The Toros del Este continue to strengthen their roster of native players after general manager Jesús Mejía announced the free agency signing of infielders Gustavo Núñez and Ronny Rodríguez, relievers Wirfin Obispo and Luis Santos, as well as Utility Pablo Reyes.
With these there are nine players signed by the romanense franchise in the first days since free agency came into force.
Núñez, a three-time Gold Glove winner, is coming off a good season with the Estrellas Orientales where he hit .279 with an OBP of .353 with 18 runs scored, 6 RBIs and 5 stolen bases in the Regular Series, while in the playoffs he averaged . 328 with a .388 on-base percentage, 9 runs scored and 6 RBIs.
He has hit .264 for life in LIDOM since he made his debut in 2010 with the Leones del Escogido, moving to the green team via trade in the 2013-14 season. In the playoffs he has a .271 career average with 63 runs scored, 33 RBIs and 24 stolen bases in 125 games. Núñez reinforced the Bulls in the San Juan 2020 Caribbean Series, being an important part of the Caribbean crown won by the Romanense club.
Obispo has been one of the best relievers since he debuted with the Estrellas Orientales in the 2007 season. For life in the Dominican league, he has a 2.38 ERA with 255 strikeouts, 105 walks and just 149 hits allowed in 215.1 innings, with a WHIP of 1. In the postseason, the right-hander is 7-5, 2.22 with 8 saves. Including Regular Series and playoffs, he has limited the opposition to a .193 batting average in his Dominican baseball career.
His 60 saves are the seventh most in league history.
Ronny Rodríguez will wear the orange jacket for the second time in his career, the “Mao’s Feline” reinforced the Bulls in the Round Robin of the 2018-19 season. Rodríguez made his debut in the 2011-12 campaign with the Stars and instead came to the Águilas in the 2015-16 season.
Rodríguez has a lifetime average of .247 with 10 homers and 74 RBIs, his best season was 2017 when he had 4 balls and 21 RBIs, averaging .284. His best production has been in the playoffs, where he is hitting .259 with 8 home runs and 34 RBIs in 83 games.
Luis Santos is back in the team that selected him in the 2014 Draft, making his debut that same season with the club. In seven seasons with the Toros, Santos went 1-2, 2.39 in 75.1 innings, walking 25 and striking out 51. He spent two seasons with the Giants, in 2022-23 he went 1-1, 3.12 in 16 games, where he struck out 18 in 17.1 innings of 13 hits and 6 walks. The opposition hit it just .203.
On his side, Pablo Reyes will wear his third uniform in the Dominican league, having previously worn that of the Leones and Tigres. The utility has 3 homers and 32 RBIs in 138 games.
Previously, Jesús Mejía had announced the signing from free agency of starter Esmil Rogers, catcher Webster Rivas, outfielder Aneury Tavárez and slugger from Román Yermín Mercedes.
