Ezequiel Alberto Durán (born May 22, 1999) is a Dominican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

utility player In sports, a utility player is one who can play several positions competently. Sports in which the term is often used include association football, basketball, American football, baseball, rugby union, rugby league, softball, ice hockey, and water ...

for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Career

New York Yankees

Durán signed with 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) Am ...

as an international free agent on July 2, 2017, for a $10,000

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 ...

. He made his professional debut in 2017 for the DSL Yankees of the

Rookie-level Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National L ...

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 ...

, hitting .393/.415/.754/1.169 with 3 home runs and 11 RBI over 15 games. Durán played for the

Pulaski Yankees The Pulaski Yankees were a minor league baseball team based in Pulaski, Virginia, United States. They were an Advanced Rookie League team in the Appalachian League. The team played its home games at Calfee Park. They were affiliated with severa ...

of the

Appalachian League The Appalachian League is a Collegiate summer baseball, collegiate summer baseball league that operates in the Appalachian regions of Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, and North Carolina. Designed for rising freshmen and sophomores using wooden ...

in 2018, hitting .201/.251/.311/.562 with 4 home runs and 20 RBI. He spent the 2019 season with the

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 pl ...

of the

Class A Short Season Class A Short Season (officially Short-Season A) was a level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States from 1965 through 2020. In the hierarchy of minor league classifications, it was below Triple-A, Double-A, Class A-Advanced (crea ...

New York-Penn League New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

, hitting .256/.329/.496/.824 with 13 home runs, 37 RBI, and 11 stolen bases. Durán did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the

Minor League Baseball Minor League Baseball (MiLB) is a professional baseball organization below Major League Baseball (MLB), constituted of teams affiliated with MLB clubs. It was founded on September 5, 1901, in response to the growing dominance of the National Le ...

season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Durán opened the 2021 season with the

Hudson Valley Renegades The Hudson Valley Renegades are a Minor League Baseball team based in Fishkill, New York. The High-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, the Renegades play in the South Atlantic League. The Renegades play their home games at Heritage Financial Pa ...

of the

High-A East The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its hi ...

league, hitting .290/.374/.533/.907 with 12 home runs, 48 RBI, and 12 stolen bases over 67 games for them.

Texas Rangers

On July 29, 2021, Durán along with

Josh Smith Joshua Smith (born December 5, 1985) is an American former professional basketball player who played 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Entering the NBA straight out of high school, Smith played nine seasons with the Atlant ...

, Glenn Otto, and Trevor Hauver were traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for

Joey Gallo Joseph Nicholas Gallo (born November 19, 1993) is an American professional baseball outfielder and infielder who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers, New York ...

and Joely Rodríguez. He was assigned to the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans St ...

of the

following the trade, and finished the season posting a .229/.287/.408/.695 slash line with 7 home runs and 31 RBI. Durán played in the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season baseball league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are filled ...

for the

Surprise Saguaros The Surprise Saguaros are a baseball team that plays in the West Division of the Arizona Fall League. They play their home games in Surprise, Arizona, at Surprise Stadium. The ballpark is also the spring training facility of the Kansas City Roya ...

following the 2021 season, hitting .278/.333/.611/.944 with 3 home runs and 12 RBI. Durán was named to the Fall League All-Star team. On November 19, 2021, Texas selected Durán to the 40–man roster. He split the 2022 minor league season between 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. Based in Frisco, Texas, the team is named aft ...

of the Double-A

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 ...

and the

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

of the Triple-A

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

, hitting a combined .302/.344/.555/.899 with 16 home runs, 33 doubles, 57 RBI, and 14 stolen bases over 78 games. On June 4, Durán was promoted to the major leagues for the first time and made his major league debut that day versus the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners 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 ...

. He recorded his first career hit, an infield single, and first career home run on June 5. Over 58 games for Texas in 2022, Durán hit .236/.277/.365/.643 with 5 home runs, 10 doubles, 4 stolen bases, and 25 RBI. On March 31, 2025, Durán pitched for the first time in an MLB game in a 14-1 loss to the

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

. He pitched a perfect 8th inning by inducing the 3 batters he faced into 2 ground-outs and a fly-out.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Durán, Ezequiel 1999 births Living people People from San Juan de la Maguana Baseball players from San Juan Province (Dominican Republic) Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball utility players Texas Rangers players Dominican Summer League Yankees players Pulaski Yankees players Staten Island Yankees players Hudson Valley Renegades players Hickory Crawdads players Surprise Saguaros players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players Águilas Cibaeñas players