Hanser Joel Alberto Peña (born October 17, 1992) is a Dominican

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

infielder An infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field. Standard arrangement of positions In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles. ...

in the

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

organization. He has played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the Texas Rangers,

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. As one of the American L ...

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

, and

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...

Career

Texas Rangers

Alberto signed as an international free agent with the Texas Rangers in November 2009, receiving a $75,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. Playing for the

Dominican Summer Rangers The Dominican Summer League Rangers or DSL Rangers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Dominican Summer League and Rookie affiliates of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Since 2014, the tea ...

of the Rookie-level

Dominican Summer League The Dominican Summer League (DSL) is a branch of affiliated Minor League Baseball which is played in the Dominican Republic. The league was founded in 1985. After the demise of the Venezuelan Summer League after the 2015 season, it is the only L ...

in 2010, he won the

batting title In baseball, batting average (AVG) is a measure of a batter's success rate in achieving a hit during an at bat. In Major League Baseball (MLB), it is calculated by dividing a player's hits by his at bats (AB). In MLB, a player in each league win ...

. Alberto began the 2013 season with the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

, but struggled, and was demoted to the

Myrtle Beach Pelicans The Myrtle Beach Pelicans are a Minor League Baseball team in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the Single-A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The Pelicans compete in the Carolina League. Home games are played at TicketReturn.com Field, which open ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. He returned to Frisco in 2014, and won the

Rawlings Rawlings may refer to: *Rawlings (company), a U.S. sports equipment company *Rawlings, Maryland, an unincorporated community in Allegany County, Maryland *Rawlings (surname) Rawlings is an English-language surname. Notable people with the name in ...

Minor League Gold Glove Award as the best defensive shortstop in minor league baseball. The Rangers promoted Alberto to the major leagues on May 28, 2015; he made his debut the next day against the Boston Red Sox. He went 1-for-3 with a

run batted in A run batted in (RBI; plural RBIs ) is a statistic in baseball and softball that credits a batter for making a play that allows a run to be scored (except in certain situations such as when an error is made on the play). For example, if the bat ...

(RBI)

triple Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble": Sports * Triple (baseball), a three-base hit * A basketball three-point field goal * A figure skating jump with three rotations * In bowling terms, three strikes in a row * ...

in his debut. He made the Rangers postseason roster and batted .200 with two RBIs in the 2015 American League Division Series against the Toronto Blue Jays, including recording the game winning RBI in Game 2 of that series. He split the 2016 season between the

Round Rock Express The Round Rock Express are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Round Rock, Texas, and play their home games at the Dell Diamond. The team is named ...

and Texas. Alberto playing in only five games in 2017 due to shoulder injuries. On December 14, 2017, Alberto signed a minor league contract with the Rangers. He split the 2018 season between the Rangers and Round Rock.

Baltimore Orioles

Alberto bounced around and was claimed off waivers several times during the offseason following the 2018 campaign. Alberto was claimed from the Rangers by the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

on November 2, 2018, but was then

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must within seven days, return the pla ...

on January 11, 2019, as a result of the Yankees re-signing

Zack Britton Zackary Grant Britton (born December 22, 1987), known professionally as Zach Britton until February 2019, is a professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles an ...

. A few hours later, the Orioles claimed him off waivers, but on February 19, the team designated him for assignment to make room for

Josh Osich Joshua Michael Osich (born September 3, 1988) is an American professional baseball pitcher who is currently a free agent. He made his MLB debut with the San Francisco Giants in 2015 and has also played for the Chicago White Sox, Boston Red Sox, an ...

. Three days later, on February 22, he was claimed by the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yor ...

, but after only a week with the team, he rejoined the Orioles on March 1. Alberto was pressed into service as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue (medical), fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection (sports), ejection, or for other strategic ...

in the ninth inning of a 15–3 loss to the

Camden Yards The Oriole Park at Camden Yards is a baseball stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home field of Major League Baseball's Baltimore Orioles, and the first of the "retro" major league ballparks constructed during the 1990s and early ...

on April 7, 2019. With the score 13–3, he hit a batter, surrendered a two-run homer, walked a pair and got a force out and two flyouts. He joined teammates Renato Núñez and

Anthony Santander Anthony Roger Santander (born October 19, 1994) is a Venezuelan professional baseball outfielder for the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his major league debut in 2017. Early life Santander was born on Margarita Island, ...

as the third Oriole within a three-week span to achieve his own first-ever five-hit game in a 14–2 win over the

Kauffman Stadium Kauffman Stadium (), often called "The K", is a baseball stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. It is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex together with the adjacent Arrowhe ...

on August 30, 2019. This occurred within a calendar month for the first time since

Wally Moses Wallace Moses (October 8, 1910 – October 10, 1990) was an Americans, American professional baseball right fielder, who played Major League Baseball for the Philadelphia Athletics (1935–41; 1949–51), Chicago White Sox (1942–46) and Boston R ...

Frankie Hayes Franklin Witman "Blimp" Hayes (October 13, 1914 – June 22, 1955) was an American professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher between and , most prominently as a member of the Philadelphia Athletics where ...

and

Lou Finney Louis Klopsche Finney (August 13, 1910 – April 22, 1966) was an American professional baseball player. He spent fifteen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) playing for the Philadelphia Athletics (1931; 1933–1939), Boston Red Sox (1939–19 ...

did it with the

Philadelphia Athletics The Philadelphia Athletics were a Major League Baseball team that played in Philadelphia from 1901 to 1954, when they moved to Kansas City, Missouri, and became the Kansas City Athletics. Following another move in 1967, the team became the Oaklan ...

in July 1936. Alberto enjoyed a career year offensively, hitting .305/.329/.422 with 12 home runs and 51 runs batted in. He had the lowest strikeout percentage in baseball (9.1%), led the majors in at bats per strikeout (10.5), and led the American League in

bunt Bunt may refer to: * Bunt (community), an elite social group from Karnataka, India * Bunt (baseball), a batting technique in baseball * Bunt (sail), a part of a ship's sail * Bunt Island, island in Antarctica * The Bunt, nickname of the Bunting ...

hits (9). He also swung at the highest percentage of pitches outside the strike zone of all American League batters (47.6%), and had the lowest Hard Contact Percentage of all major league batters, at 24.6%. In 2020 for the Orioles, Alberto slashed .283/.306/.393 with 3 home runs and 22 RBI. He was non-tendered by the Orioles on December 2, 2020 and was released the same day. He had been expected to get a $2–4 million raise in his first year of arbitration eligibility.

Kansas City Royals

On January 31, 2021, Alberto signed a minor league contract with the

organization. On March 29, 2021, Alberto was selected to the 40-man roster. Alberto played in 103 games for the Royals, hitting .270 with 2 home runs and 24 RBI's. On October 29, Alberto elected free agency.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On March 23, 2022, Alberto signed a one-year contract for $1.6 million with the

. The deal contained a $2 million option for 2023. Alberto played every infield position plus right field, appearing in 73 games and batting .244 with two homers and 15 RBIs. He also pitched in 10 games, allowing five runs in 11 innings and setting a major league record for most pitching appearances by a position player in a season. On November 8, 2022, the Dodgers declined Alberto's 2023 option, making him a free agent.

Chicago White Sox

On January 11, 2023, Alberto signed a minor league contract with the

organization.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alberto, Hanser 1992 births Living people Baltimore Orioles players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Rangers players Gigantes del Cibao players Frisco RoughRiders players Hickory Crawdads players Kansas City Royals players Los Angeles Dodgers players Major League Baseball infielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Myrtle Beach Pelicans players People from San Francisco de Macorís Round Rock Express players Spokane Indians players Surprise Saguaros players Texas Rangers players