José Alexander Siri (born July 22, 1995) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

outfielder An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...

for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East division. Since its inception ...

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). Siri signed with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

as an international

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2012. He made his MLB debut in 2021 with the

Houston Astros The Houston Astros are an American professional baseball team based in Houston, Texas. The Astros compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division, having moved to the division in 2013 after ...

, who traded him to the Rays in 2022.

Career

Cincinnati Reds

Siri signed with the

as an international

on September 21, 2012. He made his professional debut the next year with the Dominican Summer League Reds. He spent the 2014 season with the

Arizona League Reds The Arizona Complex League Reds are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Goodyear Ballpark in Goodyear, Arizona. The team is composed m ...

, hitting .248/.310/.376 in 46 games. He played in 46 games the following year with the AZL Reds and the rookie-level

Billings Mustangs The Billings Mustangs are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Billings, Montana, and have played their home games at Dehler ...

, slashing .244/.261/.438 with 3 home runs and 19 RBI. Siri split the 2016 season between Billings and the Single-A

Dayton Dragons The Dayton Dragons are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Dayton, Ohio, and play their home games at Day Air Ballpark, formerly known as Fifth Third Field. In 2 ...

, hitting a cumulative .275/.301/.463 with 10 home runs and 38 RBI in 86 games. Siri began the 2017 season with Dayton. During the season, he broke the

Midwest League The Midwest League is a Minor League Baseball league established in 1947 and based in the Midwestern United States. A Class A league for most of its history, the league was promoted to High-A as part of Major League Baseball's 2021 reorganizat ...

record for consecutive games with a hit. The record was previously held by Tony Toups with 35 in 1977. He batted .293 with Dayton, leading the league in runs (92) and stolen bases (46). The Reds added him to their 40-man roster after the season on November 20, 2017. In 2018, Siri split the season between the High-A

Daytona Tortugas The Daytona Tortugas are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and the Single-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Daytona Beach, Florida, and play their home games at Jackie Robinson Ballpark; opened in 191 ...

and the Double-A

Pensacola Blue Wahoos The Pensacola Blue Wahoos are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins. They are based in Pensacola, Florida, and play their home games at Admiral Fetterman Field. In 2012, the team rel ...

, hitting .239/.294/.449 with 13 home runs and 43 RBI in 96 games between the two teams. He split 2019 between the Double-A

Chattanooga Lookouts The Chattanooga Lookouts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Southern League and the Double-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and are named for nearby Lookout Mountain. The team plays its home g ...

and the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

, logging a .237/.300/.357 slash line with 11 home runs and 53 RBI in 131 total contests. On January 27, 2020, Siri was

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 ...

by the Reds. On February 3, 2020, Siri was claimed off waivers by the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West division. The team joined the American League ...

. On March 10, 2020, Siri was claimed off waivers 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 ...

. On July 23, Siri was designated for assignment by the Giants. He was outrighted on July 30. Siri did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. He became a free agent after the season on November 2, 2020.

Houston Astros

On December 23, 2020, Siri signed a minor league contract with the

organization. In 2021, Siri began the season with the Triple-A

Sugar Land Skeeters The Sugar Land Space Cowboys are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club. They are located in Sugar Land, Texas, part of the Greater Houston metr ...

. He played in 94 games for the Skeeters, batting .318/.369/.552 with 16 home runs, 72 RBIs, and 24 stolen bases in 27 attempts. On September 2, 2021, it was announced that Siri would be promoted from Triple-A to the major leagues for the first time. The next day, he was put in as a

pinch runner In baseball, a pinch runner is a player substituted for the specific purpose of replacing another player on base. The pinch runner may be faster or otherwise more skilled at base-running than the player for whom the pinch runner has been sub ...

in the 9th inning against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1969, the club has won two NL penna ...

to make his MLB debut.

Jake Meyers Jacob Berkshire Meyers (born June 18, 1996) is an American professional baseball outfielder for the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball (MLB). Meyers played college baseball for the Nebraska Cornhuskers baseball, Nebraska Cornhuskers. He was s ...

promptly hit a single that scored Siri from second base to give Siri his first run as a major leaguer. Siri made his first start in the majors on September 13 in left field. Facing the Texas Rangers, he went 4-for-5 with two home runs and 5 runs batted in. He was the first player since the RBI statistic became official in 1920 to have that many RBIs along with multiple home runs in their first-ever start as a major leaguer. In 2021 with the Astros, he batted .304/.347/.609 with 4 home runs, 9 RBIs, one walk, and 17 strikeouts in 46 at bats. Siri made the Astros'

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years ...

roster. On April 12, he hit a home run in the fifth inning off

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The f ...

starter

Madison Bumgarner Madison Kyle Bumgarner (born August 1, 1989), commonly known by his nickname, "MadBum", is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he pitched for the San Francisco Giants ...

that traveled a

Statcast Statcast is a high-speed, high-accuracy, automated tool developed to analyze player movements and athletic abilities in Major League Baseball (MLB). Statcast was introduced to all thirty MLB stadiums in 2015, a year now considered the beginning ...

-projected onto the left-center-field concourse with an

exit velocity In baseball statistics, exit velocity (EV) is the estimated speed at which a batted ball is travelling as it is coming off the player's bat. Batters generally aim for a higher exit velocity in order to give opposing fielders less time to react ...

of , his second-hardest hit in 24 big league games. Siri also singled in the ninth inning and scored the game-winning run for a 2–1 final score. Siri doubled and collected two hits, a stolen base and scored a run on May 25 versus the

Cleveland Guardians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

to lead an Astros 2–1 win. Siri also returned to play for Sugar Land in 2022. In 16 games, he batted .296/.346/.775/1.121, scored 17 runs, and hit nine home runs with 22 RBI.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Astros traded Siri to the

in a three-team deal on August 1, 2022, in which the

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 ...

acquired

Seth Johnson Seth Art Maurice Johnson (born 12 March 1979) is an English retired footballer. He spent his career at Crewe Alexandra, Derby County and Leeds United, and played one international for England in 2000. Club career Johnson attended Westcliff Pr ...

from Tampa, the Astros acquired

Trey Mancini Joseph Anthony "Trey" Mancini III (born March 18, 1992) is an American professional baseball designated hitter, first baseman and outfielder for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Baltimo ...

from Baltimore and Jayden Murray from Tampa Bay, and the Orioles also acquired Chayce McDermott from the Astros. In 2022 between Houston and Tampa Bay he batted .213/.268/.339 in 301 at bats with 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts. He had the fastest sprint speed of all major league center fielders, at 30.4 feet/second.

References

External links