Andrés Clemente Muñoz Apodaca...resides in Arizona with wife, Wendy...Made his Major League debut with the Padres on July 12, 2019 vs. Atlanta...originally signed by San Diego as an international free agent on July 7, 2015.
2023
Went 4-7 with 13 saves and a 2.94 ERA (16 ER, 49.0 IP) with 22 walks and 67 strikeouts, while holding opponents to a .217 batting average against with a 1.27 WHIP...Named American League Reliever of the Month for August after leading the AL with nine saves during the month and posting a 1.93 ERA (3 ER, 14.0 IP) with seven walks and 20 strikeouts in 14 August appearances....Muñoz was second Mariners pitcher to win AL Reliever of the Month since the award was first given out in 2017, joining Edwin Díaz, who won the award five times with Seattle...Tallied 12 of his 13 saves this season following the All-Star Break...his 12 saves in the second half were seventh-most in the American League during that span...Ranked sixth among American League relievers (min. 50 G) with a 12.31 SO/9 ratio, trailing only Felix Bautista-BAL (16.23), Aroldis Chapman-KC/TEX (15.89), Matt Brash-SEA (13.63), Trevor Richards-TOR (13.00) and Bryan Abreu-HOU (12.50)...Allowed more than one earned run in only one outing (6/30 at TB, 4 ER)...held opponents to 1 ER or less in 51 of 52 appearances, including 39 outings with 0 ER...Average fastball velocity of 98.9 mph ranked tied for 10th-fastest in the Majors (min. 400 pitches)...topped out at 101.9 mph this season on Sept. 13 vs. Los Angeles-AL...Ranked in the 90th percentile of MLB pitchers in xERA (94%), xBA (91%), Fastball Velocity (98%), Whiff% (99%), K% (95%), ground ball (96%)...Held a 48.3% whiff rate with his slider, seventh-best whiff rate on sliders across MLB...teammate Matt Brash ranked sixth in MLB with a 48.5% whiff rate with his slider...Did not allow a run over his first 12 appearances (11.0 IP), while holding opponents to a .132 average against with four walks and 18 strikeouts...Recorded multiple strikeouts in 20 appearances and 3+ strikeouts in five outings...struck out the side in 1-2-3 ninth inning on Aug. 27 vs. Kansas City to record Save #10...On 15-day Injured List with right deltoid strain from April 9 - June 6...Underwent foot surgery following the 2022 season.
2022
Went 2-5 with four saves and a 2.49 ERA (20 ER, 65.0 IP) with 15 walks and 96 strikeouts over 64 relief appearances...Led American League relief pitchers with 96 strikeouts...Threw 244 pitches of at least 100+ mph (postseason included), sixth-most in the Majors and second-most in the AL trailing only Jhoan Duran-MIN (392) via Baseball Savant...On July 24 vs. HOU, threw fastest pitch (103.2 mph) by a Mariners pitcher in Statcast era (since 2008)...His 13.3 strikeouts-per-nine innings led the American League (min. 50 IP)...From May 25 through end of season, was best reliever in AL by fWAR (2.1)...posted a 1.57 ERA (9 ER, 51.2 IP) with nine walks and 75 strikeouts across 49 appearances during that span...Struck out 9 consecutive batters across four appearances from April 9-17, setting a franchise record...previous record of eight consecutive strikeouts was shared by Edwin Díaz (3x), Félix Hernández, Arthur Rhodes and Mark Langston...Registered 17 relief outings with at least three strikeouts, most in the AL and second-most in the Majors to Edwin Díaz-NYM (18)...the 17 were tied for most in franchise history with Bill Caudill (1982)...Voted as having the best slider in the AL by Baseball America’s poll of Major League managers, coaches, scouts and front office executives..his slider has had a run value of -20 this season according to Baseball Savant...the expected batting average on his slider was .120.
2021
Made one appearance, going two-thirds of an inning with one strikeout and two walks in his Mariners debut and first MLB appearance since Sept. 15, 2019...On 60-day Injured List from Feb. 18-Oct. 1, 2021 recovering from “Tommy John” surgery.
2019
Split the 2019 campaign between Amarillo (AA), El Paso (AAA) and SD, making 35 minor league appearances and 22 at the Major League level...Began the season with AMA and earned the save in his first appearance…gave up an earned run in 3 consecutive outings from April 9-14 before holding opponents scoreless in his next 10 appearances...Allowed just 1 ER in 9.1 IP on the road (0.96 ERA) with 20 SO against 3 BB...Earned saves in 3 straight outings from May 12-17...Tossed a 1-2-3 9th inning on May 15 where his final fastball clocked in at 104 MPH before striking out Greg Deichmann with an 85 MPH slider…his final 2 fastballs came in at 103 and 104 MPH...Prior to the All-Star break, he pitched to a 1.72 ERA in 15 outings and converted 4 of his 5 SVO...Promoted to ELP on May 21 and did not given up a run through his first 5 outings and 5.1 IP...held opponents scoreless in 11 of his 19 Triple-A appearances...Had his contract selected by SD on July 12...was ranked as the Padres' No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline...Made his ML debut on July 12 vs. ATL, tossing a scoreless inning with 1 BB and 1 SO...his 101.9 MPH pitch thrown in his debut set the Padres record for the fastest thrown in the Statcast era (broken by his own 102.8 MPH pitch on August 10, 2019 vs. COL)...Posted a 9.0-innings scoreless streak over his first 7 outings to begin his ML career, during which he held opponents to a .097 AVG with 11 SO against 2 BB...Held an 11.2-scoreless inning streak through his first 11 appearances at Petco Park to begin his career (July 12Sept. 7)...in 12 games at home, he pitched to a 2.13 ERA (3 ER, 12.2 IP) with 16 SO against 6 BB...Tossed a career-high 2.0 innings on July 18 at MIA and struck out a career-high-tying 3 twice (July 18 at MIA and Sept. 1 at SF)...Tagged with his 1st-career losing decision on August 7 at SEA and his 1st-career win in his next outing on August 10 vs. COL...Did not give up a HR until his 21st outing and 2nd-to-last appearances of the season on Sept. 10 vs. CHC...gave up 2 HR in 1.0 IP, and he allowed a career-high-tying 3 ER in each of his last 2 outings to finish the season...12 of his 22 appearances came in the 8th inning…in the 7th inning-or-later, opponents hit just .208 (16-for-77) against him...Relied on 4 pitches: four-seamer (66.1%), slider (32.5%), sinker (0.7%) and cutter (0.7%)...opponents went just 2-for-31 (.065) against his slider with 18 SO, inducing a 51.4 SO% while whiffing 46.3% of the time off this pitch... his four-seamer averaged at 99.9 MPH, the 2nd-highest average velocity for a four-seamer behind only STL Jordan Hicks' (100.9 MPH).
2018
Split the campaign between Tri-City (A) and San Antonio (AA), allowing just 2 earned runs across 25 total relief appearances (0.73 ERA)...Limited opponents to a .139 AVG with a 0.97 WHIP...Began the season with TC and did not allow a hit in five outings and 5.2 scoreless innings...Promoted to SA on June 29 and was scoreless in his 1st 10 appearances and 9.2 IP, converting all five of his SVO...Was scoreless through his 1st to two Texas League postseason appearances, allowing just one hit…blew the save and was tagged with the loss in Game 2 of the TL championship series (0.2 IP, H, 2 ER, 3 BB).
2017
Spent the majority of the season with Tri-City (A), going 3-0 with a 3.80 ERA (10 ER, 23.2 IP) and a .176 opponent AVG...Assigned to FW on Aug. 29 and received his first postseason action, earning the win in his postseason debut on Sept. 7 vs. Bowling Green...Pitched in the Arizona Fall League following this season and was named to the AFL All-Prospect Team...pitched in nine games and allowed just one earned run on four hits over his 8.2 IP, striking out 11 and walking two.
2016
Made his professional debut with the Rookie-Level AZL Padres, going 1-1 with a 5.49 ERA (12 ER, 19.2 IP) across 16 appearances (one start).
