Rene Cortez

Renee A. Cortez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4", Weight 180 lb.

• Born December 9, 1982 in Valencia Venezuela

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Rene Cortez peaked at AAA.

Cortez was signed by scout Pedro Avila for the Seattle Mariners in 2000. He debuted that summer with San Felipe, going 2-3 with 3 saves and a 1.80 ERA. In '01, was 2-0 with a 4.42 ERA for the AZL Mariners, walking only 10 in 53 innings while striking out 52, a very good K/BB ratio. At age 19, he went 5-8 with a 4.12 ERA for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers and 1-3, 3.56 for the AZL M's.

During the 2003 campaign, the right-hander made strides with Wisconsin (4-2, 4 Sv, 2.91, 51 K in 46 1/3 IP) and the Inland Empire 66ers (0-1, 3 Sv, 1.66, .133 opponent average in 16 G). He joined the Cardenales de Lara in the Venezuelan Winter League. Cortez made it to AA with the San Antonio Missions and was 2-5 with 3 saves, a 4.44 ERA and .300 opponent average in 36 games.

In 2005, Rene was 5-3 with 10 saves and a 3.96 ERA for San Antonio. He missed 15 games due to a suspension, violating minor league baseball's drug program rules. The next year, he did okay (5-3, 5 Sv, 4.18) in 31 games for the AAA Tacoma Rainiers and was 1-0 for the AZL Mariners, presumably on a rehab stint.

Cortez ended his minor league career in 2007, going 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA in nine outings for Tacoma and allowing one unearned run in one inning for the AZL Mariners. He was with the Venezuelan national team for the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games and 2010 Pan American Games Qualification Tournament. Cortez continued to play winter ball in Venezuela through the 2017/2018 season.

Cortez became a pitching coach with the DSL Cardinals Blue in 2018 and DSL Cardinals Red in 2019. The Cardinals promoted him to pitching coach for the Johnson City Cardinals in 2020 before the minor league season was cancelled due to COVID-19.