Biography
Pedro Manuel Ávila (born January 14, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional baseball pitcher for the San Diego Padres organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres.
Career
Washington Nationals
Ávila signed as an international free agent by the Washington Nationals in 2014. He made his professional debut in 2015, and played for the Rookie-level DSL Nationals and the Rookie-level Gulf Coast Nationals, going 7–3 with a 2.12 ERA in 63.2 innings. He played for the Class A Hagerstown Suns in 2016, going 7–7 with a 3.48 ERA in 93 innings.
San Diego Padres
He was acquired by the Padres in December 2016, in a trade for Derek Norris.In 2017, Ávila split the season between the Class A Fort Wayne TinCaps and the Class A-Advanced Lake Elsinore Storm. He accumulated a 8–5 record with a 3.70 ERA in 128.1 innings, and finished the season with 170 strikeouts, the most by a Padres minor leaguer that season. In 2018, he pitched the full season in Lake Elsinore, making 20 starts with a 4.27 ERA and striking out 142 batters in 130.2 innings.The Padres added him to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season. He opened the 2019 season with the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Double-A Texas League. On April 11, 2019, he was promoted to the major leagues for the first time. In a start versus the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went 5 1⁄3 innings and allowed one run while recording five strikeouts in his debut. He became to the first player in Sod Poodle history to reach MLB. He was optioned back to Amarillo on April 12. Ávila suffered an elbow injury in August and underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2019.Ávila was designated for assignment on November 27, 2019. He was non-tendered on December 2, and became a free agent. He re-signed with San Diego the next day on a minor league contract.