Luis Liria

Luis Enrique Liria

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 170 lb.

• Born January 15, 1990 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional Dominican Republic

BR register page

Biographical Information

Luis Liria pitched professionally.

Liria was signed by Chicago Cubs scouts Jose Serra and Carlos Reyes in September 2007. He made his pro debut with the DSL Cubs 2, going 1-3 with two saves and a 4.10 ERA. His 14 hit batsmen were second in the 2008 Dominican Summer League. He also went 4 for 4 with a double, two runs and four RBI at the plate, but would only go 1 for 9 the remainder of his pro career. He split 2009 between the DSL Cubs 1 (1-0, 3.00 in 7 G) and AZL Cubs (2-1, 5.33 in 10 G). He pitched in 2010 for the AZL Cubs (2-2, 2.40, 46 K in 45 IP) and Peoria Chiefs (1-0, 10.29 in 3 G, 10 BB in 7 IP). In 2011, he was 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA in five games for the Boise Hawks and 3-3 with a 3.77 ERA and two saves in 10 games for the Chiefs.

Liria spent all of 2012 with Peoria, going 2-5 with five saves and a 4.55 ERA in 39 games, walking 46 and throwing 14 wild pitches in 59 1/3 IP. That winter, he struck out the only batter he faced for the Estrellas Orientales in his Dominican Winter League debut. With the 2013 Daytona Cubs, he was 1-4 with two saves and a 6.90 ERA to end his US career. He gave up 3 runs in 1 2/3 IP for the Estrellas that winter.

Luis resurfaced with the Leones de Monteria in the winter of 2014-2015, allowing two unearned runs (5 H, 4 BB, 9 K) in 8 1/3 IP, going 1-1 with two saves in the Colombian League. He was on the Dominican national team for the 2015 Pan American Games and served as the closer on a staff that featured three former major leaguers as well as a couple other guys with AAA experience. He saved all three of their wins - Willy Lebrón's 8-5 win over Nicaragua, Claudio Vargas's 6-4 victory over the USA (which won the Silver Medal) and Kelvin Pérez's 4-1 win over Colombia. In the US win, he relieved Roberto Novoa with two on, no outs and a 6-3 lead in the 9th and retired Mac Williamson and Jeff Bianchi, gave up a run-scoring hit to Travis Jankowski but retired Andy Parrino on a game-ending grounder. He had a 2.46 ERA for the Games. His four appearances led the Dominican staff and he led the entire Games in saves, one ahead of Jeff Francis of Gold Medal-winning Canada, despite being on a .500 team.

The Santo Domingo native had three saves and a 1.69 ERA for the Leones in the 2015-2016 Colombian League; he was third in the circuit in saves.

Sources

• 2013 Cubs Media Guide
• 2015 Pan American Games
• Leones de Monteria website