Luis Urueta
Luis Felipe Urueta Romano (born January 9, 1981) is a Colombian professional baseball coach, manager and former soccer goalkeeper. He is a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB).
| Luis Urueta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona Diamondbacks – No. 60 | |||
| Infielder / Coach | |||
| Born: January 9, 1981 Barranquilla, Colombia | |||
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| Teams | |||
As coach
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Professional career
Minor leagues
Luis Urueta was a minor league infielder.
Urueta hit .195 in his pro debut with the 1999 DSL Diamondbacks. He came to the US in 2000 and hit .235/.349/.388 as the main 1B for the AZL Diamondbacks. He led Arizona League first basemen with 457 putouts and 39 double plays. Back in the DSL in '01, he improved to .248. He returned to the US in 2002 and played for the Missoula Osprey (.176/.229/.284, 41 K in 102 AB) and South Bend Silver Hawks (4 for 33, 2B, 11 BB). In '03, he moved to the St. Louis Cardinals chain, playing briefly for the New Jersey Cardinals (2 for 15, 6 K) and Palm Beach Cardinals (1 for 15, BB). He was also 5 for 21 with 2 walks, a double, homer and 11 whiffs for the Gary Southshore Railcats.
Urueta then played for Italy's Fortitudo Bologna club for 3 years. He hit .221/.345/.253 in 2004. In 2005, he batted only .187/.230/.239; he improved in the finals, going 7 for 23 to help his team win it all. After another meek campaign (.205/.317/.270, 1 for 26 in the playoffs), he ended his career.
Coaching career
Minor league coach
Urueta has been a coach or coordinator in the Diamondbacks' chain since 2007. He was field coordinator for the DSL Diamondbacks in 2011 and a coach for the South Bend Silver Hawks in 2012. He became a manager with the AZL Diamondbacks in 2013-2014. Urueta was a coach for the Reno Aces in 2015.
Urueta coached for Colombia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers then managed them in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He guided them past former WBC teams Panama and Spain to a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, their first trip to the World Baseball Classic. Following this historic qualification, his services were also retained to skipper the national team at the WBC.
Urueta served as manager of the Liga Dominicana de Beisbol Profesional team Tigres de Licey.
Major league coach
In 2018, Urueta was hired to be a coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB).[1]
References