Jorge Moises Piedra...he and his wife Vanessa have a daughter, Olivia...attended Notre Dame (Calif.) High School, where he played baseball and football...a quarterback on the gridiron, Jorge was a teammate of current Oakland Raiders running back Justin Fargas.
2005
Piedra became one of the most effective pinch-hitters in the major leagues while establishing career highs in nearly every category...spent a pair of stints with Colorado after beginning the season with Triple-A Colorado Springs, batting .313 with 6 home runs and 16 RBI in 61 major league games...had just 15 strikeouts with 10 walks...made 23 starts, 16 in right field, 6 in left and one as the designated hitter...batted .455 (15-for-33) with a home run, 6 doubles, 3 walks and 8 RBI as a pinch-hitter, the highest pinch average among qualifiers in the major leagues (minimum 25 plate appearances)...it was the highest average by a qualifying pinch-hitter in the major leagues in the last 8 years since Houston's Bill Spiers also hit .455 (15-for-33) as a pinch-hitter in 1997...Piedra's pinch average matches the 2nd-highest in the majors in the last 19 seasons (beginning 1987), trailing only a .481 (13-for-27) mark by the Dodgers' Jeff Treadway in 1994...was one of 9 major league players with at least 15 pinch hits in 2005...also had highest on-base percentage among qualifying pinch-hitters at .486, just a percentage point ahead of San Diego's Robert Fick (.485)...over his final 16 pinch plate appearances beginning Aug. 14, went 9-for-14 (.643) with 2 walks, including hits in final 3 and 4 of last 5 trips in a pinch role...hit .380 (19-for-50) at Coors Field, but hit 3 home runs both at home and on road...was recalled on April 6 when Dustan Mohr went on the disabled list after the first game of the year...had a pinch single on April 6 vs. San Diego and was optioned back to the Springs after the game...on April 11, Major League Baseball announced that Piedra had been suspended 10 games for violation of MLB's Joint Drug Prevention and Treatment Program...was recalled again on June 10 and would remain in the majors for the rest of the season...posted a pair of 3-hit games to match his career high...compiled career-high 7-game hit streak from Aug. 12-23, going 7-for-14 with 4 home runs, a double and 6 RBI in that span...homered in each of final 3 games in that stretch, with the home runs coming in a span of just 4 at-bats...last start came on Aug. 29 as he pinch-hit in each of his final 12 games...went 4-for-5 in his last 5 games, raising final average from .290 to .313...left the club on Sept. 20 for the remainder of the season to attend to a family issue...spent most of the first 2 months of the season with Colorado Springs, batting .312 with 6 home runs and 45 RBI in 47 games...hit .439 (25-for-57) with runners in scoring position...spent time at all 3 outfield positions, but most games came in right field...hit .347 (35-for-101) on the road, but .271 (23-for-85) in home games...had season-high 4 hits on June 3 at Las Vegas...posted season-high 4 RBI on May 10 vs. Iowa...had an 11-game hit streak from May 13-24, batting .458 (22-for-48) with 8 doubles, 3 homers, 17 RBI, 10 runs scored, and 3 walks in that stretch to raise season mark from .253 to .331...at time of final recall, ranked among PCL leaders in doubles (T3rd) and RBI (8th), and led the Sky Sox with 35 runs scored.
2004
Piedra ranked fifth in the Pacific Coast League with a .334 average to earn his first big league
promotion in early August...had his contract purchased from Colorado Springs Aug. 7 and stayed with the
Rockies the remainder of the season...Jorge hit .297 with 8 doubles, 3 homers and 10 RBI in 38 ML
games...he started 22 contests for Colorado, nine in left field, 12 in center and five in right...in his first major
league plate appearance, Aug. 7 vs. Cincinnati, Piedra laced a 2-run pinch-hit single off Paul Wilson...led
off the Aug. 24th game in Atlanta with his first career home run (off Russ Ortiz), the 23rd leadoff homer in
franchise history...went 3-for-3 with 4 runs scored on Sept. 8 vs. San Diego, matching the Rockies season
high for runs in a single game...hit safely in five straight contests, Sept. 17-25, batting .471 (8-for-17) en
route to a .311 average in September...recorded his first outfield assist Sept. 9 vs. San Diego when he
picked off Phil Nevin at first base...along with his .334 average, Piedra collected 29 doubles, 15 homers
and 55 RBI in 99 games at Colorado Springs...led the team with 33 multi-hit games...saw the majority of
his action in left field (70 games) but also played 20 contests in right and three in center...on July 1 at
Albuquerque, Jorge went 6-for-6 with 5 runs, 3 homers and 6 RBI, raising his average from .327 to
.342...batted a combined .352 (69-for-196) with 10 HR and 26 RBI in June and July.
2003
Jorge's 2003 season will be remembered most for what he did in two separate games...Piedra hit
for the cycle on April 3 at Frisco and then again on June 9 at Midland, becoming only the third minor leaguer in modern history to hit for the cycle twice in one season...Tulsa's Hank Blalock accomplished it in a three-game
span against Midland in 2001 and El Paso's Luis Terrero did it in 2002...Jorge is the only minor leaguer in Rockies history to accomplish the feat twice in a career, let alone one summer...the first cycle came in the
season opener on April 3, when Piedra belted a solo homer to leadoff the second, a single and 2-run double in the fourth and led off the eighth with a triple to complete a 5-for-6 afternoon...the second came on June 9 when he
went 4-for-4 at Midland in a game that ended in a tie due to a power outage and rain storm...singled in the top of the first, tripled in the fourth, hit a solo homer in the sixth and doubled in the eighth...for the year, Piedra
connected on a career-high 18 home runs, fifth most in the Texas League...he finished third in the league with a .513 slugging percentage...saw most of his action in right field (62 games) but also played 14 games in LF, 2 in CF
and 17 as DH...hit a grand slam on May 4 at Round Rock...batted .390 in June but was limited to 14 games due to a left hamstring strain...was on the DL from June 22 to July 26...in the midst of this injury, still hit safely in
13 straight games, June 13-Aug. 1.
2002: Began the year with Double A West Tenn in the Cubs organization before being traded to Colorado for a
player to be named on May 3...Piedra reported to the Rockies' High A affiliate in Salem and went on to enjoy perhaps his best all around season...led the Carolina League and Rockies organization with a career-best 12 triples...tied for second in the league in extra-base hits (62), was third in slugging (.556), fourth in doubles (47) and seventh in batting average (.301)...all of the above categories set career bests for a full season...was named Topps' Minor League Player of the Month for August, when he hit .347 with 10 homers and 28 RBI...was the Carolina League's "Hitter of
the Week," Aug. 22-28.
2001: Made his Double A debut with West Tenn and spent the entire year with the Diamond Jaxx...ranked fifth in the Carolina League with 6 doubles...moved around in the outfield, playing left field (62 games), right field (40) and center (25)...spent a week on the DL (April 5-13) with a left quadricep strain.
2000: Played his first 92 games with the Dodgers' Florida State League (A) affiliate in Vero Beach and then spent his last 34 games with the Cubs' FSL affiliate in Daytona...was traded to Chicago along with RHP Jamie Arnold in exchange for RHP Ismael Valdes on July 26...batted a combined .301 (150-for-499) with a career high 150 hits
and 69 RBI between the two teams.
1999: Missed the first two months of the season on the suspension list for violating club policy...played in only 23 games before seeing his season end due to a strained back...placed on DL July 31. 1998: Was a Pioneer League All-Star at Great Falls (R)...ranked second in hits (108), doubles (22), triples (7) and third in runs (72), OBP (.460) and SLG (.532)...reached base in 54 straight games June 18-Aug. 16. PERSONAL: Jorge Moises Piedra...attended Notre Dame High School in Van Nuys, Calif., where he was signed as a non-drafted free
agent by Los Angeles on Aug. 14, 1997.
2002
Led the Carolina League and the entire organization with 12 triples...named Rockies Player of the Month
for August, batting .347 (35-for-101) with 10 homers and 28 RBI.
