Josué Peley

Josué Jesus Peley (Neno)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 180 lb.
• School Seminole State College
• High School Polyvalente Edouard-Montpetit

• Born December 24, 1987 in Valencia, Carabobo Venezuela

BR register page

Biographical Information

Josué Peley has played in the minors and for the Canadian national team. He was the first official translator of the Toronto Blue Jays.

He was born in Venezuela and moved to Canada when he was young. He played for Canada in the 2015 U18 Pan American Championship. The Washington Nationals took him in the 25th round of the 2005 amateur draft, one pick before fellow Canadian Taylor Green. He did not sign and went on to junior college. The Pittsburgh Pirates then chose him in the 35th round of the 2006 amateur draft; the scout was Mike Leuzinger.

Peley hit .252/.290/.348 for the 2007 GCL Pirates and threw out 32% of opponent base-stealers. With the '08 State College Spikes, he was at .191/.244/.226. Moving up to the West Virginia Power, he hit .188/.246/.232 and threw out 44%. He was the team's most-used catcher, but after Pittsburgh added first-round pick Tony Sanchez, his playing time fell. He opened 2010 back with the Power and batted .179/.222/.239 in 19 games. He was then traded to the Boston Red Sox for Jonathan Van Every. He hit .291/.325/.400 in 31 games for the Lowell Spinners and was 0 for 21 with a walk for the Portland Sea Dogs.

In 2011, he played for the Greenville Drive (.313/.370/.396 in 13 G) and Salem Red Sox (.276/.311/.325 in 36 G). He then moved to the independent leagues, batting .299/.330/.439 for Les Capitales de Québec with 79 RBI in 97 games and 10 steals in 12 tries. He tied for sixth in the Canadian-American Association with 23 doubles and was second in RBI (five behind Keith Brachold). He fielded .996 at catcher and threw out half of those who tried to steal, but also saw regular action at 1B and 3B. He was named the All-Star catcher. In 2013, he was steady at .303/.337/.433 with 20 doubles and 14 swipes while only being caught three times. He tied Ernie Banks Jr. for 5th in RBI (59). Les Capitales repeated and he was again the ALl-Star catcher.

Josué hit .286/.311/.436 for Québec in 2014, then .233/.291/.318 in 2015, playing at least ten games at catcher, first, short and third. He then left the team to become the first official interpreter for the Blue Jays. He returned to Les Capitales briefly in 2019, going 9 for 22 (.409) with two doubles. He was a utility man for Canada in the 2020 Americas Olympic Qualifier but did not get into a game.

In 2022, he served as a guest analyst for French-language television network Réseau des Sports on their World Series broadcasts.