An avid golfer in his free time, Cesar dropped his handicap from 10 to 8 during the offseason... he golfs at least twice a week in the winter...Cesar's parents, Ramon and Maria, immigrated from Chihuahua, Mexico, 33 years ago seeking better opportunities for their future family...they both work in the garment district of Los Angeles; Ramon is nearing retirement and his mother works quality control for Nygard...they are now American citizens but still speak Spanish to this day...young Cesar learned English at his bilingual preschool...Both his parents, like many of their peers, were taken out of school around the fourth grade to support their large families...Maria was the oldest of 10 and helped raise her siblings...Ramon, who was 10 when his father passed away, was the second of eight children and came to the U.S. for many years as a migrant worker, often picking crops in the fields...within a few years of immigrating, Ramon and Maria had two kids (Elena and Cesar) and bought a two-bedroom house they still live in today...Cesar is engaged to marry Melanie McCauley next January...they met while students at Long Beach State University....As a junior at LBSU, he shared an apartment with teammates Evan Longoria and Troy Tulowitzki, who comprised the left side of the Dirtbags infield.
2014
Worked a career-high 82.2 innings pitched across 43 appearances with Tampa Bay, including a career-high seven starts...Posted a 3.70 ERA (82.2 IP - 34 ER) overall and pitched to a 2.92 mark (52.1 IP - 17 ER) in 36 relief outings for Rays...Pitched to a 1.86 ERA (38.2 IP - 8 ER) in 22 games (two starts) at home at Tropicana Field...Had a 5.32 ERA (44 IP - 26 ER) in 21 games (five starts) on the road...Began season in bullpen but was moved into starting rotation April 13, replacing Matt Moore, who was placed on disabled list...Returned to bullpen in mid-May after Alex Cobb returned from disabled list stint...Earned only win of season as a starter April 26 at Chicago White Sox after tossing five shutout innings and allowing five hits and two walks...Became sixth starting pitcher in Rays history to win a game without recording a strikeout...Recorded a victory in relief May 24 vs. Boston after pitching final three innings of Rays 15-inning victory and allowing no runs on one hit with two walks and three strikeouts...Pitched a career-high 6.2 innings May 12 at Seattle but allowed career-high 11 hits and nine runs (five earned)...Tossed 4.2 innings in relief appearance May 31 at Boston marking longest outing by a Tampa Bay reliever since Alex Torres worked five frames on Sept. 24, 2011 vs. Toronto.
2013
Spent his first full season in the majors, third with the Rays and fifth overall…made 48 relief apps, going 2-2 with a 4.14 ERA (67.1-IP, 31-ER) and his first major league save (May 31 at CLE)…set career highs in innings pitched, strikeouts (53) and games finished (25)... Sixteen of his 47 apps were 2 innings or longer, 4th most in the AL and most by any Rays reliever since J.P. Howell (23) in 2008…also led the Rays with 6 apps of 3 or more innings... Began and finished the season well, but struggled in the middle…in his first 15 games (through May 15), recorded a 2.87 ERA (15.2-IP, 5-ER)…next 17 games (May 18-July 31) had a 5.60 ERA (27.1-IP, 17-ER)…last 16 games (Aug 1-end) posted a 3.33 ERA (24.1-IP, 9-ER)... Allowed 6 HR, 3 of those coming over his last 9 apps beginning Aug 26... On May 31 at CLE, recorded his first career save with 3 hitless innings, the Rays first save of the 3-inning variety since Dale Thayer on May 22, 2009 at FLA…later in the year, both Roberto Hernandez (Sep 3 at LAA) and Jake Odorizzi (Sep 24 at NYY) did it... Became the first pitcher in club history to throw 3 IP on back-to-back days, as well as 40 or more pitches on consecutive days…threw 3 innings (45 pitches) on June 9 vs. BAL and pitched again in the 14-inning loss on June 10 vs. BOS (44 pitches over 3 IP)…was the first relief pitcher to throw 40 pitches on back-to-back days in more than four years, since CWS D.J. Carrasco on June 7-8, 2009... Was left off the Rays postseason roster.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: Pitched for Mexico in the WBC in March…on March 9 vs. Canada in Phoenix, totaled 2.2 IP, 3 H, 1 R/ER, 1 BB, 2 SO in a 10-3 loss.
2012
Had three tours with the Rays, including a September call-up, and appeared in a total of 17 games while spending the rest of the season with Triple-A Durham...was with the Rays from May 6-June 30 and for one day on July 21...his ERA never rose above 2.40 with the Rays...had a 1.46 ERA before allowing runs in his first two outings in September...Held opponents to a .176 avg. (19-for-108) and allowed only two extra-base hits in his 17 appearances...right-handed hitters batted only .130 (7-for-54) against him after hitting .329 (46-for-140) with a .417 OBP prior to 2012...On July 21 vs. SEA, had a career-high six SO in four scoreless innings (2-H, 0-BB) in relief of Alex Cobb...both marks were season highs among Rays relief pitchers...his six SO were the most by a Rays reliever since Shawn Camp struck out seven in 2.2 IP on June 25, 2007 vs. CWS...threw only 42 pitches but the Rays fell, 2-1...Earned a 7-1 win on May 14 at TOR when he came on in the second inning and worked three IP in relief of injured starter Jeff Niemann...Made his 3rd career start, first with the Rays, on June 24 at PHI in the second game of a doubleheader...worked 2.2 hitless innings (3-BB, 2-SO) in the Rays 7-3 win over Cliff Lee in a game pitched entirely by four Rays relievers...Held lefties to a .125 (8-for-64) avg. in 25 appearances for Durham.
2011
Rookie spent his first season in the Rays organization and made his second Opening Day
roster...led Rays lefthanders with 59 apps
over two stints in the majors, and pitched in 4
games for Triple-A Durham...His 59 apps ranked 4th among AL rookies...
ranked tied for 5th with Brian Stokes (2007)
among rookies in club history and first among
lefties...only Esteban Yan (64 in 1998), Ruddy
Lugo (64 in 2006) and Lance Carter (62 in
2003) had more...At the time he was optioned to Durham on
July 26, led all AL rookies with 46 apps...spent
two weeks in Durham and was recalled Aug
7 when Alex Cobb was placed on the DL...after his return, pitched in only 11 of the Rays final 50 games...9 of his last 10 apps (Aug 28
through season's end) were scoreless...Allowed 35.4 percent (17 of 48) of his inherited
runners to score, 5th-highest rate in the AL and
highest on the team...Did not allow a home run or extra-base hit until May 15 vs. BAL, his 16th outing, when he entered with the bases loaded in the 6th inning
and allowed a grand slam to BAL J.J. Hardy...
yielded only 1 HR over his final 29 outings, beginning June 13...included was a span of 24
apps without a homer...In his career has held left-handed hitters to a .221 avg. (27-for-122) with 2 HR, a .299 OBP and
.295 SLG...meanwhile, opposing righties have
hit .329 (46-for-140) with 3 HR, a .417 OBP and
.464 SLG.
2010
Made his first Opening Day roster, beating out
Adam Russell and others for the final spot in
the Padres bullpen ... made 14 relief apps over
three stints with the Padres ... spent the remainder
of the season with Triple-A Portland,
where he made 30 apps (15 starts).
... Appeared in 6 games before being optioned
to Portland on April 21 ... recalled on May 11
and made 3 appearances, allowing 12 hits
and 10 R/ER over 2.1 innings (38.57 ERA) until
he was optioned on May 22 ... on May 21 at
SEA allowed a career-high 7 ER over 1 IP, the
most ER allowed by a Padres reliever since
Matt Whiteside on Aug 24, 1999 at PHI (1.2-
IP, 9-ER).
... Recalled a third and final time on Sep 5...
worked 3.2 scoreless innings over 5 outings to
close out the year.
... In his brief major league career has held lefties
to a .222 (8-for-36) avg. with no extra-base
hits.
... In Portland, was 4-7 with a 3.16 ERA (77-IP,
27-ER) and a .249 (69-for-277) opp avg. in 15
starts ... went 2-0 with a 3.79 ERA (19-IP, 8-ER)
in 15 relief apps...held lefties to a .216 (25-for-
116) avg. with 1 HR, while righties hit .284 (65-
for-229) with 6 HR.
... Pitched for Hermosillo of the Mexican Winter
League following the regular season ... made 8
appearances (7 starts), going 1-2 with a 4.55
ERA (31.2-IP, 16-ER).
2009
Made his Major League debut with the Padres after splitting the majority of the season between
Rookie-level Peoria, Single-A Lake Elsinore and Triple-A Portland...made 21 minor league appearances
and five with the Padres.
Invited to Major League Spring Training and was assigned to Triple-A Portland...recalled from Portland 9/8 and made his Big
League debut 9/16, tossing 1.0 scoreless inning of relief vs. ARI...Allowed one run over 5.1 innings in his first three games, all in relief...moved to the starting rotation, making two starts
to end the season...Did not factor in a decision, allowing four runs over 9.1 frames in two starts...first start 9/29 vs. LAD...also started the final
game of the season 10/4 vs. SF...Missed much of the season with a left shoulder impingement, making 21 appearances (18 starts) in the Padres minor league
system...combined to go 6-7 with a 3.56 ERA (37 ER/93.2 IP) between Peoria, Lake Elsinore and Portland.
2008
Spent the entire season at Triple-A Portland,
making 27 starts and one relief appearance...tied for
the team lead in starts with Josh Geer and also tied for
the most starts for a Portland pitcher since the team
returned to the PCL in 2001 (also Junior Herndon, 2001
and Dennis Tankersley, 2003)...Also finished tied for third in the Pacific Coast League in starts...
fanned a career-high 105 batters...Placed among team leaders in wins (2nd, 9), innings (2nd, 149.2)
and strikeouts (3rd, 105)...Was 5-3 over his first nine starts from 4/6-5/20...Did not allow an earned run over three consecutive starts 7/21-8/1...Despite posting a 3.67 August ERA (14 ER/34.1 IP), his lowest of
any month, was 0-4 in six starts.
2007
Spent the entire season with Double-A San Antonio...named San Diego's No. 10 prospect heading
into the campaign by Baseball America...Made 27 appearances, all starts...tossed two, complete-game shutouts (4/30 and 6/22), both vs. Midland...two shutouts
tied for the most among Texas League hurlers...Also finished among TL leaders in ERA (3rd, 3.41), wins (T-3rd, 13) starts (T-3rd) and innings pitched (3rd, 163.2)...Limited batters to a .249 batting average...Named Texas League Pitcher of the week twice, for the spans of 4/30-5/6 (2-0, 1.20 ERA, 9 K) and 6/18-24 (1-0, CG, 0 R)...Went 1-1 with a 3.27 ERA (4 ER/11.0 IP) and 10 strikeouts in two playoff starts, helping the Missions to the Texas League
title.
2006
Pitching for Single-A Lake Elsinore, ranked second in the California League and seventh in the San
Diego organization in ERA (3.70)...named to the Cal League Mid-Season All-Star team...Led the Storm in innings pitched (141.0)...recorded eight quality starts...Was 4-0 with a 2.74 ERA (13 ER/42.2 IP) over a seven-game stretch, 6/22-7/27...Placed on the disabled list 8/20 with a left elbow strain...missed the rest of the season and playoffs.
