Julio Alberto Mosquera Cervantes (born January 29, 1972) is a Panamanian professional baseball player and coach. Mosquera is currently the acting manager of the Charlotte Knights. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Toronto Blue Jays (19961997) and Milwaukee Brewers (2005).

Julio Mosquera
Mosquera with the Staten Island Yankees in 2017
Catcher
Born: (1972-01-29) January 29, 1972 (age 52)
Panama City, Panama
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 17, 1996, for the Toronto Blue Jays
Last MLB appearance
June 8, 2005, for the Milwaukee Brewers
MLB statistics
Batting average.226
Home runs0
Runs batted in2
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Playing career

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Mosquera signed with the Blue Jays as an amateur free agent in 1991, and in 1993 he made his American debut with the GCL Blue Jays. Mosquera spoke no English at the time, making mundane tasks such as ordering food challenging for him.[1] He was called up to the majors on August 17, 1996, after Blue Jays catcher Sandy Martinez suffered a sprained ankle in a game against the Minnesota Twins and was placed on the disabled list.[2] He also appeared in three games with the Blue Jays in April of the following year. Mosquera's final stint in the major leagues came with the Milwaukee Brewers on June 6, 2005, as a temporary replacement for catcher Damian Miller, who had suffered a strained groin.[3]

Over his 12 games in the major leagues, Mosquera had 31 at bats, 2 runs, 7 hits, 3 doubles, 2 RBI, .226 batting average, .250 on-base percentage, .323 slugging percentage and 10 total bases.

Coaching career

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Mosquera worked as a minor league manager for the Staten Island Yankees, and then moved up to the Class-A Charleston RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League.[4] He previously served as a catching coach where he instructed Austin Romine and Jesús Montero.[5]

Mosquera served as the manager for the Astronautas de Chiriquí, the team representing Panama, during the 2020 Caribbean Series.[6] The Astronautas finished with a record of 1 – 4, and did not advance to the knockout stage.

On January 27, 2020, the Yankees announced that Mosquera would become the manager for the class Double-A Trenton Thunder.[7] However, he never ended up assuming those duties, as the 2020 minor league baseball season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[8] and the Yankees subsequently ended their affiliation with Trenton in favor of the Somerset Patriots.[9] Instead, Mosquera served under Aaron Boone as part of the coaching staff of the Yankees during the 2020 season.[6] Mosquera managed the Double-A Somerset Patriots in 2021.[10]

Mosquera joined the Chicago White Sox organization as a catching instructor before the 2022 season.[11] On May 20, the White Sox put Wes Helms, the manager of the Triple-A Charlotte Knights, on an indefinite leave of absence and named Mosquera the acting manager of the Knights.[12]

References

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  1. ^ Asberry, Derrek. "Pro baseball minority manager hires lag behind diversity on the field", The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), May 26, 2018.
  2. ^ "Williams Has Shoulder Surgery", The Associated Press, August 18, 1996.
  3. ^ "Glover designated for assignment, Mosquera called up", The Associated Press, June 6, 2005.
  4. ^ "Coaching Staff | Staten Island Yankees Roster". Milb.com. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "Yankees' Jesus Montero, Austin Romine make catching debuts in front of teacher Julio Mosquera". NJ.com. September 12, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Ortiz, Aurelio. "Panameño Julio Mosquera será coach en grandes ligas con los Yankees" (in Spanish), Mi Diario, July 1, 2020.
  7. ^ Franko, Kyle. "Yankees announce Julio Mosquera to take over as Thunder manager", The Trentonian, January 27, 2020.
  8. ^ Miller, Randy. "Trenton Thunder season canceled due to COVID-19", NJ.com, June 30, 2020.
  9. ^ Miller, Randy. "How Somerset Patriots became Yankees’ Double-A affiliate | Q & A with owner Steve Kalafer", February 6, 2021.
  10. ^ "Manager and coaches named for Somerset's inaugural season as Yankees Double-A affiliate".
  11. ^ "Somerset Patriots Looking for New Skipper as Julio Mosquera Joins White Sox". FOX Sports Radio New Jersey. February 23, 2022.
  12. ^ "Charlotte Knights manager Wes Helms placed on 'indefinite leave' from the Chicago White Sox Triple-A affiliate – Chicago Tribune". Chicagotribune.com. May 20, 2022. Retrieved May 21, 2022.
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