Ofreidy Gómez

Ofreidy Gómez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 240 lb.

• Born July 6, 1995 in Pueblo Viejo, Azua D.R.

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Ofreidy Gómez started pitching in the minor leagues in 2013. He was originally signed as an international amateur free agent by the Kansas City Royals on November 3, 2012 and made his professional debut the following summer with the DSL Royals at age 17. He spent his first three seasons with the team, from 2013 to 2015, going 3-0, 3.35 the first year, 0-4, 6.17 the second, and 0-4, 3.04 the third, while increasing his innings workload each season. In 2016, he moved to the U.S. for the first time with the Burlington Royals of the Appalachian League where he went 5-4, 5.20 in 12 starts. In 2017, in his first season of full-season ball, he was 7-12, 5.18 in 28 games - 22 starts - for the Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League, logging 137 1/3 innings.

He continued to move up in 2018, when he spent the year in High-A with the Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina League, ending up at 6-10, 3.40 in 27 games and 135 innings. In 2019, he made it all the way to AAA after starting the season with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals of the Texas League. He was 7-8, 4.05 at that level, and earned a brief look with the Omaha Storm Chasers in the Pacific Coast League where he was 0-3, 6.75 in 6 games. His combined pitching line was 7-11, 4.33 in 28 games (22 starts), with 131 hits allowed in 129 innings, 119 strikeouts and 58 walks. At that point, while he had never had a dominant season, he had always been adequate or better and it looked like a major league debut would be coming sooner rather than later. Like for many other minor leaguers at the time, the COVID-19 pandemic played havoc with that timeline. He was unable to play in 2020 as the minor leagues were shut down, although he was able to work out with some of the team's better prospects at the Royals' alternate training site, a result of having been a non-roster invitee to the Royals' camp before the season was put on pause.

He had played for the Tigres del Licey in the Dominican League in the winter of 2019-2020, before the pandemic, and was able to pitch briefly for the Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan League the following winter. He also changed organizations at that time, having become a free agent after the 2020 season, and signed with the Chicago White Sox. He spent the 2021 season mostly in AA, with the Birmingham Barons in the Double-A South - the placeholder name adopted by the Southern League that year - and also was with the Charlotte Knights in AAA that year. The White Sox had decided to turn him into a reliever, and of his 31 games that season, only 5 were as a starter. He finished at 5-3, 5.01 with 2 saves, with 59 strikeouts in 50 1/3 innings. He was a free agent again after that season and moved to the Philadelphia Phillies. He was dominant in AA with the Reading Fightin Phils, with an ERA of 1.35 in 14 games, but struggled in AAA with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, where his ERA was 8.49 in 24 games. Overall, he went 1-3, 5.19 with 2 saves in 38 games between the two stops, but once again struck out well over a batter per inning (55 in 43 1/3 innings).

After playing for Licey in the winter of 2022-23, he joined his fourth organization in four years in 2023, this time the Baltimore Orioles who invited him to spring training. On february 28th, the Orioles made an unusual arrangement with the Pittsburgh Pirates to allow Ofreidy to pitch to live batters. The Orioles had gone to Bradenton, FL that day, and he was scheduled to work the 9th. However, the Pirates were ahead, 7-4, after the top of the 9th and the game was officially over. However, the two teams agreed to still play the bottom of the inning to allow Ofreidy to get his work in. Only problem was, the umpires had left, having completing their day's work, so his catcher, Maverick Handley pulled double duty, calling balls and strikes while catching his offerings. He allowed a single but no runs in the additional half inning.