Biography

BIOGRAPHY

 Roenis Elías was born August 1, 1988, in Guantánamo, Cuba. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

On April 23, 2018, the Red Sox traded Elías to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later (PTNBL) or cash considerations. They agreed on Eric Filia as the PTBNL in June, but Filia failed his physical exam with the Red Sox, and was returned to Seattle, with the Red Sox acquiring cash considerations instead.

After reporting to Triple-A Tacoma, he went 2–4 with a 4.94 ERA (17 ER, 31.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts and 12 walks in 7 games (6 starts). On June 1, 2018, Elías was called up from Tacoma to make his season debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which he tossed two scoreless innings in relief, earning the win. Throughout the season, Elías was typically used as a long reliever or spot starter, finishing 2018 with a 2.65 ERA, 154 ERA+, 3.08 FIP, and 2.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 23 appearances (51.0 IP), including 4 starts.

Following the departure of All-Star closer Edwin Díaz in the 2018 offseason as well as an early-season injury to newly-acquired closer Hunter Strickland, Elías was used exclusively out of the bullpen especially in high leverage situations, ultimately becoming the team's new closer. In 44 games (47.0 IP) with the Mariners in 2019, he pitched to a 3.64 ERA with 14 saves. 45 strikeouts, and 17 walks.