Introduction
Eduardo José Escobar (born January 5, 1989) is a Venezuelan professional baseball shortstop for the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball (MLB). He previously played for the Chicago White Sox.
Professional career
Chicago White Sox
Escobar was a September call-up in 2011 playing in nine games and had two hits in seven at-bats. In 2012, Escobar made the 25-man roster out of spring training as a utility infielder. In his first 97 games of 2012, Escobar had a .207 batting average with 3 RBI.
Minnesota Twins
On July 28, 2012, Escobar was traded to the Minnesota Twins with Pedro Hernández for Francisco Liriano. In 49 more games of 2012, Escobar batted .227 with 6 RBI. Overall in 2012, Escobar played 146 total games with a .214 average and 9 RBI.
On April 3, 2013, Escobar hit a walk-off 2-run double off of Phil Coke that lifted the Twins past the Detroit Tigers, 3-2, to its first win of the 2013 season. On April 9, 2013, Escobar hit his first career home run in the top of the 5th inning off of Jeremy Guthrie of the Kansas City Royals. Playing 66 games in 2013, Escobar batted .236 with 3 home runs, and 10 RBI.
In 2014, Escobar had his best season yet with a .275 batting average, along with hitting 6 home runs and 37 RBI in 133 games.
In 2015, Escobar played 127 games batting .262 with 12 home runs and 58 RBI.
On May 7, 2016, Escobar was placed on the 15-day disabled list due to a left groin strain. He avoided salary arbitration with the Twins on December 3, 2016, by agreeing to a one-year, $2.6 million contract for the 2017 season.