Juan Muñiz

Juan Carlos Muñiz Armenteros

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 175 lb.

• Born January 28, 1976 in Havana Cuba

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Juan Muñiz has played in Cuba, the USA, Brazil and Japan.

Muñiz played five years in the Cuban Serie Nacional; an outfielder, he hit .233/.331/.307 and fielded .988. He played for the Industriales, Cuba's top team. He then defected to Brazil. Signing with the Florida Marlins, he spent two years in their farm system. He hit .280/.336/.438 for the 2005 Carolina Mudcats, solid numbers, but he was already 29 years old. In 2006, he split time between Carolina (.248/.317/.461 in 66 G) and the Jupiter Hammerheads (.239/.323/.372 in 35 G). He then played in Brazil for two years.

Muñiz signed with Japan's Chiba Lotte Marines. He spent most of his time in Japan in the minors but made it briefly to Nippon Pro Baseball, going 3 for 22 with a double in 2010. His first NPB hit came off Yoshinori Sato. He then went back to Brazil once more. He joined the Brazilian national team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers and hit .300/.364/.500 with two RBI in three games as Brazil won a spot in the World Baseball Classic for the first time. His single off Ramiro Mendoza of host Panama drove in Leonardo Reginatto with the winning run in their 3-2 upset win of the opener, setting the pace for their qualifiers. He tied Reginatto and Yan Gomes for the team lead in RBI and tied Paulo Orlando for second in slugging (behind Reginatto).

In the 2013 World Baseball Classic itself, he was 4 for 11 with a RBI, tying Reginatto for the team lead in average and OBP. He was back with Brazil in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. The 40-year-old showed he still could hit, producing at a .364/.417/.727 clip including an inside-the-park homer off Ihsan Ullah of Pakistan. He led the team in slugging (.027 ahead of former first-round draftee Dante Bichette Jr.) and was second in OPS (94 behind Bichette). He made a critical gaffe in their semifinal 4-3 loss to Great Britain, though. With two outs in the 9th, he doubled off Chris Reed. Daniel Cooper relieved and Muñiz tried to steal third but was gunned down by Chris Berset to end the game. Brazil's manager Barry Larkin said "Muniz came up with a big hit. He was certainly excited out there, and I believe in that situation he couldn't control his emotions and had a mental lapse.

Sources

• 2005 Guia Official de Beisbol
• Japanbaseballdaily by Gary Garland
• World Baseball Classic