Zoilo Manuel Almonte (born June 10, 1989) 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 ...

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

Chunichi Dragons The are a professional baseball team based in Nagoya, the chief city in the Chūbu region of Japan. The team plays in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. They have won the Central League pennant nine times (most recently in 2011) ...

Nippon Professional Baseball or NPB is the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning ''Professional Baseball''. Outside Japan, it is often just referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league can be traced back to the formation ...

. 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

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 ...

and the

KBO League The KBO League (), officially the Shinhan Bank SOL KBO League, is the highest level league of baseball in South Korea. The KBO League was founded with six franchises in 1982 and is the most popular sports league in South Korea. The Kia Tigers ar ...

for the

KT Wiz KT Wiz ( ko, KT 위즈) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Suwon Baseball Stadium in Suwon. History On 11 January 2013, the Korea Baseball Organization off ...

Career

New York Yankees

On July 2, 2005, Almonte was signed as an international free agent with the

. He made his professional debut with the

Dominican Summer League Yankees The Dominican Summer Yankees are a minor league baseball team in the Dominican Summer League. The team plays in the Boca Chica South division and is affiliated with the New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional b ...

in 2006. In 2007, Almonte played for the rookie-level

GCL Yankees The Florida Complex League Yankees are a Rookie-level affiliate of the New York Yankees, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team is composed mainly of players who are in their first year of professional baseball ...

, posting a .268/.307/.395 slash line with 3 home runs and 24 RBI. He returned to the team the following season, hitting .239 in 57 games. In 2009, he played for the Low-A

Staten Island Yankees The Staten Island Yankees were a minor league baseball team located in the New York City borough of Staten Island from 1999 to 2020. Nicknamed the "Baby Bombers", the Yankees were the Class A Short Season affiliate of the New York Yankees and pla ...

, slashing .274/.355/.440 with 7 home runs and 39 RBI. The following season, Almonte split the year between the Single-A Charleston River Dogs and the High-A

Tampa Yankees Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and ...

, accumulating a .269/.331/.424 slash line between the two teams. In 2011, Almonte split the season between Tampa and the Double-A

Trenton Thunder The Trenton Thunder are a collegiate summer baseball team of the MLB Draft League. They are located in Trenton, New Jersey, and play their home games at Trenton Thunder Ballpark. From 1994 to 2020, it was a Minor League Baseball team of the Doub ...

, logging a .276/.345/.459 batting line with 15 home runs and 77 RBI. Almonte was added to the Yankees' 40 man roster after the 2011 season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. For the week of June 11–17, 2012, Almonte was named Eastern League player of the week. Almonte spent the 2012 season with Trenton, where he hit .277/.322/.487 with a 70 RBI and a career-high 21 home runs. Almonte began the 2013 season with the Triple-A

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (often abbreviated to SWB RailRiders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees. They are located in Moosic, Pen ...

and was named player of the week of the

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

on May 6, 2013. The Yankees promoted Almonte to the major leagues on June 19, 2013. Almonte made his Major League debut in the 2nd game of a doubleheader against the

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 ...

the same day he was called up, grounding out as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 9th inning. He got his first major league hit the next day against

Kyle Farnsworth Kyle Lynn Farnsworth (born April 14, 1976) is a former professional baseball pitcher. He has played for the Chicago Cubs (1999–2004), Detroit Tigers (2005, 2008), Atlanta Braves (2005, 2010), New York Yankees (2006–2008), Kansas City Royals (2 ...

of 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 ...

, a pinch-hit single off the third base bag. He hit his first major league home run the very next day off Roberto Hernández of the Rays. He finished his rookie season with a .236/.274/.302 slash line and 9 RBI. Almonte was assigned to Scranton to begin the 2014 season, moving between them and the Yankees for the first few months of the season. On July 9, 2014, Almonte was recalled to replace

Masahiro Tanaka is a Japanese professional baseball player for the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). From 2007 through 2013, he played for the Eagles in NPB. Tanaka was posted by the Eagles after the 2013 season to be si ...

, who was placed on the 15-day DL. On July 13, he was sent back down to Triple-A, but was recalled on July 28 to replace pitcher

Jeff Francis Jeffrey William Francis (born January 8, 1981) is a Canadian former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, Cincinnati Reds, Oakland Athletics, New York Yankees, and ...

on the roster after Francis was designated for assignment and released. Almonte himself was designated for assignment on September 2, and outrighted to Triple-A Scranton on September 5. On November 3, 2014, he elected free agency.

Atlanta Braves

Almonte signed a one-year deal with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. The Braves ...

on November 10, 2014. He was outrighted off the roster on March 31, 2015, and elected free agency on April 9.

Pericos de Puebla

On February 1, 2016, Almonte signed with the

Pericos de Puebla The Pericos de Puebla (English: "Puebla Parrots") are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Puebla, Mexico. History The state of Puebla came upon baseball in the early 1920s when returning Poblanos that had come from militar ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. Appearing in only 7 games with the team, Almonte posted a .250/.344/.321 slash with 1 RBI.

Sultanes de Monterrey

On April 12, 2016, Almonte was traded from the Pericos to the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey ( en, Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Monterrey, Mexico. They compete in the Northern Division. The team also joined the Mexican Pacific League for the 2019–20 season f ...

. Almonte finished the season with Monterrey, recording a .288/.350/.495 batting line with 20 home runs and 77 RBI and was named a Mexican League All-Star. The following season, Almonte again earned All-Star honors after hitting .355/.421/.536 with 15 home runs and 70 RBI.

Chunichi Dragons

On December 27, 2017, Almonte was officially unveiled as a

player for the 2018

season on an incentive laden ¥50,000,000, one-year deal. On March 30, 2018, Almonte made his NPB debut. In his debut year for Chunichi, Almonte posted a .321/.375/.486 batting line with 15 home runs and 77 RBI. He re-signed with the Dragons for the 2019 season on a one year deal worth, ¥100,000,000. Almonte played in 49 games for Chunichi in 2019, slashing .329/.362/.506 with 7 home runs and 25 RBI. In 2020, Almonte played in 62 games with the Dragons, hitting .294/.385/.463 with nine home runs and 29 RBI. On December 2, 2020, he became a free agent.

KT Wiz

On December 23, 2020, Almonte signed a one-year, $775,000 deal with the

of the

. Almonte slashed .271/.336/.404 with 7 home runs and 36 RBI in 60 games for the Wiz before suffering a slight tear in his right achilles tendon in June. He was released by the team on June 26, 2021, to clear roster space for the newly-signed

Jared Hoying Jared William Hoying (born May 18, 1989) is an American professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers and Toronto Blue Jays. He also played for the Hanwha Eagle ...

Sultanes de Monterrey (second stint)

On January 31, 2022, Almonte signed with the

of the

Chunichi Dragons (second stint)

On November 11, 2022, it was reported that Almonte had signed with former team,

ahead of the 2023 season alongside countryman, Orlando Calixte.

References

External links

NPB.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Almonte, Zoilo 1989 births Living people Águilas Cibaeñas players Charleston RiverDogs players Chunichi Dragons players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Japan Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in South Korea Dominican Summer League Yankees players Estrellas Orientales players Gulf Coast Yankees players KT Wiz players Major League Baseball outfielders Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic Mexican League baseball outfielders New York Yankees players Nippon Professional Baseball left fielders Pericos de Puebla players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Sportspeople from Santo Domingo Staten Island Yankees players Sultanes de Monterrey players Tampa Yankees players Trenton Thunder players