Reyes Moronta


Reyes Armando Moronta is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball. Moronta signed with the Giants as an international free agent in 2010. He made his MLB debut in 2017.

Early life

Moronta was born to Francisco and Ivonne Moronta in Santiago in the Dominican Republic, the youngest of five children. His father was a truck driver, and his mother rolled cigars at a local factory. He grew up in the 700-person rural town of Quinigua, 90 miles north of Santiago. For high school he attended Milagros Hernández Lyceum in Villa González.

Career

2010-16

Moronta signed with the San Francisco Giants as an international free agent in September 2010 at 17 years of age for $15,000. He made his professional debut in 2011 with the Dominican Summer League Giants. He played for the Arizona League Giants in 2012.
He played as a starting pitcher with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in 2013, Arizona League Giants in 2014, and Augusta GreenJackets in 2015.
He played for the San Jose Giants in 2016, for whom he was 0-3 with 14 saves and a 2.59 ERA in 60 games in which he pitched 59 innings and struck out 93 batters. His fastball reached as high as 100 mph. He was a mid-season All Star, and an MiLB organization All Star. The Giants added him to their 40-man roster after the 2016 season.

2017-present

Moronta was called up to the Major Leagues on May 10, 2017. During the 2017 season, Moronta pitched in 7 games for the Giants, recording 11 strikeouts in 6 innings pitched. In the minors, he pitched for three teams and was 3-1 with five saves and a 2.92 ERA, as in 34 relief appearances he pitched 37 innings and struck out 47 batters.
In 2018 for the Giants he was 5-2 with one save and a 2.49 ERA, as in 69 relief appearances he pitched 65 innings and struck out 79 batters. He threw his four-seam fastball at an average 97.6 mph, and opposing batters hit.154 overall,.142 against his slider, and.132 as right-handed batters. In one stretch, he tied a Major League streak with 12 straight appearances without allowing a hit. He established the Giants record for fewest hits per 9 innings, with a minimum of 50 innings pitched.
In 2019 for the Giants he was 3-7 with a 2.86 ERA, as in 56 relief appearances he pitched 56.2 innings and struck out 70 batters. He threw his four-seam fastball at an average 97.5 mph, and batters hit.123 against his slider. In September 2019 he underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder, and was expected to miss nine to eleven months.