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Richard Ureña

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Ureña and the second or maternal family name is Castillo.
Richard Ureña
Ureña with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017
Free agent
Shortstop
Born: (1996-02-26) February 26, 1996 (age 28)
San Francisco de Macorís, Duarte, Dominican Republic
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 1, 2017, for the Toronto Blue Jays
MLB statistics
(through 2019 season)
Batting average.253
Home runs2
Runs batted in14
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Richard Ureña Castillo (born February 26, 1996) is a Dominican professional baseball shortstop who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Professional career

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Toronto Blue Jays

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Ureña was signed as an international free agent by the Blue Jays for $725,000 in 2012,[1] and played his first professional season split between the Dominican Summer League Blue Jays and Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. In 64 games with the DSL Blue Jays, he batted .296 with one home run and 35 runs batted in (RBI). He then played seven games in the Gulf Coast League, batting .333 with three RBI.[2] Ureña was promoted to the Rookie Advanced Bluefield Blue Jays of the Appalachian League for the start of the 2014 season, and recorded a 28-game streak of reaching base safely.[3] In 53 games, he hit .318 with two home runs and 20 RBI before he was promoted to the Low–A Vancouver Canadians on August 21.[4][2] Ureña appeared in nine games for Vancouver, batting .242 with five RBI.[2] On September 24, Ureña was named the Most Valuable Player for Bluefield in 2014.[5] He began the 2015 season with the Single–A Lansing Lugnuts. On June 5, Ureña was named a Midwest League midseason All-Star. At that time, he led the Lugnuts with seven home runs, and had 35 RBI.[6] Ureña was called up to the High–A Dunedin Blue Jays in early July, and played 30 games there before returning to Lansing. In 121 games played, he batted .262 with 16 home runs and 66 RBI.[2] In the offseason, he appeared in 33 games with the Gigantes del Cibao of the Dominican Winter League. Batting against pitchers that were over seven years of age older than him on average, Ureña hit .258 with five RBI.[2]

Ureña was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016,[7] and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12.[8] He was assigned to the Dunedin Blue Jays to open the 2016 minor league season.[9] Ureña recorded his first career five-hit game on July 9 which gave him 91 hits on the season, raising his batting average to .292 and tying him with Scott Kingery for first place in the Florida State League.[10] On July 27, Ureña was ranked 91st on MLB's Top 100 Prospects list, and was named the Blue Jays top prospect.[11] He was promoted to the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats on August 3, and had three hits in his debut that day.[12] On August 10, Ureña hit three triples against the Bowie Baysox, which set a Fisher Cats single-game record.[13] In 127 games in 2016, he hit .295 with eight home runs and 59 RBI.[2] The Blue Jays added him to their 40-man roster after the season.[14] Ureña spent the entire 2017 minor league season with Double-A New Hampshire, and hit .247 with five home runs and 60 RBI in a career-high 129 games played.[2]

Following his September callup to the Blue Jays in the previous season, Ureña was assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons to start the 2018 season.[15] However, due to an intercostal strain which included a rehab assignment with the Dunedin Blue Jays, he did not join the Bisons until May 2.[16]

Major Leagues

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On August 31, 2017, Blue Jays' manager John Gibbons announced that Ureña would be called up on September 1.[17] Ureña hit his first MLB home run on September 8, in Toronto's 5–4 loss to the Detroit Tigers.[18] On September 12, he walked off the Baltimore Orioles, hitting an RBI single off closer Zach Britton to give the Blue Jays a 3–2 victory.[19] Ureña played in 21 games for Toronto in his rookie campaign, batting .206/.270/.309 with one home run and four RBI.[20]

Ureña made 40 appearances for Toronto in 2018, slashing .293/.340/.364 with one home run, six RBI, and two stolen bases.[21] He played in 30 contests for the Blue Jays in 2019, hitting .243/.273/.324 with four RBI.[22] On December 30, 2019, Ureña was designated for assignment following the signing of Travis Shaw.[23]

On January 10, 2020, Ureña was claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles.[24] Ureña was designated for assignment following the acquisition of Andrew Velazquez on February 19.[25] He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[26] He became a free agent on November 2.[27]

On December 18, 2020, Ureña signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays organization.[28]

Washington Nationals

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On November 28, 2021, Ureña signed a minor league contract with the Washington Nationals.[29] He was assigned to the Triple-A Rochester Red Wings to begin the 2022 season. After appearing in 37 games and hitting .231/.268/.321 with 2 home runs and 21 RBI, Ureña was released on August 9, 2022.

York Revolution

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On March 7, 2023, Ureña signed with the York Revolution of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.[30] In 103 games for York, Ureña hit .269/.315/.462 with 18 home runs and 64 RBI.

Dorados de Chihuahua

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On February 14, 2024, Ureña signed with the Dorados de Chihuahua of the Mexican League.[31] However, he was released prior to the start of the season on April 10.[32]

References

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  1. ^ Caskey, Charlie (December 23, 2013). "2014 Toronto Blue Jays Top Prospects: #28 Richard Urena". jaysjournal.com. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Richard Urena Minor League Statistics & History". Baseball-Reference. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  3. ^ "Twitter / BluefieldJays". Twitter. August 6, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  4. ^ "Bluefield Blue Jays on Twitter". Twitter. August 21, 2014. Retrieved August 25, 2014.
  5. ^ Chisholm, Gregor (September 24, 2014). "Blue Jays name MVPs in Minor League system". MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014.
  6. ^ Fine, David (June 5, 2015). "Urena added to All-Star Roster". milb.com. Retrieved June 6, 2015.
  7. ^ "Blue Jays Invite 14 to Spring Training". bluebirdbanter.com. January 12, 2016. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  8. ^ "Ben Nicholson-Smith on Twitter". Twitter. March 12, 2016. Retrieved March 12, 2016.
  9. ^ Rosenbaum, Mike (April 7, 2016). "Where the Blue Jays' Top 30 prospects are starting the season". MLB.com. Archived from the original on September 6, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
  10. ^ Leboff, Michael (July 10, 2016). "Urena delivers first career five-hit game". MiLB.com. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  11. ^ Chisholm, Gregor (July 28, 2016). "Urena, Reid-Foley crack Top 100 Prospects list". MLB.com. Archived from the original on July 29, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2016.
  12. ^ Jackson, Josh (August 3, 2016). "Promotion doesn't slow down Jays' Urena". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 4, 2016.
  13. ^ Peng, Michael (August 10, 2016). "Fisher Cats' Urena hits record three triples". MiLB.com. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  14. ^ Chisholm, Gregor (November 18, 2016). "Blue Jays protect Urena, Alford from Rule 5 Draft". MLB.com. Archived from the original on November 19, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2016.
  15. ^ @KeeganMatheson (April 2, 2018). "#BlueJays set minor league rosters. Much more on these coming at @BaseballTOR today and tomorrow" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  16. ^ Davidi, Shi (April 28, 2018). "Blue Jays farm report: Alford playing catchup after missing time". sportsnet.ca. Retrieved May 2, 2018.
  17. ^ "Teoscar Hernandez highlights first wave of Blue Jays' September call-ups". Sportsnet. August 31, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  18. ^ "Castellanos's grand slam, rare triple play lead Tigers past Blue Jays". Sportsnet. September 8, 2017. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  19. ^ "Blue Jays mount late comeback in walk-off win over Orioles". Sportsnet. September 12, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  20. ^ "Richard Ureña 2017 batting Stats Per Game - MLB". espn.com. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  21. ^ "Richard Ureña 2018 batting Stats Per Game - MLB". espn.com. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  22. ^ "Richard Ureña 2019 batting Stats Per Game - MLB". espn.com. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
  23. ^ "Blue Jays officially sign Shaw to one-year, $4M contract; DFA Urena". Sportsnet. December 30, 2019. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  24. ^ Todd, Jeff (January 10, 2020). "Orioles Claim Richard Urena, Designate Pat Valaika". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved January 10, 2020.
  25. ^ Todd, Jeff (February 19, 2020). "Orioles Claim Andrew Velazquez, Designate Richard Urena". MLBTradeRumors.com.
  26. ^ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  27. ^ "Full List of 2020-2021 MiLB Free Agents". baseballamerica.com. November 2, 2020. Retrieved August 22, 2024.
  28. ^ "Blue Jays Sign Richard Urena to Minor League Deal". December 18, 2020.
  29. ^ McDonald, Darragh (December 1, 2021). "Minor MLB Transactions: 12/01/21". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  30. ^ "Veteran MLB Shortstop, Pitching Prospect Join Nicely in Latest Signings". March 7, 2023.
  31. ^ "x.com".
  32. ^ "LMB: Movimientos en listas de reserva - 10 de abril de 2024". milb.com. Retrieved April 14, 2024.
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