Ricky Gutiérrez

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ricardo "Ricky" Gutiérrez is a right-handed second baseman who played with the Chicago White Sox. He is 6'1", 195 pounds, without a college education. Previously, he played for the San Diego Padres (1993-94), Houston Astros (1995-99), Chicago Cubs (2000-01, 2004), Cleveland Indians (2003) and New York Mets (2004). He was traded by the Cubs to Boston in July 2004.

Gutiérrez is a reliable player who gives a club total effort and can be valuable as a utility player. A former shortstop, he moved to second base in the 2002 season. He spent most of his career in the National League and had some problems adjusting to American League pitching.

Gutiérrez is a line-drive fastball hitter and is an excellent bunter. He has a difficult time with breaking balls, and he can be overpowered by inside hard stuff. He hits lefthanders fairly well, and he receives a significant number of walks. As a baserunner, Gutiérrez is almost painfully slow, but he rarely makes a mistake on the bases and will take an extra base whenever the opportunity arises. In the field, he has decent range, an above-average arm, but at times he will hurry his throws unnecessarily, causing the ball to sink or sail.

In 11 seasons, Gutiérrez batted .268 with 38 HR, 349 RBI, 463 runs, 138 doubles, 25 triples, and 49 stolen bases in 1074 games.