Luis Urueta

Luis Felipe Urueta Romano

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.

• Born January 9, 1981 in Barranquilla, Atlántico Colombia

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Luis Urueta was a minor league infielder.

Urueta hit .195 in his pro debut with the 1999 DSL Diamondbacks. He came to the US in 2000 and hit .235/.349/.388 as the main 1B for the AZL Diamondbacks. He led Arizona League first basemen with 457 putouts and 39 double plays. Back in the DSL in '01, he improved to .248. He returned to the US in 2002 and played for the Missoula Osprey (.176/.229/.284, 41 K in 102 AB) and South Bend Silver Hawks (4 for 33, 2B, 11 BB). In '03, he moved to the St. Louis Cardinals chain, playing briefly for the New Jersey Cardinals (2 for 15, 6 K) and Palm Beach Cardinals (1 for 15, BB). He was also 5 for 21 with 2 walks, a double, homer and 11 whiffs for the Gary Southshore Railcats.

Urueta then played for Italy's Fortitudo Bologna club for 3 years. He hit .221/.345/.253 in 2004. In 2005, he batted only .187/.230/.239; he improved in the finals, going 7 for 23 to help his team win it all. After another meek campaign (.205/.317/.270, 1 for 26 in the playoffs), he ended his career.

Urueta has been a coach or coordinator in the Diamondbacks' chain since 2007. He was field coordinator for the DSL Diamondbacks in 2011 and a coach for the South Bend Silver Hawks in 2012. He became a manager with the AZL Diamondbacks in 2013-2014. Urueta was a coach for the Reno Aces in 2015.

Urueta coached for Colombia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers then managed them in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He guided them past former WBC teams Panama and Spain to a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, their first trip to the World Baseball Classic. Following this historic qualification, his services were also retained to skipper the national team at the WBC. In 2018, he was added to the coaching staff of the Arizona Diamondbacks replacing Ariel Prieto as the coach responsible for working with Spanish-speaking players. In 2020, he was promoted to bench coach. After the 2021 season, he stayed with the organization but without the title of coach, as he was now the Coordinator for Major League Player Development and Instruction.

In 2023, he returned to the majors leagues as bench coach of the Miami Marlins under first-year manager Skip Schumaker.

Sources

• Pat Doyle's Professional Baseball Player Database
• 2001 Baseball Almanac
• Italian Baseball Federation