Juan Carlos Gamboa

Juan Carlos Gamboa

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 7", Weight 155 lb.

• Born April 18, 1991 in Los Mochis, Sinaloa MEX

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Infielder Juan Carlos Gamboa played a few seasons in the New York Mets organization, but has spent the bulk of his career in the Mexican League for the Diablos Rojos del México. He was a key member of their most recent championship squad in 2014. He has also played regularly in the Mexican Pacific League, first with his hometown team, the Cañeros de Los Mochis and later with the Yaquis de Obregon following a trade for pitcher Daniel Duarte.

He was signed by the Mets in 2010 and hit .294/.388/.380 in 61 games for the DSL Mets 1 that season; he also played 5 games for Mexico City. He moved to the U.S. in 2011, playing for three teams - the GCL Mets, Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League and the Savannah Sand Gnats of the South Atlantic League. In 40 games, he hit .303/.373/.444 and the Mets also allowed him to play 21 games for the Red Devils, where he hit .265. In 2012, he had a down season for the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League, hitting .186 in 39 games, and returning in 2013, he hardly did better, with a .195 average in 32 games. The Mets let him go after that season, and he became a regular with Mexico City.

In 2014, he had a very solid season, batting .306 in 95 games with 7 homers and 50 RBIs. However, his career highlight came in the championship series, where his team faced the Pericos de Puebla. On September 11th, Mexico City headed into the 9th inning with a 6-5 lead, only to see Puebla score three runs to take the lead. But Mexico rallied to tie the game with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning, setting the stage for Juan Carlos who hit a game-ending and series-ending home run in the 10th inning, completing a four-game sweep of the championship for the Red Devils. He continued as a solid regular over the following seasons, hitting .324 in 84 games in 2015, then .321 in 90 games in 2016. Even though he was best known for a dramatic homer, he was not really a slugger, which is not too surprising given he stands only 5' 7", but his hitting was always above average. Unfortunately, while the powerhouse team from the capital made the postseason year after year, it could not reproduce its success from 2014 and as of 2022 was still looking for its next championship. Gamboa was still around, hitting .345 in 99 games when offensive numbers went through the roof across La Liga in 2019, then after being forced to sit out the 2020 season when the league shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, came back to hit .297 in 45 games in 2021, and .363 in 74 games in 2022.

In winter ball, while Los Mochis was not traditionally a strong team, he has made it to the Caribbean Series twice after moving to Obregon, albeit not with his regular team. In the 2020 Caribbean Series, he was added to the roster of the Tomateros de Culiacan, since participating teams are allowed to add a few players from their domestic leagues to strengthen their rosters. Culiacan made it to semi-finals and he was one of their best hitters, going 6 for 14 (.429). The same happened in 2021, and once again he was part of a team that reached the event's semi-finals, but he played less of a role, going just 2 for 10.