Rio Gomez’s next hill to climb: Round 2 for Colombia in the Tucson WBC qualifier

Rio Gomez is 30 years old. He’s still playing professional baseball. It’s an outcome beyond his wildest dreams.

“Sixteen-year-old me would have never told you he’s still playing baseball at the age of 30, much less even 20 or 25,” Gomez said. “I didn’t think I was gonna play college baseball.”

Gomez never played varsity baseball at Desert Vista High School in Phoenix; he was cut from the team before his senior season.

He made the team at Mesa Community College as a walk-on, earned a preferred walk-on spot at Arizona, pitched in the postseason for the national runner-up Wildcats, then got drafted by the Boston Red Sox. After toiling in the minor leagues for seven years, Gomez had his best pro season in 2024 in the Chinese Professional Baseball League. And he’s about to represent Colombia on an international stage for the second time.

Gomez is a member of the Colombian pitching staff in the Tucson World Baseball Classic qualifier, which begins Sunday at Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium. The tournament opens with China facing Germany at 11 a.m. Colombia squares off against Brazil at 6 p.m.

Gomez pitched for Colombia in the 2023 WBC at Chase Field in his hometown. Again, the stuff of dreams.

His mother, Sandi, is from Colombia. His late father, Pedro, was of Cuban descent.

Pedro worked for the Arizona Republic as a baseball writer and columnist before his long and distinguished career at ESPN. Rio practically grew up at Chase Field, or Bank One Ballpark as it was known then.

“That was the stars lining up,” Rio Gomez said. “I get to play in the World Baseball Classic, representing my mother’s team, but then I get to play at home in Phoenix, in front of all my friends and family.

“It was just unbelievable how that all worked out. ... To have this little week back home in Arizona was still, to this day, the best baseball experience of my life.”

Gomez shared his baseball journey in a phone conversation with the Star a few days before the WBC qualifier. He discussed his humble beginnings, his father’s influence and his breakout year in the CPBL in Taiwan, among other topics. The interview has been lightly edited.

You got cut from your high school baseball team. What do you remember about that whole situation?

A: “I think that was a huge turning point in my career, just because that really could have been the end of my career. I never played varsity. As a junior, I was put on JV, and then as a senior, I was cut altogether.

“I really thought I was gonna be done playing baseball at that point. I had plans to apply to San Diego State to go be a student, and I thought that’s where I was gonna end up. And thought this was how my baseball career was gonna end. But also a big part of me didn’t want my baseball career to end like that.

“I almost think that had I made the team my senior year, I would have been more comfortable or more OK with being done with baseball after high school. But because I didn’t get that final year how I wanted, it pushed me to try out for Mesa Community College.”

Nothing was guaranteed at Mesa, right?

A: “No, not at all. Mesa doesn’t really have guaranteed spots. Basically, the whole fall for everybody, returners or not, is one big tryout. So there’s 60 of us trying to make a team of like 30 guys. I made the team. I ended up medically redshirting. And then went and played summer ball up in Oregon (for the Bend Elks). Then Andy Lopez came and found me.

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“I was throwing really well. Oregon came and watched me, Oregon State, a couple smaller D-Is in Texas, and then U of A came around, too. But all of them were talking to me (about coming) after my sophomore year in junior college.

“About two weeks before the school season was about to start, (Arizona’s) Tyler Crawford tore his UCL. Andy called me. He said, ‘Hey, one of our lefties just tore his UCL. We have a spot. We would give you a preferred walk-on, so you’d have the whole fall to try and make the team. What do you think?’ I thought, ‘Well, if I say no, I’m going to junior college. And if I say yes and get cut, I’ll be at junior college anyway.’ I had nothing to lose. So I went there, made the team after the fall, and the rest was history.”

You played for Arizona from 2015-17. Boston took you in the 36th round of the ‘17 draft. How would you assess your time with the Red Sox organization?

A: “I loved it. I think they do a great job taking care of people. But I do think that because I was a 36th-rounder, it was a lot of climbing the hill every year. But it didn’t feel like it was anything different than the rest of my career. I feel like my whole career has been looking up, climbing up the hill, no matter what. So it wasn’t like it was a challenge that really broke me down or deterred me. To me it was just part of what my career is going to be, and that’s OK. Everywhere I go is a challenge and an uphill battle.”

After you hit free agency, you ended up playing for the Wei Chuan Dragons in Taipei last year. What was that like?

A: “It was a really awesome experience. Just the ability to, one, live internationally. But then to also to live in a big city, I’ve never had either of those opportunities and never really thought I’d have those opportunities. So that was a fun experience on its own. That’s what I told myself when I went over: ‘I’m just gonna play tourist, and I’m gonna spend every off day exploring and ... seeing new things and living the adventure, and baseball will almost be secondary.’

“That really helped me take the stress off of baseball. I didn’t really worry too much about how I was pitching, or results, and the rest just took care of itself. And I ended up having a really great year.

“I spent those seven years with the Red Sox almost trying to win their approval, and I never did. I created my own stress trying to do that. So now, with a new opportunity, it felt freeing. I didn’t spend my time away from baseball thinking or worrying about baseball. It freed my mind and just allowed me to play more carefree. And when you play that way, it leads to a lot more success.”

Your dad passed away in February 2021. Later that year, you pitched on Father’s Day, as well as his birthday. What do you remember about those occasions?

A: “Father’s Day was a special one. I’d kind of been dreading it, because I knew for weeks that it was coming. Not looking forward to it. Almost hoping that it wouldn’t happen. And then that Sunday came and ... I knew I had a good chance of pitching that day.

“I just tried to keep all my emotions intact and just be like, ‘All right, I can let myself feel these emotions later. I don’t want to do it before the game, because I don’t want to feel like a wreck when the time comes.’ I pitched a scoreless inning. My manager, Corey Wimberly, went to shake my hand, like, ‘Your job’s done.’ And I told him, ‘Wembo, I can’t shake your hand. I need a hug.’ I gave him a hug, and we held that embrace longer than a normal hug.

“That’s when all the emotions started pouring out. I just started crying. I walked into the clubhouse and I sat at my locker, and I just sat there and cried for about an inning straight. Just sadness, happiness. It was almost like I was releasing all of these emotions that I bottled up.

“When it came to my dad’s birthday, I didn’t tell any of the coaches because I didn’t want them to pitch me just out of pity. After I was done pitching, I was sitting in the dugout, and the pitching coach came up to me. I was like, ‘Hey, I gotta tell you something. Today was my dad’s birthday.’ He goes, ‘Really? Why didn’t you tell us?’ I was like, ‘I didn’t want you guys to pitch me just to pitch me.’ It almost felt like fate allowed it to happen organically.”

You’ve said many times that no one believed in you more than your dad.

A: “He always held hope for this bigger picture. It really worked out somehow. He knew these things could happen. I remember there were times where coaches would be like, ‘Pedro, you gotta take off the dad hat. Do you really think your kid is that good?’ And he’s like, ‘Yes. It’s not just me being a dad.’ He had this belief. ...

“I feel lucky and blessed that I’ve been able to do so many things in my baseball career that I never imagined possible.”