José Azócar #37

Full name is José Enrique Azócar...Is from Sucre, Venezuela...Credits his father for teaching him baseball...His father brought him to stadiums on a bicycle, hit him ground balls as a shortstop and taught him how to hit...His nickname "Sugar" is a nod to the Spanish translation of the word — “azúcar” — sounding similar to his last name...Gave hitting lessons in the US during the pandemic to send money to his father and neighbors in Venezuela...His late uncle, Óscar Azócar, played three years in the Majors: one with the Yankees (1990) and two with the Padres (1991-92).

2025

Appeared in his fourth Major League season, posting a slash line of .263/.333/.263 (15-for-60) with five runs scored and an RBI in 14 games between New York-NL (12) and Atlanta (2)...Began the season with the Syracuse Mets, the Triple-A affiliate of New York-NL, playing in 11 games before having his contract selected on April 17...Azócar started six of New York-NL's games, including three in right field and two in center, and appeared as a pinch runner five times...Was designated for assignment by New York-NL on May 24, and signed a Minor League contract with Atlanta on May 2...Had his contract selected by Atlanta on May 30... Appeared in one game as a pinch-runner and one as a pinch-hitter before being designated for assignment on June 18...He subsequently signed a Minor League contract with New York-NL on June 27, and spent the remainder of the season with Syracuse...In 78 games with Syracuse, Azócar hit .241 (63- for-261) with 13 doubles, four homers, 28 RBI, 17 stolen bases and a .666 OPS.

2024

He made his third consecutive Opening Day roster for the Padres and appeared in 61 games for the club (17 starts)...The Padres designated him for assignment on Sept. 2...Was claimed off waivers by the Mets on Sept. 5...Optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, where he spent the rest of the season. 

2023

Made his second consecutive Opening Day roster for the Padres and appeared in 55 games (24 GS), hitting .231 (21-for-91) with six 2B, two HR, nine RBI and eight SB across two stints with the club...On May 5, was placed on the 10-day IL (retro: May 3) with left elbow inflammation and made one rehab appearance with Triple-A El Paso before being optioned to the Chihuahuas on June 2...Proceeded to play in 49 games with El Paso at a .269 clip with nine 2B, five HR and 27 RBI from May 19 to Aug. 6...Was recalled on Aug. 8 from Triple-A El Paso and appeared in 29 games (10 GS) with the Padres, going 9-for-40 (.225) with eight R, four 2B, two HR and six RBI...Sept. 15 @ OAK, launched his first career HR and tallied a career-high three RBI...Sept. 24 vs. STL, hit his second-career HR, snapping an 0-for-13 skid at the plate...On Oct. 1 @ CWS, hit his sixth 2B of the year to conclude his 2023 campaign collecting three XBH (two 2B, HR) in his last six games (.200 BA)…connected with just three XBH in his previous 21 games.

2022

Cracked the Padres Opening Day roster and finished his rookie campaign totaling a .257 average (52-202) with 9doubles, 3 triples and 10 RBI across 98 games....Made his Major League debut on Opening Day, when he appeared as a defensive substitution in left field in the bottom of the ninth at Arizona....Collected his first ML hit two games later on April 9 at Arizona, with a single to center field in the ninth inning after entering the game in left field in the bottom of the eighth....Made his first Major League start on April 18 vs. CIN incenter field…went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks (single-game career high) and a strikeout....Tallied a .303 average (10-33) across 44 games off the bench and a .249 average (42-169) in 54 starts....Optioned to Triple-A El Paso on July 15, where he collected six doubles, five home runs and 16 RBI at a .306 (30-98) clip in 23 games across two stints for the Chihuahuas....Recalled from Triple-A El Paso on Aug. 20 and spent the remainder of the season at the Major-League level, hitting.304 (21-69) with three doubles, two RBI and 11 runs scored....On May 23 vs. MIL, collected his first walk-off hit…per Elias, it marked the 48th walk-off by a Padre rookie - the last five have been: Jake Cronenworth (Aug. 20, 2020), Seth Mejias. Brean (Sept. 22, 2019) and three across the 2018 season by Francisco Mejia, Franmil Reyes and Christian Villanueva...On May 30, Azocar became the first Padres' rookie to collect multiple hits and an outfield assist in a game since Franmil Reyes on Sept. 16, 2018, vs. Texas (two hits, one outfield assist)....Swiped five bags on the year, which ranked as the fourth-moston the team, alongside Jurickson Profar....Turned in a .975 fielding percentage (four errors in 161 total chances) across 92 games (54 GS), including 49 games in right field (.966 FPCT) 35 games in center field (.978 FPCT)and 21 games in left field (1.000 FPCT).

POSTSEASON: Appeared in three Postseason games off the bench between the National League Division Series against the Dodgers (two G) and the League Championship Series against the Phillies (one G)...Did not record a hit but stole a base in Game 2 of the NLDS and scored a run in Game 5 of the NLCS.

2021

Split the season between San Antonio (AA) and El Paso, setting career highs in doubles (22), triples (14), RBI (70), walks (41) and stolen bases (32)...Hit .276 (83-for-301) with 8 2B, 6 3B, 9 HR, 43 RBI, 46 runs scored, 35 walks and 15 stolen bases while with SA...Appeared in two games with ELP (July 6 and Aug. 3) before being assigned to ELP on Aug. 9, where he remained for the rest of the season...Collected at least one hit in 40 of his 49 total games with ELP, including eight triples from Aug. 9 through the end of the season, a mark that led the Triple-A West League for the entire campaign...Made 38 starts for ELP in CF, five in RF, two in LF and one as the DH...his seven OF assists led the club.

2020

Was a non-roster invite to Detroit's Major League Spring Training but was not a part of the Tigers' 60-man player pool at their Alternate Training Site.

2019

Named the Eastern League Rookie of the Year in 2019, playing in 129 games with Double A Erie... Selected to the Eastern League midseason and postseason All-Star Teams and an organization All-Star by MiLB.com... Led the Eastern League with 144 hits, while he was second with a .286 (144x504) batting average, third with 201 total bases and eighth with 65 runs scored... Opened the season by hitting .378/.397/.500 with five doubles, two triples and seven RBIs in 20 games during April... Hit a pair of home runs and had a season-high four RBI on July 29 vs. Trenton... Played for Mesa in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .279/.353/.295 with one double and seven RBI in 17 games.