 9th, their worst European Championship to that point.

Granados signed with T&A San Marino in the Italian Baseball League for 2011. He was 6-3 with a 3.63 ERA in the regular season, tying for 8th in wins (with Kris Wilson, Cody Cillo, Darwin Cubillan and Riccardo De Santis). He was 2-0 with a 0.45 ERA in the semifinals, allowing only 6 hits in 20 innings. In the 2011 Italian Series, he struggled at 0-1 with 15 hits and 11 runs (9 earned) in 9 2/3 IP, losing game 2 to Nettuno and blowing a 7-0 lead in game 5, but San Marino still won the title. He was 3-0 with a save and a 3.71 ERA for San Marino in '12, 1-0 with a 5.63 ERA in the semifinals and allowed one run in 4 1/3 IP in the 2012 Italian Series (3 H, 3 BB) as San Marino defended as league champions. He was back in a Spanish uniform for the 2012 European Championship, turning in one excellent start. He held Croatia to two hits (to Ivan Račić and Nikola Sertić) and one walk in six innings, striking out seven, before Jorge Balboa took over as one of three relievers to help finish the shutout. He was 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA in the 2012 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, getting the crucial win over Israel that put Spain into the World Baseball Classic for the first time. He worked 2 2/3 hitless innings that game after replacing Leal in the 8th, shutting down a lineup that included Shawn Green and Joc Pederson.

In the 2013 World Baseball Classic itself, he pitched 1 2/3 shutout innings, allowing one walk and striking out two to tie Richard Salazar for the best WHIP on the Spanish staff. He played in the Dutch Hoofdklasse in 2013, going 6-5 with a 2.50 ERA for HCAW. He was 9th in ERA (between Dennis Buring and Orlando Yntema), 7th with a .219 opponent average (between David Bergman and Chris Mezger), 4th in IP (90), 6th with 77 strikeouts (between Nick Veltkamp and Jurjen van Zijl), tied for 9th in wins (with Kevin Heijstek, Kevin Miner and van Zijl) and tied for third with 14 starting pitching appearances. The veteran fell to 5-7, 3.73 for HCAW in 2014. He was 6th in innings pitched (82), 10th in Ks (51), tied for 8th in wins and tied for 4th in losses. In the 2014 European Championship, he had Spain's highest ERA, a far turnaround from the 2013 WBC. In his lone game, he relieved Cruz with a 7-5 lead in the 4th, one out and the bases loaded. He walked Shawn Zarraga, served up a grand slam to Yurendell de Caster, walked Sharlon Schoop and got Nick Urbanus to hit into a double play but Spain now trailed, 10-7, and would not come any closer. He let the first three runners reach in the 5th and they all scored on errors. In the 6th, he allowed hits to Urbanus and Randolph Oduber then walked Hainley Statia befote Borja Jones relieved and allowed a three-run triple; his line for the day read 1 2/3 IP, 5 H, 8 R, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K. Spain did get the Bronze for the event.

Returning to Spain's Division Honor for 2015, he dominated against the easier competition at 4-0, 0.83 for the Astros Valencia. He led the league in ERA (.08 ahead of Nacar) and opponent average (.143, .027 ahead of Andrés Pérez). In the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he was back in form for Spain. He relieved Cruz with a 5-1 deficit in the 6th against France. Norbert Jongerius reached on an error but Granados retired Maxime Lefevre, Felix Brown and Frédéric Hanvi, Hanvi on strikes. After Spain scored in the bottom of the inning, he was relieved by Ricardo Hernandez. In the summer of 2016, he was 7-1 with two saves and a 1.56 ERA, playing a big role in the Astros' first title. He finished 6th in ERA (between Zael Honora and Louwin Sacramento), 8th in opponent average (.217, between Jorge Balboa and Nacar), tied for 4th in wins, tied for 5th in saves and tied for 5th in games pitched (14).

During the 2016 European Championship, he allowed one run (on a Max Warren homer) in 3 1/3 IP over three games for the Silver Medal-winning Spain (their best finish since 1955, a far cry from their 2010 fate). It was the only home run Spain allowed in nine games and his 2.70 ERA was second-worst on a mighty staff; only Daniel Álvarez was higher.

Sources[edit]

Related Sites[edit]

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