Gregor Blanco

Gregor Miguel Blanco Pedraza (born December 24, 1983) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder who is currently a free agent. He previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. He has a twin brother named Gregory and a younger brother named Gregsman.

Professional Career

Gregor Blanco was the center fielder and leadoff hitter for Tiburones de La Guaira in the Venezuelan Winter League, hitting .315 (178 AB) in the 2006–07 season, .345 (229 AB) in the 2007–08 season (finishing 2nd in the MVP Award) and .349 (172 AB) in the 2008–09 season. He was eventually called up to the majors because of Jordan Schafer's struggles.

Atlanta Braves (2008-2010)

Blanco signed with the Atlanta Braves on July 4, 2008 as an undrafted free agent. He beat out Josh Anderson in Spring training to become the Braves backup outfielder in 2008. He began to see regular playing time after Mark Kotsay injured his back on May 26.

In 2008 he had the lowest home run per plate appearance percentage in the majors (among regular home run hitters) (0.2%).

Kansas City Royals (2010)

On July 31, 2010, Blanco was traded to the Kansas City Royals along with Jesse Chavez and Tim Collins for Kyle Farnsworth and Rick Ankiel.

Washington Nationals

On May 8, 2011, Blanco was traded to the Washington Nationals in exchange for a player to be named later. During the offseason of 2011, Gregor played in the Venezuelan Winter league and was named the MVP for the 2011 season.

San Francisco Giants (2012-2016)

Blanco signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants on November 16, 2011, and was selected to be part of the Giants' 2012 Opening Day roster as an outfielder.^[1]

On June 13, 2012, Blanco made a fully extended diving catch in deep right-center field, catching the ball in the end of his mitt, to rob Jordan Schafer of a hit in the top of the 7th inning of Matt Cain's perfect game. The Mercury News wrote "In a town very familiar with the words "The Catch", Blanco made one for the ages: he took off on a dead sprint at the crack of the bat and made a diving catch on the warning track in center field, 400 feet from home plate."^[2]

On July 13, 2013, in a 9-0 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, Blanco caught the final out of Tim Lincecum's first career no-hitter in the ninth inning. It was the first no-hitter in the history of the ballpark.

On September 5, 2014, Blanco made an error that ended his 306-game errorless streak. He was trying hard to catch Bryan Holaday's line drive, but instead he dropped the ball.^[3]

On July 8, 2016, Blanco hit his first career pinch-hit home run, and his first of the season.^[4]

Personal Life

Blanco has three children and a wife named Mirna Blanco Has a twin brother (not identical) with the name Gregory and a younger brother named Gregsman.

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet, or Pura Pelota (Venezuelan Winter League)
• gregor blanco on Twitter