Signed by the Astros as a 19-year old, non-drafted free agent out of Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico on March 2, 2015...signed by Astros scouts Oz Ocampo, Carlos Alfonso and Raul Lopez...Formerly known as José Luis Hernandez, José began going by the last name of Urquidy, at the start of the 2019 season...Urquidy made the change in honor of his mother, Alma Urquidy, who raised him in Mazatlán, supported his baseball journey and prioritized his school, delaying his professional signing until the age of 19..Is one of 11 Mexican-born players to appear in at least one game for the Astros and is one of seven pitchers...has pitched more innings (177.2) as an Astro than any other Mexican-born player, besting RHP Aurelio Lopez, who pitched 116.0 innings for the Astros in the 1986-87 seasons...In 2019, became just the second Mexican-born pitcher to earn a win as a starter in the World Series joining LHP Fernando Valenzuela, who did so in 1981...that feat earned him a meeting with Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who hosted him at his office in Mexico City...José has a pet pig named Josefa, who was named by combining Jose and his wife's name, Estefania... Josefa is a favorite of Astros sideline reporter Julia Morales, who featured the pig on an Astros broadcast in the 2021 season...Jose and Estefania married this offseason in their native Mexico... Was added to the 40-man roster on July 2, 2019, the date of his MLB debut...was left unprotected in the 2018 Rule 5 Draft, but went undrafted...has accumulated just over two years of service time across parts of three Major League seasons.
2021
Made 20 starts for the Astros, missing time with two IL stints, both for shoulder issues...allowed two or fewer earned runs in 14 of his 20 starts...Known as an aggressive strike-thrower, he ranked third in the AL in walks per 9.0 (1.60) and sixth in strikeouts to walk ratio (4.74) (min. 105 IP)...Was an extreme fly ball pitcher, posting the third-lowest ground ball percentage (32.2%) and the fifth-lowest ground ball to fly ball ratio (0.76) in the Majors (min. 105 IP)...Made his first career OPENING DAY roster and started the club's fourth game of the season. Finished the season on a four-game winning streak, spanning his last eight regular-season starts... Combined to go 2-1 with an 8.22 ERA (7ER/7.2IP) in three POSTSEASON games (two starts)...Did not pitch in the Division Series, despite being originally scheduled to pitch Game 4, which was delayed due to weather...with the game being pushed back, the Game 4 start went to RHP Lance McCullers Jr. on full rest...instead made his 2021 postseason debut in Game 3 of the LCS at BOS (5ER/1.2IP)...rebounded from his rough LCS start to make two great pitching performances in the World Series, earning wins in both outings...In the World Series, started Game 2 vs. ATL (2ER/5IP) to pitch the Astros to a 7-2 victory...came on in relief in Game 5 (0ER/1IP) and picked up the win in relief...Is now 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA (2ER/11.2IP) in four career World Series apps. (2 starts)...according to MLB Stats, Urquidy has the most World Series wins by a foreign-born player in MLB history...He’s also the only Mexican-born pitcher with multiple wins in the Fall Classic.
2020
Began the season on the Injured List due to a positive test for COVID-19...was quarantined in his home for over a month before registering the negative tests required to return to action...had to build back up strength and stamina after the layoff, delaying his return until Sept. 5...Upon his return, held the opposition to two runs or fewer in all five of his starts, which came in September...prior to Urquidy, the last Astros pitcher to begin a season by allowing two runs or fewer in each of his first five starts was Gerrit Cole in 2018...In September ranked tied for seventh in the American League in ERA and seventh in WHIP (1.01)...Ended the season with a career-long streak of four consecutive quality starts...Made four POSTSEASON appearances (three starts), going 0-1 with a 4.02 ERA (7ER/15.2IP), six walks and 12 strikeouts...started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series at MIN, Game 3 of the ALDS vs. OAK, and Game 3 of the ALCS vs. TB...appeared in relief in Game 7 of the ALCS at TB.
2019
Had an impressive nine-game showing in the Majors with Houston after making his MLB debut...recorded 40 strikeouts to just seven walks, while going 2-1 with a 3.95 ERA (18ER/41IP)...allowed one run-or-fewer in each of his last four appearances of the season, posting a 1.50 ERA (3ER/18.0IP)...became the first homegrown Mexican-born player to appear in a game for the Astros...overall, became the 10th Mexican-born player to appear in a game for Houston, and just the second Mexican-born pitcher to start a game for Houston, joining RHP Edgar Gonzalez, who started six games for the 2012 Astros...became the fifth player in Major League history from Mazatlan, Mexico, and the first since RHP Walter Silva appeared in six games for the Padres in 2009...began the season at Double A Corpus Christi and was promoted to Triple A on May 15...selected to the Major League roster from Triple A on July 2...optioned to Triple A on July 7...recalled from Triple A on July 20...optioned to Triple A on Aug. 1...recalled to Houston for a final time on Aug. 31...made his MLB debut on July 2 at COL, throwing 3.2 innings and allowing two runs on six hits in a 9-8 Astros win...became the seventh Astros player to make his MLB debut in 2019 and the first to make his MLB debut as a starting pitcher since RHP Corbin Martin on May 12, 2019 vs. TEX (2ER/5.1IP)...on July 7 vs. LAA, became the 14th Mexican-born pitcher to make a start at Minute Maid Park and the first since Yovani Gallardo on July 27, 2018... recorded his firstcareer Major League win on July 20 vs. TEX...pitched 7.0 innings of one-run ball, striking out nine with no walks and two hits allowed in the Astros 6-1 win over the Rangers...set single-game career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts...his nine strikeouts marked the most by a Mexican-born pitcher in Minute Maid Park history...became the 12th Mexican-born pitcher to earn a win at Minute Maid Park, and the second for the Astros, joining Roberto Osuna...struck out 17 batters while walking just one over his first three MLB starts (13IP)...marked the fewest walks over a player's first three starts in club history...also had the fewest walks over a pitcher's first four starts in club history (3)...his 23 strikeouts were the fifth-most over a pitcher's first four games in franchise history, and the most since RHP Josh James fanned 24 batters over his first four games in 2018...struck out a career-high 10 batters over 5.0 innings of one-run ball on Sept. 11 vs. OAK...allowed just one hit...became the fourth Mexican-born pitcher in MLB history to record a start with 10+ strikeouts and one hitor-fewer, joining Jaime García (4/14/16 vs. MIL), Oliver Pérez (7/7/02 at COL) and Francisco Córdova (7/12/97 vs. HOU)...allowed just three hits in 6.0 scoreless innings on Sept 27 at LAA...marked his first scoreless appearance of his career...ended his regular season with a win against the Angels after tossing 6.0 innings of scoreless baseball...gave up just three hits...made the Astros postseason roster for all three rounds, appearing in four games...went 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA (1ER/10IP) and 12 strikeouts in four games (one start)...threw 1.2 scoreless innings, recording three strikeouts in Game 4 of the ALDS at TB in his postseason debut...earned his first career postseason hold in Game 6 of the ALCS vs. NYY, allowing one earned run over 2.1 innings, while striking out a career postseason-high five batters...earned his first-career postseason win in Game 4 of the World Series...threw 5.0 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, while striking out four batters... became the third Mexican-born pitcher to earn a World Series win, joining RHP Aurelio Lopez (1984) and LHP Fernando Valenzuela (1981)... became the seventh rookie starter to post a scoreless start in the World Series in a 50-year span, joining RHP Walker Buehler (2018), RHP Yordano Ventura (2014), LHP Madison Bumgarner (2010), RHP Les Straker (1987) and RHP Gary Gentry (1969)...in 20 combined games between Triple A Round Rock (13g) and Double A Corpus Christi (7g), went 7-5 with a 4.46 ERA (51ER/103IP), 21 walks and 134 strikeouts...on May 21 vs. San Antonio, struck out a season-high 12 batters while throwing 6.0 innings of one-run ball...threw 6.0 scoreless innings, striking out nine batters on June 26 at San Antonio...at the time of his first MLB stint, was leading the Pacific Coast League in strikeouts per 9.0 innings (13.19) and ranked eighth in the PCL in ERA (min. 40IP).
2018
Had a strong season after missing all of 2017 due to injury...went a combined 2-2 with a 2.35 ERA (15ER/57.1IP) and 48 strikeouts in 13 games (11 starts) at Class A Advanced Buies Creek (9g) and Class A Short Season Tri-City (4g)...was placed on the DL on April 5 and did not begin his season until June 21 on a rehab assignment at Tri-City...gave up three runs over 11.1 innings pitched for a 2.38 ERA over those four starts...moved up to Buies Creek for his final nine starts...ended the season by throwing 15.0 consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run... threw a 9.0-inning complete game on Aug. 25...struck out 10 batters over 6.0 shutout innings on Aug. 31, his final start of the season...pitched in two postseason games, allowing one run on four hits over 7.1 innings pitched against Winston-Salem...threw 3.0 relief innings in Buies Creek's 2-1 win over Potomac in the Carolina League Championship game.
