Richard Ureña Castillo (born February 26, 1996) 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 ...

shortstop Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball positions, baseball or softball fielding position between second base, second and third base, which is considered to be among the Defensive spectrum, most demanding defensive positions. Historically, the ...

who is a free agent. He has previously played in

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) for the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Ureña was signed as an international free agent by the Blue Jays for $725,000 in 2012, and played his first professional season split between the

Dominican Summer League Blue Jays The Dominican Summer Blue Jays are a baseball team in the Dominican Summer League. The DSL is a rookie level circuit, and therefore the team is a rookie affiliate. The team plays in the San Pedro de Macorís division. Facilities The team plays ...

and

Gulf Coast League Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays its ...

. In 64 games with the DSL Blue Jays, he batted .296 with one

home run In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the Baseball (ball), ball is hit in such a way that the batting (baseball), batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safe (baseball), safely in one play without any error ( ...

and 35

runs batted in A run batted in or runs batted in (RBI) 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 th ...

(RBI). He then played seven games in the Gulf Coast League, batting .333 with three RBI. Ureña was promoted to the

Rookie Advanced 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 ...

Bluefield Blue Jays The Bluefield Blue Jays were a minor league baseball team of the Rookie Appalachian League representing the twin cities of Bluefield, West Virginia, and Bluefield, Virginia. The team played their home games at Bowen Field at Peters Park, a histori ...

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 ...

for the start of the 2014 season, and recorded a 28-game streak of reaching base safely. In 53 games, he hit .318 with two home runs and 20 RBI before he was promoted to the Low–A

Vancouver Canadians The Vancouver Canadians are a Minor League Baseball (MiLB) team located in Vancouver, British Columbia. They are members of the Northwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bail ...

on August 21. Ureña appeared in nine games for Vancouver, batting .242 with five RBI. On September 24, Ureña was named the Most Valuable Player for Bluefield in 2014. He began the 2015 season with the Single–A

Lansing Lugnuts The Lansing Lugnuts are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Athletics (baseball), Athletics. They are located in Lansing, Michigan, and play their home games at Jackson Field (Lansing), Jackson Fie ...

. On June 5, Ureña was named a Midwest League midseason All-Star. At that time, he led the Lugnuts with seven home runs, and had 35 RBI. Ureña was called up to the High–A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

in early July, and played 30 games there before returning to Lansing. In 121 games played, he batted .262 with 16 home runs and 66 RBI. In the offseason, he appeared in 33 games with the

Gigantes del Cibao The Gigantes del Cibao (English language, English: Cibao Giants) are a baseball team that plays in the Dominican Winter League. The team was founded in 1996 as ''Gigantes del Noroeste ''then with a change of ownership the name was changed severa ...

of the

Dominican Winter League The Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League ( or LIDOM) is a professional baseball Winter league baseball, winter league consisting of six teams spread across the Dominican Republic; it is the highest level of professional baseball played ...

. Batting against pitchers that were over seven years of age older than him on average, Ureña hit .258 with five RBI. Ureña was invited to Major League spring training on January 12, 2016, and reassigned to minor league camp on March 12. He was assigned to the Dunedin Blue Jays to open the 2016 minor league season. Ureña recorded his first career five-hit game on July 9 which gave him 91 hits on the season, raising his batting average to .292 and tying him with Scott Kingery for first place in the

Florida State League The Florida State League (FSL) is a Minor League Baseball league based in the state of Florida. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 until its demotion to Single-A following ...

. On July 27, Ureña was ranked 91st on MLB's Top 100 Prospects list, and was named the Blue Jays top prospect. He was promoted to the Double-A

New Hampshire Fisher Cats The New Hampshire Fisher Cats are a Minor League Baseball team based in Manchester, New Hampshire. The team, which plays in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League, is the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Ja ...

on August 3, and had three hits in his debut that day. On August 10, Ureña hit three

triples TripleS (; ; stylized as tripleS) is a South Korean 24-member multinational girl group formed by Modhaus. They aim to be the world's first decentralized idol group, where the members will rotate between the full group, sub-units, and solo activi ...

against the

Bowie Baysox The Chesapeake Baysox are a Minor League Baseball team located in Bowie, Maryland. They are the Double-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles, and play in the Eastern League. Their home ballpark is Prince George's Stadium. From 1993 to 2024, th ...

, which set a Fisher Cats single-game record. In 127 games in 2016, he hit .295 with eight home runs and 59 RBI. The Blue Jays added him to their 40-man roster after the season. Ureña spent the entire 2017 minor league season with Double-A New Hampshire, and hit .247 with five home runs and 60 RBI in a career-high 129 games played. Following his September callup to the Blue Jays in the previous season, Ureña was assigned to the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

to start the 2018 season. However, due to an intercostal strain which included a rehab assignment with the Dunedin Blue Jays, he did not join the Bisons until May 2.

Major Leagues

On August 31, 2017, Blue Jays' manager

John Gibbons John Michael Gibbons (born June 8, 1962) is an American professional baseball coach, manager and former player. Gibbons played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a catcher with the New York Mets in 1984 and 1986. Gibbons became a coach for the ...

announced that Ureña would be called up on September 1. Ureña hit his first MLB home run on September 8, in Toronto's 5–4 loss to the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

. On September 12, he walked off the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) 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) East Division. As one of the America ...

, hitting an RBI single off closer Zach Britton to give the Blue Jays a 3–2 victory. Ureña played in 21 games for Toronto in his rookie campaign, batting .206/.270/.309 with one home run and four RBI. Ureña made 40 appearances for Toronto in 2018, slashing .293/.340/.364 with one home run, six RBI, and two stolen bases. He played in 30 contests for the Blue Jays in 2019, hitting .243/.273/.324 with four RBI. On December 30, 2019, Ureña 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 ...

following the signing of

Travis Shaw Travis Richard Shaw (born April 16, 1990) is an American former professional baseball infielder who played eight seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for three MLB teams—the Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers and Toronto Blue Jays� ...

. On January 10, 2020, Ureña was claimed off waivers by the

. Ureña was designated for assignment following the acquisition of

Andrew Velazquez Andrew Velazquez (born July 14, 1994), nicknamed "Squid", is an American professional baseball infielder in the New York Yankees organization. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians, Bal ...

on February 19. He 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 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 ...

. He became a free agent on November 2. On December 18, 2020, Ureña signed a minor league contract with the Blue Jays organization.

Washington Nationals

On November 28, 2021, Ureña signed a minor league contract with the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. They play their home games at Na ...

. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Rochester Red Wings The Rochester Red Wings are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Rochester, New York, and play their home games at Innovative Fie ...

to begin the 2022 season. After appearing in 37 games and hitting .231/.268/.321 with 2 home runs and 21 RBI, Ureña was released on August 9, 2022.

York Revolution

On March 7, 2023, Ureña signed with the

York Revolution The York Revolution is an American professional minor-league baseball team based in York, Pennsylvania. It is a member of the North Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, an independent "partner league" of Major League Basebal ...

of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. In 103 games for York, Ureña hit .269/.315/.462 with 18 home runs and 64 RBI.

Dorados de Chihuahua

On February 14, 2024, Ureña signed with the

Dorados de Chihuahua The Dorados de Chihuahua (English: Chihuahua Goldens) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Chihuahua City, Chihuahua. Their home ballpark is the Estadio Chihuahua. Established in 1940, the Dorados have played in the ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. However, he was released prior to the start of the season on April 10.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ureña, Richard 1996 births Bluefield Blue Jays players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Canada Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Dominican Summer League Blue Jays players Dunedin Blue Jays players Gigantes del Cibao players Gulf Coast Blue Jays players Rochester Red Wings players Lansing Lugnuts players Living people Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Major League Baseball shortstops New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Baseball players from San Francisco de Macorís Toronto Blue Jays players Vancouver Canadians players