Jordan Pacheco

Jordan Patrick Pacheco

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.
• School University of New Mexico
• High School La Cueva High School
• Debut September 6, 2011
• Final Game May 31, 2016
• Born January 30, 1986 in Albuquerque, NM USA

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Biographical Information

Jordan Pacheco was South Atlantic League MVP in 2009.

Pacheco backed up Tony Thomas for Team USA in the 2002 Youth COPABE Qualifying Tournament; he was 0 for 6 with a run. As a junior in 2003, he hit .545 and had a 3-0, 2.37 record; he led his school to state titles in both baseball and basketball. As a senior, he batted .500 and had a 4-0, 3.58 record and had his team ranked 6th in the nation by Baseball America at year's end. He was All-State in both baseball and basketball (15.1 PPG).

Pacheco burst onto the college baseball season as a freshman in 2005. He hit .408 with 15 homers. Collegiate Baseball named him third-team All-American, the first freshman All-American in UNM history. He finished 13th in NCAA Division I in slugging, 14th in runs and 18th in average (edging out Jon Jay). He was named All-Mountain West Conference at second base. He finished second in the MWC in average behind Quintin Berry and his 95 hits were one shy of Berry's lead.

As a sophomore, Pacheco batted .351 with 79 runs. He tied Craig Cooper and Shane Robinson for second in NCAA Division I in runs, four behind leader Cole Gillespie. He led the MWC in runs and was second in hits (87), doubles (21) and walks (39) and third in OBP (.461). He repeated as All-Conference at second base.

He continued his strong play as a junior. He hit .397/.511/.580 to lead the MWC in OBP, runs (63), doubles (21) and walks (43) while placing second in average to Keith Conlon. Pacheco was named MWC All-Conference at second and also took home the league's Player of the Year award.

The Colorado Rockies took Jordan in the 9th round of the 2007 amateur draft. He was signed by scout Mike Ericson and split his first pro campaign between the Casper Rockies (.292/.380/.411 in 55 G) and Tri-City Dust Devils (.258/.324/.323 in 8 G). He fielded .933 overall as a utility infielder.

In 2008, Pacheco returned to Tri-City and hit .280/.368/.360 while transitioning to catcher. He struck out once per 10.7 at-bats, the best rate in the Northwest League. Struggling defensively at his new position, he led the NWL's backstops in passed balls (21) and errors (8, tied).

Pacheco blossomed in 2009, producing at a .322/.379/.492 rate for the Asheville Tourists with 30 doubles, 13 homers and 79 RBI. He was second in the South Atlantic League in average (behind teammate Kiel Roling), sixth in slugging and 7th in OBP. He was named the SAL's All-Star catcher as well as the league MVP. Baseball America did not rate him as one of the league's top 20 prospects although four other catchers were picked - Derek Norris, Tony Sanchez, Tim Federowicz and Travis D'Arnaud.

In 2010, the New Mexico native hit .321/.407/.444 for the Modesto Nuts and .333/.396/.436 in 21 games for the Tulsa Drillers (called up when Wilin Rosario had a season-ending injury) while improving his defense at catcher. For the year, he banged out 32 doubles and drove in 89. He was named the California League's All-Star backstop. He was the league's hardest-to-fan batter (10.83 AB/K) and was 5th in average, behind Kyle Seager, Jake Shaffer, Jose Flores and Francisco Peguero. He made Team USA's roster for the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament, splitting the catching with Erik Kratz. His 2-run double in the 12th off Edgar Martinez put the US ahead for good against Venezuela. The US tied for third, winning a spot in the 2011 Pan American Games and 2011 Baseball World Cup.

In 2011, he hit .278/.343/.377 for the Colorado Springs Sky Sox and allowed 80% of opponent base-stealers to steal successfully.

Jordan Pacheco went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs in his major league debut with the Rockies against the Arizona Diamondbacks on September 6, 2011. He singled off Josh Collmenter in his first at-bat. With Rosario catching that day for Colorado, Pacheco played third base, even though he had only spent five games there with the 2011 Sky Sox. He was the second major league position player from the University of New Mexico, following Matt Young by 5 months.

Following him major league debut season, Pacheco played another ten years of professional baseball. He played in the major leagues with the Rockies, the Diamondbacks, and the Cincinnati Reds through 2016. Apart from the 2012 season when he appeared in 132 games, Pacheco served more as a bench player rather than a starter. Overall, he hit .272/.310/.365 as a major leaguer while appearing in 377 games.

Pacheco returned to the minor leagues for good in 2018-2019. He played in the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners organizations, mostly at AAA. After the lost 2020 season due to COVID-19, he finished his playing career with the Lexington Legends of the independent Atlantic League. He announced his retirement on August 3, 2021 and then spent the final weeks of the 2021 season coaching with the Grand Junction Rockies of the newly independent Pioneer League.

Post-Playing Career

Pacheco became hitting coach of the Albuquerque Isotopes in 2022-2024.

Notable Achievements

• 2009 MVP South Atlantic League Asheville Tourists

Sources

• 2003-2011 Baseball Almanacs
• 2010 Rockies Media Guide
• UNM bio

Related Sites

• Jordan Pacheco on mlb.com