Luis Mateo (minors03)

Luis Gonzalez Mateo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175 lb.

• High School Jose Rojas Cortez Superior School

• Born May 23, 1990 in Bayamon Puerto Rico

BR page

Biographical Information

Infielder Luis Mateo peaked at AAA, spending three seasons there. He has won a couple Gold Medals with the Puerto Rican national team through 2019.

He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the 20th round of the 2008 amateur draft, one pick before Aaron Barrett. He was used as a utility infielder that summer by the GCL Cardinals (.274/.338/.363 in 33 G) and Johnson City Cardinals (.284/.312/.341), stealing 15 bases in 18 tries and scoring 31 runs. He tied Colby Rasmus and Shane Robinson for 10th among Cards farmhands in steals. He made his winter ball debut with the Gigantes de Carolina, going 2 for 9 with two doubles while backing up Rubén Gotay at 2B.

Mateo hit better for the 2009 Johnson City team but only got into 26 games (.344/.374/.538). In the winter, he was 1 for 5 with Carolina; again his hit was a double. In 2010, he moved up to the Quad Cities River Bandits, hitting .249/.335/.372 while scoring 60 runs. He split time between 2B and 3B. His five triples tied him for 8th in the Cards system. He was 2 for 13 with the 2010-2011 Gigantes, this time his hits being singles rather than doubles.

With the 2011 Palm Beach Cardinals, he hit .179/.239/.239 in an off-year; he was 4 for 11 for Quad Cities and did not appear for Carolina in the winter. He rebounded with Quad Cities in 2012, posting a .257/.312/.420 batting line and going 18-for-24 in steals. He scored 70 runs and hit 12 homers. He also fielded .980 as their main second sacker. He tied Eugenio Velez and Colin Walsh for 6th in the Cards chain in runs; he was also 6th in steals, 9th in homers and 7th in RBI. He led Midwest League second basemen in fielding percentage, assists (325) and double plays (76).

Back with Caguas that winter, he hit .313/.345/.403 with 7 steals in 7 tries and made the league's All-Star team. Only Christian Colon had more swipes in the Puerto Rican League and was 7th in average, between Enrique Hernandez and Andy Gonzalez. He reinforced the Criollos de Caguas as their shortstop for the 2013 Caribbean Series and hit .273/.273/.318 but made three errors in six games.

Mateo spent most of 2013 as a middle infielder for the Springfield Cardinals, hitting .237/.276/.318, and he also made it briefly to AAA with the Memphis Redbirds (4 for 14, 2 BB). In the winter, he hit .230/.305/.283 for Caguas. Still only 24 years old, he was with Memphis for most of 2014, backing up Greg Garcia at 2B and Pete Kozma at SS; he hit .238/.278/.345. He also got into 21 games for Springfield, batting .278/.313/.316. With Caguas in the winter, he batted .256/.294/.427. His four homers tied Trever Adams, Rey Navarro and Gotay for 5th in the league. The Los Angeles Dodgers signed him and he played with the Tulsa Drillers (.258/.288/.353 in 50 G) and Oklahoma City Dodgers (1 for 14, BB). They let him go in mid-July; the Atlanta Braves signed him later that month and he played for the Mississippi Braves (3 for 13) and the Gwinnett Braves (.194/.223/.287 in 32 G). His hitting struggles continued into the winter, when he batted .193/.245/.205 for Caguas. He played for the independent Somerset Patriots in 2016, fielding .974 at short while posting a .216/.266/.386 batting line in 26 games. He barely played for the Criollos in 2016-2017 (1 for 4, BB, SB, R) and 2017-2018 (1 for 6, R).

The veteran infielder then played for the Puerto Rican national team. In the 2018 Central American and Caribbean Games, he started at second base as his country won their first baseball Gold of the 21st Century. He certainly played a key part, hitting .478/.478/.696 with 5 runs, 8 RBI and 2 steals in 5 games, fielding .969. He had two hits and two RBI in a win over the Dominican national team, 2 runs and 2 RBI against Mexico and 5 hits and 3 RBI versus Nicaragua. He led the event in RBI (one ahead of Reynaldo Rodríguez and Gerald Chin), was 2nd in slugging (.193 behind Chin), tied for 2nd in steals (one behind teammate Ozzie Martínez), was 3rd in average (behind Alexander Ayala and Chin) and tied Ayala and Carlos Benítez for 6th in runs.

In the 2019 Pan American Games, he hit .176/.176/.176 and handled 19 chances error-free at second entering the finale; in the Gold Medal Game, he was 1 for 4 with a walk and a RBI as Puerto Rico topped defending champion Canada for his second Gold Medal in two years. He split second base with Jack López and Jesmuel Valentín in the 2019 Premier 12, playing one game, against Venezuela. He struck out against Williams Pérez, flew out against Dedgar Jiménez and was hit by a pitch from Andrés Sotillet.