Javy Guerra (guerrja02)

Javier Alexis Guerra Gomez

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 155-185 lb.

• Debut May 4, 2018

• Born September 25, 1995 in David, Chiriqui, Panama

BR page

Biographical Information

Shortstop Javy Guerra, also known as Javier Guerra, was signed by the Boston Red Sox as a 17-year-old before the 2013 season. The scout was Cristobal Garibaldo. He played that year with the DSL Red Sox, hitting .248 in 60 games. The next year, 2014, he moved to the United States with the GCL Red Sox, where he hit .269 in 51 games. In 2015, he played for the Greenville Drive of the South Atlantic League, where he hit .279/.329/.449 in 116 games, with 23 doubles and 15 homers, scoring 64 runs and driving in 68. He made the SAL All-Star Game.

On November 13, 2015, he was one of four prospects traded to the San Diego Padres in return for closer Craig Kimbrel, the others being P Logan Allen, IF Carlos Asuaje and OF Manuel Margot. He played for the Panamanian national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers which were held in Ciudad de Panamá in March 2016. He tied teammate Carlos Ruiz for the tournament lead with 2 homers.

Javy made his major league debut under rare circumstances. It came in a home game for the San Diego Padres on May 4, 2018, but it was not at Petco Park but at Estadio de béisbol Monterrey, in Monterrey, Nuevo León where the Padres were hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first game of a three-game series. He came in as a pinch-hitter for P Adam Cimber and struck out against Walker Buehler to lead off the 6th. Buehler had not yet allowed a hit at that point and left at the end of the inning, having reached his pitch count limit without a Padres batter having touched him. Three relief pitchers then tossed a hitless inning each, and the Padres had been the victim of a combined no-hitter. He was only 2 for 16 in his brief stint with the 2018 Padres and also had a rough time in AAA (.223/.269/.398, 166 K).

Guerra starred for the Toros de Herrera in the 2019 Caribbean Series; they were a late addition when Panama became last-minute hosts after the Series got moved from Venezuela due to political turmoil. He homered off Yuniesky Maya for Panama's first Caribbean Series run and RBI since 1960. He hit .389/.389/.722 for the event with 3 doubles, 2 runs and 3 RBI in 5 games as the Toros pulled off a stunning title; Panama's only prior Caribbean Series title came in 1950. He tied teammate Allen Córdoba for the tourney lead in average, easily led in slugging (.092 ahead of teammate Elmer Reyes), was second in OPS (.002 behind Diego Goris), tied Alfredo Despaigne, Reyes and Córdoba for the most hits (7), led in doubles, tied four others for the home run lead and led with 13 total bases (one more than Reyes). He was named Caribbean Series MVP, the first Panamanian to do so (when Panama won in 1950, American Joe Tuminelli was named MVP).

He reached the majors with the San Diego Padres in 2018 as an infielder. He was then moved to the mound in 2019 and returned to the big leagues as a pitcher.

He is not to be confused with contemporary pitcher Javy Guerra.

Related Sites

• Javy Guerra on mlb.com
• BR Minors page