{{short description|Dominican baseball player (born 1977)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox baseball biography |name=Julio Mateo |position=Pitcher |image=JulioMateoPitching.jpg |bats=Right |throws=Right |birth_date={{Birth date and age|1977|8|2}} |birth_place=Baní, Dominican Republic |debutleague = MLB |debutdate=May 7 |debutyear=2002 |debutteam=Seattle Mariners |finalleague = MLB |finaldate=May 3 |finalyear=2007 |finalteam=Seattle Mariners |statleague = MLB |stat1label=Win–loss record |stat1value=18–12 |stat2label=Earned run average |stat2value=3.68 |stat3label=Strikeouts |stat3value=216 |teams= * Seattle Mariners ({{mlby|2002}}–{{mlby|2007}}) }}

'''Julio Cesar Mateo''' (born August 2, 1977) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher. The 6’0 tall 220 lb Mateo bats and throws right-handed. He was signed by the Seattle Mariners as a non-drafted free agent on May 15, {{Baseball year|1996}}.

==Professional career==

===Seattle Mariners=== Mateo went 4–2 with a 1.74 ERA in 15 games, including two starts, for Dominican Summer League Mariners in {{Baseball year|1996}}. He tossed two complete games and earned one save.

In {{Baseball year|1997}} Mateo went 3–1 with a 3.30 ERA in 13 outings, including six starts, for Arizona League Mariners.

With the Short-Season Everett AquaSox in {{Baseball year|1998}}, Mateo went 3–3 with a 4.70 ERA and four saves in 28 relief appearances. He also allowed one run over 1{{frac|1|3}} innings in his lone outing for the Class-A Advanced Lancaster JetHawks.

Mateo went 1–3 with a 4.34 ERA and four saves in 20 outings for the Class-A Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in {{Baseball year|1999}}.

Again with Class-A Wisconsin in {{Baseball year|2000}}, Mateo went 4–8 with a 4.19 ERA and four saves in 36 outings, including one start.

He went 5–4 with a 2.86 ERA and a career-high 26 saves in 56 outings for the Class-A Advanced San Bernardino Stampede in {{Baseball year|2001}}.

Mateo split the {{Baseball year|2002}} season between the Double-A San Antonio Missions, the Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, and the Major League Mariners. He went 1–0 with an 0.52 ERA in 12 outings for San Antonio and 4–2 with a 4.06 ERA and six saves in 20 appearances for Tacoma. ... He made his Major League Baseball debut on May 7, {{mlby|2002}}, for the Mariners against the Toronto Blue Jays. Mateo gave up 10 runs in 21 innings during his first taste of Major League action with Seattle.

In {{mlby|2003}} Mateo went 4–0 with a 3.15 ERA and a save in 50 relief outings for Mariners. He finished 17 games for Seattle in '03.

Mateo retained his bullpen spot with the Mariners in {{mlby|2004}}. He went 1–2 with a 4.68 ERA and one save in 45 outings for M's.

In {{mlby|2005}} Mateo went 3–6 with a 3.06 ERA in 55 appearances, including one start, for the Mariners.

He went 9–4 with a 4.19 ERA in 48 relief appearances for Mariners in {{mlby|2006}}. He recorded a career high in wins. On August 28, Mateo broke his fourth metacarpal (ring finger) on his left hand while lifting weights.,<ref>Bowles, CJ; Seattle Mariners (08/28/06) "[http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060828&content_id=1633863&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea Notes: Mateo done for the season. Reliever breaks finger lifting weights, Huber takes his place]". ''Mariners Baseball''; MLB Advanced Media. Retrieved on 2009-07-07</ref> and missed the remainder of the '06 season.

Mateo posted a 1–0 mark with a 3.75 ERA in nine appearances for the Mariners before his domestic violence charge. Soon after that he was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.

===Philadelphia Phillies=== On July 31, {{mlby|2007}}, Mateo was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league shortstop Jesus Merchan. He went 4–1 with a 1.43 ERA 15 saves in 35 relief outings for both the Double-A Reading Phillies and the Rainiers in the Mariners' organization. On December 7, he was given unconditional release by the Phillies.

===San Francisco Giants=== On January 10, {{Baseball year|2008}}, Mateo signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants. He went 3–4 with a 5.69 ERA in 25 outings, including six starts, for the Triple-A Fresno Grizzlies. He lost his first three starts before allowing two runs over 5{{frac|2|3}} innings in victory over the Tucson Sidewinders on April 20. He converted three consecutive save opportunities from May 22–29. He became a free agent at the end of the '08 season.

===Mexico City Red Devils=== Mateo played the {{mlby|2009}} season with the Diablos Rojos del México of the Mexican League. He went 12–5 in 123{{frac|2|3}} innings with a 5.24 ERA and 70 strikeouts in 22 games, 21 starts.

==Personal life== Mateo has one son, Julio Mateo Jr. He left spring training in 2006, after learning his older brother, Luis, had died in an automobile accident in the Dominican Republic.

===Criminal charges=== On May 5, 2007, Mateo turned himself in under the charges of abuse to his wife. He was arrested on a charge of third-degree assault. The police report said the incident involved him striking, choking and biting his wife. She needed five stitches on her lip, as a result of a bite police say was inflicted by Mateo.<ref>Andriesen, David (May 6, 2007). "[http://www.seattlepi.com/baseball/314578_mateo06ww.html M's suspend pitcher Mateo]". ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer''. Retrieved on 2009-07-07</ref><ref>Baker, Geoff (May 19, 2007). "[http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2003700826_marinotes10.html Sexson finally gets first multi-hit game] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070817120938/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2003700826_marinotes10.html |date=2007-08-17 }}". ''Seattle Times''. Retrieved on 2009-07-07</ref> Mateo was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma immediately after the event and faced a 10-day non-pay suspension as well as a fine for not showing up to the ballpark for the game that night against the New York Yankees.<ref>Associated Press (May 7, 2007). "[https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=2863375 Mateo apologizes after domestic dispute with wife]". ''ESPN''. Retrieved on 2009-07-07</ref>

While pitching in San Francisco's farm system, Mateo was arrested on July 27, 2008, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The arrest followed the discovery of counterfeit $100 bills in his hotel room. He also faced the accusation of passing a counterfeit $100 bill to pay a cab fare. A police report says that as officers patted Mateo down in a hotel hallway early Sunday, he made a statement in Spanish denying the charges.<ref>Fitzpatrick, Mike (July 29, 2008). "[https://www.espn.com/espn/wire?section=mlb&id=3510259 Ex-MLB reliever Mateo arrested with fake bills]". ''ESPN''. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2009-07-07</ref>

== References == {{reflist|30em}}

==External links== *[https://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mateoju01.shtml Baseball Reference] *[http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/team/player.jsp?player_id=421024 MLB.com Profile]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mateo, Julio}} Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:Arizona League Mariners players Category:Diablos Rojos del México players Category:Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Category:Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Category:Everett AquaSox players Category:Fresno Grizzlies players Category:Lancaster JetHawks players Category:Leones del Caracas players Category:Leones del Escogido players Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Category:Mexican Baseball League pitchers Category:Reading Phillies players Category:San Antonio Missions players Category:San Bernardino Stampede players Category:Seattle Mariners players Category:Tacoma Rainiers players Category:Wisconsin Timber Rattlers players Category:Baseball players from Baní