Who is Angel Padron? Venezuelan pitcher throws second no-hitter in Caribbean Series history

Tiburones de la Guaira's left-handed Venezuelan pitcher Angel Padron made history after throwing the second no-hitter in a game of the Caribbean series on Wednesday.

He pitched against Nicaragua as a part of the round-robin portion of the 2024 Caribbean Series at Miami’s Loan Depot Park, helping his team to a 9-0 victory.

Padron hails from San Cristobal, Venezuela and was born on Sept. 16, 1997. According to Ian Cundall of SoxProspects, he stands at five-foot-11 and weighs 170 lbs. He was acquired by the Boston Red Sox as an international free agent in July 2014.

The undersized left-hander has a high leg kick to go with a three-quarter arm slot. Despite his fastball sitting at 86-88 mph, his long, slow stab behind pitch delivery is enough to throw hitters off balance. His fastball has a natural sinking action and is topped by a curveball and a changeup that sit around 72-73 mph and 80 mph, respectively.

Padron spent his first four seasons in the complex league and the Venezuelan Development Program. After Jun. 2017, Padron spent the next few years with Lowell Spinners and Greenville Drive before being released in November 2019. The next year, he joined the Tigres de Aragua of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League.

In his minor league career, he has pitched 487 innings for an ERA of 4.03.

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All about Angel Padron's no-hitter in Caribbean Series

Over nine innings, Angel Padron retired the first 21 batters before walking Nicaragua’s Raudy Read with zero outs. However, he got the next hitter, Melvin Novoa, into a double play and ground out Cheslor Cuthbert to get out of the inning.

Padron struck out Elian Miranda with a 90.6-mph sinker, got Jesus Lopez to line out to second baseman Alcides Escobar and got Omar Mendoza to ground out to shortstop Wilfredo Tovar to finish the job.

Before Angel Padron's no-hitter, the only other no-hitter in the 75 years of the Caribbean Series came from Cuba’s Tommy Fine in the 1952 edition against Venezuela.