Luis Rivera (riverlu02)

Luis Carlos Rivera Gutierrez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 163 lb.
• High School Colegio Entelecheia Preparatoria Abierta de Toluca
• Debut April 4, 2000
• Final Game September 20, 2000
• Born June 21, 1978 in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Mexico

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Biographical Information

Luis Rivera, prior to being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Braves in 1995, attended Colegio Entelecheia Preparatoria Abierta de Toluca.

He began his professional career in 1996 with the GCL Braves, not playing in American baseball in 1995 because he was loaned by the Braves to the Mexico City Tigers. With the GCL Braves in 1996, he went 1-1 with a 2.59 ERA.

In 1997, he pitched for the Danville Braves and Macon Braves, going a combined 5-1 with a 2.03 ERA in 13 games started. In 62 innings of work, he had 84 strikeouts and 24 walks.

Ranked the 44th best prospect in baseball in 1998 by Baseball America, Rivera went 5-5 with a 3.98 ERA for Macon that season. He struck out 118 batters in 92 2/3 innings.

Rivera was ranked the 71st best prospect in baseball by Baseball America in 1999 and the fourth best prospect in the Braves organization. That year he went 0-2 with a 3.11 ERA in 66 2/3 innings. He struck out 81 batters in 66 2/3 innings of work.

In 2000, he was ranked the 51st best prospect in baseball and the fifth best prospect in the Braves organization. He began the season on the Braves' Opening Day roster, making his big league debut on April 4th. He made 5 relief appearances for the Braves, going 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in 6 2/3 innings of work. He spent time with the GCL Braves and Richmond Braves that year too, going a combined 0-3 with a 6.82 ERA.

On July 31st, he was traded with Trenidad Hubbard and Fernando Lunar to the Baltimore Orioles for Gabe Molina and B.J. Surhoff. He appeared in only 1 game for the Orioles, allowing a walk and a hit in 2/3 of an inning on September 20th. He also appeared in 3 games with the Rochester Red Wings, going 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA.

Although he was ranked the fifth best prospect in the Orioles organization in 2001, he did not play at all that year or in 2002. On April 3, 2003, he was released by the Orioles.

He played in the Mexican League from 2005 to 2010. He managed the Bravos de León in 2017-2018 and coached for the Mexican national team in the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier.