John Urrea

Pitcher · Career Stats, Bio & Records (1977-1981)

John Urrea was a pitcher who played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1981 for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Diego Padres, a span of 5 seasons. Across 139 career appearances, he went 17-18 with a 3.74 ERA and 202 strikeouts. His career Pitcher PIV — Baseball Data Hub's era-adjusted measure of pitching impact — is 1199.8.

W (Wins):
Games credited to a pitcher whose team took a lead it never surrendered while he was the pitcher of record.
ERA (Earned Run Average):
Earned runs allowed per nine innings pitched: (ER × 9) ÷ IP. The primary measure of pitching effectiveness.
SO (Strikeouts):
For a batter, times retired on a third strike; for a pitcher, batters retired on a third strike.
WHIP (Walks and Hits per Inning Pitched):
Baserunners allowed per inning: (BB + H) ÷ IP. Under 1.00 is elite.

Data updated

W–L 17–18
ERA 3.74
WHIP 1.40
SO 202
Pitcher PIV 1199.8
Position
Pitcher
Bats / Throws
R / R
Height / Weight
6'3" / 200 lb
Born
2/9/1955 in Los Angeles, CA, USA
MLB Debut
1977-04-10
Last Game
1981-10-04

Full name: John Godoy Urrea

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Career Pitching Statistics

John Urrea — Career Pitching Statistics
W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER HR BB SO ERA Pitcher PIV
17 18 139 27 3 1 9 363.1 347 151 20 160 202 3.74 1199.8

Career ERA 3.74 vs. league average 3.84 across their career seasons — near league average.

Season-by-Season Pitching

Pitching Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Urrea — Season-by-Season Pitching
Year Team Lg W L G GS CG SHO SV IP H ER BB SO ERA Lg ERA Pitcher PIV
1977 SLN NL 7 6 41 12 2 1 4 139.2 126 49 35 81 3.16 4.00 (+21%) 1647.2
1978 SLN NL 4 9 27 12 1 0 0 98.2 108 59 47 61 5.38 3.69 (-46%) 427.1
1979 SLN NL 0 0 3 2 0 0 0 11.1 13 5 9 5 3.97 4.00 (+1%) -65.2
1980 SLN NL 4 1 30 1 0 0 3 64.2 57 25 41 36 3.48 3.84 (+9%) -313.7
1981 SDN NL 2 2 38 0 0 0 2 49.0 43 13 28 19 2.39 3.58 (+33%) -495.5
Career · 5 seasons 17 18 139 27 3 1 9 363.1 347 151 160 202 3.74 — 1,200

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Career Batting Statistics

John Urrea — Career Batting Statistics
G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS PIV
139 74 2 12 0 0 0 4 0 10 20 .162 .262 .162 .424 0

Career AVG .162 vs. league average .262 across their career seasons — 38.1% below league average.

Career OBP .262 vs. league average .326 across their career seasons — 19.7% below league average.

Career SLG .162 vs. league average .388 across their career seasons — 58.2% below league average.

Career OPS .424 vs. league average .714 across their career seasons — 40.6% below league average.

Season-by-Season Batting

Career Arc

Click a stat to plot it across every season.

John Urrea — Season-by-Season Batting
Year Team Lg G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB BB SO AVG Lg AVG Lg OBP Lg SLG Lg OPS PIV
1977 SLN NL 41 29 2 4 0 0 0 1 0 9 6 .138 — — — — 0.0
1978 SLN NL 27 24 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 1 8 .125 — — — — 0.0
1979 SLN NL 3 4 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 .250 — — — — 0.0
1980 SLN NL 30 13 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 .231 — — — — 0.0
1981 SDN NL 38 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 .250 — — — — 0.0
Career · 5 seasons 139 74 2 12 0 0 0 4 0 10 20 .162 — — — — 0

Lg columns show the league average for that season, with the player's figure as a percentage above or below it. Career totals the seasons listed above.

Game Log & Splits

View full game log (278 games) →

Per-game data from Retrosheet (regular season, through 2025).

Batting — Home / Away

John Urrea — Batting — Home / Away
SplitGABRHHRRBIAVG
Home63312704.226
Away76430500.116

Pitching — Home / Away

John Urrea — Pitching — Home / Away
SplitGIPHERBBSOERA
Home63185.216053731002.57
Away76177.218798871024.96

Last 10 Games — Pitching

John Urrea — Last 10 Games — Pitching
DateTmOppDecIPHRERBBSOHR
1981-10-04 SDPSFG — 1.0000010
1981-09-27 SDPSFG — 2.0000000
1981-09-23 SDPCIN — 1.0000010
1981-09-17 SDPHOU — 1.0200010
1981-09-14 SDPLAD — 2.1422201
1981-09-13 SDPATL — 0.1011200
1981-09-09 SDPCIN L 0.0211100
1981-09-07 SDPCIN — 0.1444010
1981-09-01 SDPCHC SV 3.0411020
1981-08-29 SDPSTL — 2.0000100

Fielding Statistics

Career Fielding Totals by Position

John Urrea — Career Fielding Totals by Position
Position G GS PO A E DP
P 139 27 14 55 7 2

Season-by-Season Fielding

John Urrea — Season-by-Season Fielding
Year Team Pos G GS PO A E DP
1977 SLN P 41 12 7 24 2 2
1978 SLN P 27 12 3 18 2 0
1979 SLN P 3 2 2 1 0 0
1980 SLN P 30 1 2 6 2 0
1981 SDN P 38 0 0 6 1 0

Career Games by Position

Position Diamond

Circle size = games played at each position.

John Urrea — Career Games by Position
Position Games
Pitcher 139

College History

John Urrea — College History
School Name City State Years Attended
Rio Hondo College Whittier CA 1974

Most Similar Players

Career comps based on counting + rate stats and primary position. Score is relative — closest peer anchors at ~98%.

Career Spans

John Urrea (highlighted) compared to peers across the same era.

  1. 98
    Larry Demery
    29-23, 3.72 ERA
  2. 97
    Jim Shellenback
    16-30, 3.81 ERA
  3. 95
    Ray Lamb
    20-23, 3.54 ERA
  4. 88
    Luis Sanchez
    28-21, 3.75 ERA
  5. 88
    Jim Davis
    24-26, 4.01 ERA
  6. 88
    Howie Reed
    26-29, 3.72 ERA

John Urrea: the record in brief

John Urrea's major league career runs from a debut on April 10, 1977 to a final game on October 4, 1981. The season rows list, in order, the St. Louis Cardinals (1977 to 1980) and the San Diego Padres (1981). Urrea played primarily as a pitcher and batted and threw right-handed. The bio adds a birth date on February 9, 1955, in Los Angeles, CA, USA and a listed size of 6 feet, 3 inches and 200 pounds. John Urrea was the playing name; the full given name is John Godoy.

Urrea went 17-18 with a 3.74 ERA in 139 games, 27 of them starts. The totals include 202 strikeouts. Urrea's 3.74 ERA was close to the 3.84 league figure for those seasons. Urrea won 7 games in 1977, the most of any season listed. Among the heaviest workloads, the lowest ERA was 3.16 in 1977, when the league's was 4.00.

Frequently Asked Questions about John Urrea

What years did John Urrea play?
John Urrea played in Major League Baseball from 1977 to 1981.
Was John Urrea a pitcher?
Yes. John Urrea pitched in the major leagues, recording 17 wins and 202 strikeouts.
How many home runs did John Urrea hit?
John Urrea hit 0 career home runs with 12 hits.
What teams did John Urrea play for?
John Urrea played for 2 teams: the St. Louis Cardinals (1977–1980) and the San Diego Padres (1981).
What were John Urrea's career stats?
In 139 games, John Urrea went 17-18 with a 3.74 ERA, 202 strikeouts, 363.1 innings pitched, and 9 saves.
What position did John Urrea play?
John Urrea played primarily as a pitcher, the position where he appeared in the most games.
How tall was John Urrea and how much did he weigh?
John Urrea was listed at 6 feet 3 inches and 200 pounds.
What was John Urrea's career ERA?
John Urrea finished with a 3.74 career ERA, going 17-18 with 202 strikeouts.
How many strikeouts did John Urrea have?
John Urrea recorded 202 career strikeouts.
Is John Urrea in the Hall of Fame?
No. John Urrea has not been inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.