José Osuna

José Gregorio Osuna

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 240 lb.

• Debut April 18, 2017

• Born December 12, 1992 in Bocono, Trujillo Venezuela

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Biographical Information

José Osuna made his major league debut in 2017.

Osuna was signed by Pittsburgh Pirates scouts Rene Gayo and Rodolfo Petit in December 2009. He had a strong pro debut with the 2010 VSL Pirates, hitting .251/.325/.465 with 10 homers and 43 RBI in 64 games. He led the Venezuelan Summer League in home runs (two more than Marlon Sucre), tied for 3rd with 16 doubles (behind Ronald Torreyes and Erick Soto), was 3rd in RBI (behind Franklin Paz and Miguel Brito), tied Breyvic Valera for 3rd with 100 total bases, ranked 5th in slugging (between Valera and Jonathan Quinonez), was 9th in OPS and was second to Torreyes with 26 extra-base hits.

In 2011, he played for the GCL Pirates (.331/.400/.511, 32 RBI in 48 G) and the State College Spikes (2 for 8, BB). He was third in the Gulf Coast League in average (behind Brandon Eckerle and Dante Bichette Jr.), tied Ecerkely for second in hits (59, 8 behind Bichette) and tied Roderick Bernadina and Jonathan Schwind for second with 14 doubles (3 behind Bichette). Moving to full-season ball in 2012, he set a West Virginia Power club record with nine home runs in July, finishing the year with a .280/.324/.454 line, 36 doubles, 16 home runs and 72 RBI. He tied Austin Barnes for 6th in the South Atlantic League in doubles, tied for 9th in homers and was two away from the top 10 in RBI. He tied Gregory Polanco, Jeff Clement and Alen Hanson for second in the Bucs farm system in homers, two shy of teammate Willy Garcia.

With the Bradenton Marauders in 2013, he struggled in a pitcher-friendly environment, hitting .244/.298/.357 with 8 homers. He showed surprising speed for a big man, stealing 18 bases in 24 tries. He also made his Venezuelan Winter League debut, going 3 for 7 with two doubles and two walks for the Navegantes del Magallanes. He batted .296/.347/.458 in a second trial with Bradenton, in 2014. He finished 5th in the Florida State League in average (between Jake Cave and Colin Moran), 2nd in slugging (.044 behind teammate Josh Bell) and 4th in OPS (between Patrick Leonard and Viosergy Rosa). Among Pirates minor leaguers, only Bell and Elias Diaz had better averages. He did not make the FSL All-Star team as Rosa was picked at 1B.

Magallanes dealt him, veteran slugger Eliezer Alfonzo and Yorman Rodriguez to the Braves de Margarita for big league pitcher Yusmeiro Petit and Jonathan Herrera. He was only 3 for 26 with two walks and two doubles in 2013-2014, mostly backing up Alfonzo at 1B. Splitting the summer of 2015 between Bradenton and the Altoona Curve, the Trujillo native produced at a .282/.333/.431 clip in 44 games for Bradenton and .288/.327/.437 in 85 for the Curve. He was third in the Pirates chain with 32 doubles (behind Jordan Luplow and Michael Suchy) and led in RBI (81, 3 more than Bell). He appeared blocked at 1B by Bell, who was the same age and a better prospect and saw more at the corner outfield slots (where Pittsburgh appeared set with young starters Starling Marte and Gregory Polanco).

He was a starter for the Bravos in 2015-2016, hitting .330/.395/.519 with 13 doubles, 9 homers, 31 runs and 30 RBI in 59 games while alternating between LF and 1B. He was 9th in the league in average (between Felix Perez and Jeremy Hazelbaker), tied Breyvic Valera for 8th in runs, was 5th in hits (70), tied David Adams and Rangel Ravelo for 6th in doubles (13), tied Jairo Perez and Carlos Rivero for second in homers (two behind Alex Cabrera), tied Perez for the most total bases (110), ranked 4th in slugging (between Perez and Hazelbaker) and was 5th in OPS (between Brian Burgamy and Alex Romero). He was named Rookie of the Year, ending a four-year run of winners from the Tiburones de La Guaira and the first winner in the Bravos' history.

He had another solid summer in 2016, hitting .269/.329/.435 in 70 games for Altoona and .291/.333/.482 in 63 games for the Indianapolis Indians, with 37 doubles and 69 RBI on the year. He led Pirates farmhands in doubles (7 ahead of Willy Garcia), tied Logan Hill for 6th with 13 home runs and led in RBI. His second winter for Margarita wasn't as good as the first - .279/.361/.387, though he did tie for 4th in the league with 15 doubles. He had a strong spring training for Pittsburgh in 2017 but the team opted not to take a fourth outfielder entering the season, relying on more versatile infielders like Adam Frazier and Josh Harrison to fill in the outfield as needed. His stay in Indianapolis was relatively brief though - after 10 games (.250/.341/.389), he was first called up to the major leagues on April 18th, replacing Pirates CF Starling Marte who had been handed an 80-game suspension for PED use. He made his debut that same day, pinch-hitting for John Jaso in the 7th and grounding into a double play off against Brett Cecil of the St. Louis Cardinals. He became the team's most-used player in a rotation in right field over the next few weeks. His first MLB hit was a triple off CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees.

Sources

• Pura Pelota
• 2015 Pirates Media Guide

Related Sites

• Jose Osuna on mlb.com
• BR Register page