| Oscar González | |
| Team: | New York Yankees |
| Position: | Outfielder |
| Birth Date: | 10 January 1998 |
| Birth Place: | Sabana Grande de Palenque, Dominican Republic |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | MLB |
| Debutdate: | May 26 |
| Debutyear: | 2022 |
| Debutteam: | Cleveland Guardians |
| Statleague: | MLB |
| Statyear: | 2023 season |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .269 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 13 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 55 |
| Teams: | |
Oscar Luis González (born January 10, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder in the New York Yankees organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Guardians.
González signed as an international free agent with the Cleveland Indians on July 2, 2014, for a $300,000 signing bonus.[1] [2] He played for the DSL Indians in 2015, hitting .203/.266/.324/.590 with 4 home runs and 38 runs batted in.[3] González split the 2016 season between the AZL Indians and the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, hitting a combined .297/.340/.554/.894 with 8 home runs and 26 runs batted in.[4] He was named the 2016 Arizona League most valuable player.[5] He spent the 2017 season with Mahoning Valley, hitting .283/.301/.388/.689 with 3 home runs and 34 runs batted in.[3]
González spent the 2018 season with the Lake County Captains, hitting .292/.310/.435/.745 with 13 home runs and 52 runs batted in.[6] He split the 2019 season between the Lynchburg Hillcats and the Akron RubberDucks, hitting a combined .293/.315/.418/.733 with 9 home runs and 70 runs batted in.[3] He did not play a minor league game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
González elected free agency on November 7, 2021, and re-signed with the Indians to a minor league contract the same day.
The Guardians selected González's contract on May 26, 2022.[7] He made his major league debut that same day, starting in right field versus the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park. He singled on a line drive to center field off starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the top of the second for his first hit. In the ninth inning, he hit his first major league double.[8] On June 10, 2022, versus the Oakland Athletics, González achieved his first major league four-hit game.[9] González became the Guardians' starting right fielder by the end of the regular season.[10] His walk-up song is the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song, chosen because "deep inside I feel like a kid".[11] On June 19, González hit his first career home run off of Los Angeles Dodgers starter Andrew Heaney.[12]
On October 8, 2022, González hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 15th inning to eliminate the Tampa Bay Rays from the 2022 American League Wild Card Series and send the Guardians to the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees.[13] In the bottom of the 9th inning of Game 3 of the ALDS, with the bases loaded and two outs, González hit a walk-off single to give the Guardians a 2-1 series lead.[14] The Guardians would go on to lose the series in 5 games. During the 2022 Playoffs, Gonzalez hit .226 with 4 runs batted in and 1 home run.
On December 1, 2023, Gonzalez was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees.[15] However on January 17, 2024, he was designated for assignment after the signing of Marcus Stroman was made official.[16] On January 24, González cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple–A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.[17] On March 26, during a spring training game, González fouled a ball off of his face and was later diagnosed with an orbital fracture.[18] [19] He began the season on the injured list as a result of the injury and was activated on April 30.[20]