Married, wife's name is Devora; the couple has a son, Cionel Jr., and a daughter, Génesis...His favorite sport to watch is Formula 1 and his favorite driver is Red Bull Racing's Sergio "Checo" Pérez...Good friends with Houston's Yordan Álvarez and Texas' Adolis García...Enjoys watching soccer and his favorite player is Lionel Messi...Loves to watch movies and play video games in his free time.
2024
Appeared on hisfourth career Opening Day roster and third straight with the Orioles; placed on the 15-day Injured List with a right oblique strain on March 31; began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on April 24; reinstated on April 29...Went 2-0 with two saves, a 4.53 ERA (27 ER/53.2 IP), 47 hits, 29 total runs, 28 walks, five hit-by-pitches and 46 strikeouts in 62 relief appearances...Leads the Orioles with 193 appearances since the start of 2022...Has not allowed a home run in 103 games since June 3, 2023, the longest such streak in Orioles history and the longest in MLB since Kansas City’s Wade Davis (123, 9/4/13-7/28/15); his 86.2 straight homerless IP is the second longest in team history behind only Gregg Olson’s 114.2 IP (4/18/89-6/20/90); had a 53-game homerless stretch from July 16, 2022, to May 29, 2023, snapped on May 31, 2023 vs. Cleveland (2 HR)...His .296 xwOBAcon ranked in the top one percent of MLB this year, per Statcast...Ranked in the 92nd percentile in Groundball Rate (55.3) this season, per Statcast...Pitched to a 2.19 ERA (3 ER/12.1 IP) in 15 appearances in the month of August...Threw 2.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits and one walk with one strikeout in two rehab appearances with the Tides...Appeared on his second career Postseason roster; suffered the loss in Game 2 of the ALWCS vs. Kansas City after surrendering one run on two hits with one strikeout in 0.1 inning pitched.
2023
Appeared on his third career Opening Day roster and second straight with the Orioles. Placed on the 15-day injured list with left forearm soreness on 7/4, retroactive to 7/3. Began a rehab assignment with Double-A Bowie on 7/15. Reinstated on 7/18...Went 4-2 with three saves, a 3.54 ERA (21 ER/53.1 IP), 56 hits (two HR), 30 total runs, 27 walks (three IBB) and 44 strikeouts in 65 appearances...Pitched to a 1.86 ERA (6 ER/29.0 IP) in his final 36 appearances from 6/23-10/1. Three of those runs scored on 9/21 at CLE...Posted a 2.32 ERA (11 ER/42.2 IP) against non-AL Central teams...Earned his first save of the season and second of his career on 7/24 at PHI. Also earned saves on 9/19 at HOU and 9/23 at CLE...Worked a career-high 23 straight outings (17.2 IP) without allowing an earned run from 7/29-9/19, the longest such streak by an O’s hurler since Zack Britton (43 G) from 5/5-8/22/16...Did not issue a walk in 13 straight games (8.2 IP) from 8/22-9/19...Threw 1.2 innings with one walk and three strikeouts in one rehab appearance with the Baysox on 7/15 vs. Akron...Ranked in the 99th percentile in groundball percentage and in the 98th percentile in barrel percentage per Statcast...Pitched in two games vs. TEX in the ALDS, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings on one hit, one walk and four strikeouts in his first postseason action.
2022
Made his second career Opening Day roster and spent the entire season on the active roster for the first time...His seven wins were tied for third in the American League and fifth among MLB relievers...Finished with a 1.40 ERA (9 ER/57.2 IP), which ranked second among AL relievers and fifth among MLB relievers (min. 55.0 IP); the mark is the second-best ERA in a single season in O's history (since 1954) behind Zack Britton (0.54) in 2016 (min. 57.0 IP)...Registered 25 holds, tied for third in the AL and tied for sixth in MLB; tied for the second-most in Orioles history with Darren O'Day (2014) and trailing Buddy Groom (27) in 2000...Surrendered two total runs (one earned) in 35 home games, pitching to a 0.29 ERA (1 ER/31.1 IP); his home ERA was the sixth-best by an MLB pitcher since 1912 (min. 30.0 IP) and the lowest since BAL's Zack Britton had a 0.26 ERA (1 ER/34.2 IP) in 2016...Had a 0.92 ERA (4 ER/39.0 IP) in 45 night games, the sixth-best night ERA in MLB (min. 35.0 IP)...Had 28 games with 0.2 innings-or-fewer, third-most in MLB; also recorded one or fewer outs in 17 appearances, second-most in MLB...Recorded his first career save on 6/12 at KC after throwing one scoreless inning, allowing one hit and one walk...Had six straight hitless outings from 7/1-13...Worked 16 straight games without surrendering an earned run from 8/19-9/27, the second-longest stretch by an Oriole in 2022...Did not allow a run in his first 11 games (9.1 IP) to begin his O’s career; became one of three pitchers to work 11 scoreless outings to start their stint with the franchise, joining Donnie Hart (2016) and Will Ohman (2010).
2021
Was on the Reds Opening Day roster and made 10 appearances before he was optioned to the Taxi Squad on 4/23 ...Made 25 appearances during six separate stints with the Cincinnati Reds ...Threw a season-high 2.0 innings on 7/18 vs MIL; threw more than 1.0 inning four other times ...Retired the first batter in 20 of his 25 appearances and stranded six of 11 inherited runners ...Recorded his first win as a Red on 4/9 at ARI; his third appearance of the season ...Worked three-straight days from 4/20-4/22, during each game of the series vs. ARI.
2020
Spent most of Summer Camp assigned to the Astros' alternate spring training site in Round Rock...from 7/12-8/18 was on the minor league 60-day injured list... Made all his seven apps for the Astros from 8/20-9/4 (4g, 4.1ip) and 9/6-9/15 (3g, 2ip)...was on the Astros' 40-player Postseason roster but was not added to the Wild Card, Division Series or NLCS active rosters.
2019
23-year-old appeared in five games for the Astros ...started the season with Triple A Round Rock...recalled to Houston on June 7...optioned to Round Rock on June 19...recalled to Houston on Sept. 2...earned his first career win in his 2019 season debut on June 7 vs. BAL...threw 3.0 scoreless and hitless innings, striking out two batters...spent the majority of the season at Triple A Round Rock...went 2-1 with a 5.36 ERA (28ER/47IP) in 13 games (10 starts) with the club...pitched in three games with the Rookie Level GCL Astros on a rehab assignment, going 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA (2ER/5.2IP) and 14 strikeouts...made one appearance with Class A Advanced Fayetteville, going 1-0 in 2.0 scoreless innings pitched.
2018
Made his Major League debut with the Astros, pitching in eight games across four stints with the club...started the season in the rotation at Double A Corpus Christi...was recalled for his MLB debut straight from Double A on June 29 and optioned back on June 30...recalled on July 11 and optioned to Triple A on July 27...recalled on Aug. 3 and optioned to Triple A on Aug. 20...recalled from Triple A on Sept. 1 and finished the season with the Astros...made his MLB debut on July 11 vs. OAK...allowed one run on two hits over 1.2 innings pitched...at 22 years, 81 days old, he became the youngest Cuban-born pitcher to make his Major League debut since Jose Fernandez debuted for the Marlins on April 7, 2013 (20.250)...spent most of his time at Double A Corpus Christi this season and was dominant, posting a 6-1 record and a 1.98 ERA (15ER/68.1IP) in 16 games (11 starts), while accumulating 83 strikeouts in 68.1 innings pitched...was a Texas League Midseason All-Star and the Texas League Pitcher of the Week on May 20...in four games at Triple A, went 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA (2ER/5.1IP) and six strikeouts.
2017
MINOR LEAGUES: Young southpaw went 6-4 with a 4.13 ERA (43ER/93.2IP) across three levels in his professional debut... began the season with Class A Quad Cities, where he posted a 4.39 ERA (27ER/55.1IP) while fanning 57 batters... the highlight of his campaign came on May 22, as he fired 7.0 no-hit innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters...was promoted to Class A Advanced Buies Creek on July 11 and went 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA (8ER/25.1) in five outings with the club...finished his inaugural year in the organization with a promotion to Double A Corpus Christi on Aug. 15...made four appearances (3 starts) with the Hooks, and put up a 5.54 ERA (8ER/13IP) with 10 punchouts...2013-15: Before joining the Astros organization, played two seasons with Matanzas in the Serie Nacional in Cuba...combined to go 10-5 with a 2.20 ERA (34ER/139IP) in 30 appearances, 28 of which were starts...last pitched for Matanzas in 2014, leading the Serie Nacional with a 2.06 ERA (20ER/87.1IP) in 17 starts... played that season at the age of 18 and went 7-2 with 75 strikeouts in his 87.1 innings pitched, while allowing just two home runs.
