Marwin: A man of many positions and few words
By César Augusto Márquez
Marwin González is a man of many positions and few words. On a dominant team full of young superstars like shortstop Carlos Correa and second baseman José Altuve, he might be the MVP.
Primarily a shortstop, he has played every position for the Houston Astros except pitcher and catcher. This season alone he has played all four infield positions — plus right and left fields.
Which is why you can argue that the Houston Astros — who despite a mini-slump led the American League with a 76-48 record and had a 12-game lead in the Central Division as of Aug. 20 — can’t spell W-I-N without Marwin.
While the 28-year-old is reserved by nature, there are plenty of adjectives that tell his story. He’s your classic, hard-working, quiet overachiever pushed by a doting but demanding baseball coach of a dad. Born in Puerto Ordaz, located in Venezuela’s southern state of Bolívar near the Guri Dam, the fourth-largest hydroelectric power station in the world, González’s turbines run around the clock.
“Starting when I was a small kid, my father Mario instilled in me the importance of having a work ethic,” González said in an interview in Spanish with La Vida Baseball. “He was my manager and was always very strict. Being his son did not give me any advantages over my teammates. On the contrary, he demanded more from me.
“He taught me one of the core values of my life, something that still serves me well today: There aren’t any valid excuses for not working. He was my role model.”
True to that mantra, González spent the past winter working on his strength and conditioning, adding power while turning his 6-foot-1 body into 205 pounds of lean muscle.
He also become more selective at the plate. As a result, even as he plays every day at shortstop while Correa recovers from thumb surgery, Marwin is having a great season, hitting .307 with 37 bases on balls, 21 home runs and 72 RBI as of Aug. 20.
Each one of those stats is a career high.
Marwin’s impact goes beyond numbers. Originally signed by the Chicago Cubs, he has spent his six years in the majors with Houston, arriving at the beginning of the rebuild that has turned the Astros into an American League powerhouse. He suffered through the bad times and is now thriving in the good.
“I’ve seen how much he has matured and grown,” said hitting coach Dave Hudgens, who also managed Marwin in Venezuelan winter ball with the Caracas Lions. “He has a lot of influence in the clubhouse because he was here when we started rebuilding.
“He’s a tireless worker,” Hudgens added. “This past winter he spent a lot of time working on his swing and figuring out what worked for him. He’s more patient, takes more bases on balls and has better quality at-bats. Without doubt, he’s been key to this team’s success.”
Baseball genes
Back home, Marwin’s father, Mario González Sr., is a baseball institution. A park in Puerto Ordaz is named after him. Not only did he coach Marwin and his two other sons, Mario Jr. and Leonard, he helped develop successful major leaguers such as Detroit Tigers DH Víctor Martínez and former Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Carlos Hernández. And he scouted and helped sign Colorado Rockies starter Germán Márquez.
“Mario Jr. got injured when he reached Class A and had to retire very young, while Leonard never signed a pro contract, so I prepared Marwin to be a major leaguer,” said Mario Sr. in Spanish. “When he got to the big leagues, not only did I feel fulfilled as a coach, but above all as a father.”
Mario Sr. speaks in loving terms about his children, but openly admits he didn’t cut them any slack between the foul lines.
“I was very strict. I always thought it was more important to show love at home. Because he was my son, he had to work harder,” Mario Sr. said.
“If I arrived a minute late to the ballpark, I wouldn’t play. That’s how dad treated us,” González said.
He played all positions as a young kid, even learning how to catch from Hernández, who played 10 seasons in the major leagues. When the Cubs signed Marwin as an 16-year-old amateur free agent in November 2005, they turned him into an infielder.
Zambrano who?
During a mini-camp shortly afterward in Puerto Cabello, Marwin took a pitch by right-hander Carlos Zambrano — who had just finished a 14-6 season with the Cubs — to the wall in left field at Estadio Independencia, thereby bypassing the Dominican Summer League and earning a ticket straight to the Arizona Rookie League.
But after hitting .198 in 24 games, the Cubs sent him to the Dominican Republic for some much-needed seasoning.
“That experience helped him mature and polish the talent he always had,” Mario Sr. said.
Because the Cubs never promoted González to the 40-man roster, the Boston Red Sox nabbed him in the December 2011 Rule 5 draft and traded him that same day to the Astros for another minor leaguer, Mexican pitcher Marco Duarte.
Duarte has yet to make it to the majors, and since 2013 has pitched only in Mexico. Clearly, someone in Houston did their homework.
“Marwin always had the talent and aptitude, but he’s also very serious and even timid, which could make him appear somewhat apathetic — and maybe that kept him from reaching the major leagues earlier,” Mario Sr. said.
Marwin sees it as being in the right place at the right time, or in his case, in the right family.
“Not everyone has the opportunity to be raised in a family like mine that has been involved with baseball for years,” he said. “Every piece of advice that I got helped me get here and helped me develop as a ballplayer. And for that, I’m grateful.”
And this man of many positions and few words is old-school in his approach to the game. Despite his own production and impact, González credits his teammates.
“I think for everything that he’s achieved, José Altuve is among the team’s leaders, as is Yuli (Yulieski Gurriel), who has a lot of experience, or Carlos Correa, who is a very talented ballplayer,” González said. “I try to work hard each day to improve my game. It’s what I did during the winter and it’s what I do every day. I think that’s what has helped me have a good season not only defensively, but also offensively.
“I’ve played many positions, including some which I’m not used to playing, such as left field,” González added. “But I feel comfortable out there because a ballplayer’s goal should be to play and help his team win. And both things are happening. I don’t feel that there is anyone in the clubhouse who is more special than the rest of us. On the contrary, when you have that unity in a team, like in our case, everything flows much better.”
The Astros are humming along this season. They got a human turbine to thank for it. Give Marwin a glove and he’ll play anywhere.
Featured Image: Hannah Foslien / Getty Images Sport