Marwin González


Marwin Javier González is a Venezuelan professional baseball utility player for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball. He has also played in MLB for the Houston Astros. González appeared at every position except for pitcher and catcher for the Astros. He won the 2017 World Series with the team.

Professional career

Houston Astros

González was signed as an international free agent by the Chicago Cubs on November 23, 2005. The Boston Red Sox selected González from the Cubs in the 2011 Rule 5 draft, and then traded him to the Astros for Marco Duarte.
González made the Astros' Opening Day roster in 2012. On April 2, 2013, González broke up a perfect game bid by the Texas Rangers' Yu Darvish with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. González set a Major League record by hitting his first 25 career home runs with no one on base. That streak was broken when he hit a home run on May 6, 2016 with Evan Gattis on second base.
In 2017 he batted.303/.377/.530, while seeing the lowest percentage of fastballs of all MLB hitters. In Game 2 of the 2017 World Series, González hit a home run in the ninth off Los Angeles Dodgers closer Kenley Jansen to tie the score at 3–3 and the Astros went on to win in 11 innings, 7–6. The Dodgers had previously been 98–0 on the season when leading entering the ninth inning. The World Series would go on for 7 games, and the Astros won it for the first time in franchise history. Three years later, it was revealed in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal that the team had broken MLB rules during the season. The Astros were punished, and González publicly apologized for his role in the scandal.
In 2018 he batted.247/.324/.409, and saw the highest percentage of curveballs of all MLB hitters. He decided not to re-sign with the Houston Astros and became a free agent after the 2018 season.

Minnesota Twins

On February 25, 2019, González signed a two-year contract worth $21 million with the Minnesota Twins.

Personal life

González and wife, Noel, have three children together. The couple resides in Houston, Texas.