William Cuevas

William Enrique Cuevas Osorio

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 160 lb.

• Debut April 21, 2016
• Final Game September 28, 2018
• Born October 14, 1990 in Caracas, Distrito Federal, Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher William Cuevas began playing in the Boston Red Sox minor league system in 2009 after being signed by the team as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 2008. He was signed by scout Angel Escobar.

He was mostly a relief pitcher to start his career, posting ERAs of 3.17, 3.11, 2.19 and 1.40 from 2009 to 2012, respectively, while pitching for the DSL Red Sox (2009-2011), GCL Red Sox (2011) and Lowell Spinners (2012). To compliment his 1.40 ERA in 2012, Cuevas added a record of 8-2 and The Baseball Cube ranked him the best pitcher in the New York-Penn League that year. Amazingly, he did not lead the league in ERA as Hansel Robles was at 1.11. Cuevas tied for 8th in wins and was third in strikeouts (72, between Rainy Lara and Jeff Ames).

After becoming a full-time starter for 2013, Cuevas went 8-9 with a 5.05 ERA in 26 games for the Salem Red Sox that year. He returned to Salem to begin 2014, going 2-6 with a 4.70 ERA. He allowed five runs in 2 2/3 IP in winter ball for the Tiburones de La Guaira. In the summer of 2015, he was sharper with the Portland Sea Dogs (8-5, 3.40) and Pawtucket Red Sox (3-2, 2.63). He held righties to a .196 average for the year. In the 2015 Eastern League All-Star Game, he got the start for the East. He retired Max Moroff, Rando Moreno and Yandy Diaz in order then was replaced by Brady Lail. For the year, he tied Kevin McAvoy and Aaron Wilkerson for the most wins by a Red Sox minor leaguer, was second with 128 K (9 behind Wilkerson) and was third in ERA (after Wilkerson and Henry Owens).

Following his strong summer, he was 1-0 with a 4.07 ERA in the winter for the Tiburones. He then joined the Colombian national team for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Starting in their opener against defending WBC team Spain, he allowed only one hit (to Jesús Ustariz) and one walk (to Yunesky Sanchez) in four shutout frames before Kendy Batista took over; Cuevas got the win in a 9-2 decision. He was followed by two more strong starts for Colombia - Karl Triana pitched six hitless innings in Game 2 and Nabil Crismatt allowed one run in 3 1/3 IP in game 3; the Colombian starters had not allowed an earned run in their first 13 innings, a big part of why Colombia won their pool to earn a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, their first trip to a World Baseball Classic.

He began the 2016 season in the minor leagues with Pawtucket, making two starts before getting the call to Boston on April 20th, replacing an injured Joe Kelly. He made his debut the following day when he gave up 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings and was charged with a 12-8 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays. He had come in at the start of the 7th inning with the Red Sox trailing, 8-7, but after his teammates tied the score in the bottom of the inning, he gave up a run on a double to Steven Souza in the 8th, and one more in the 9th, when Noe Ramirez let the game slip completely out of control after he took over for him with one out and one on.

Related Sites

• William Cuevas on mlb.com
• BR Minors page