SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE
Phone: 817.739.3693
Website: xsbaseball.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2024
EXPLORERS SIGN RHP FLOREZ
FORMER BUC ADDED TO THE SHIP
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Sioux City Explorers have announced that the team has signed RHP Santiago Florez for the 2024 season. The addition of the former Pittsburgh Pirates farmhand gives the Explorers 15 players under contract for the upcoming season.
Santiago Florez comes to Sioux City after spending six seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Florez spent the 2023 season with high-A Greensboro in the South Atlantic League. He appeared in 37 games out of the pen, finishing fourth in appearances for the club. Florez pitched in 40.2 innings with 40 strikeouts and a 7.08 ERA with a 5-2 record all in relief for Greensboro.
In 2022, Florez made five starts and 27 relief appearances for Greensboro. He would toss 63.2 innings with 61 strikeouts with a 2-4 record with a 6.50 ERA. Florez had a solid 2021 season at A-level Bradenton, going 5-2 with a 1.37 ERA in 52.2 innings with 71 strikeouts and a 0.854 WHIP. His numbers would earn him a July promotion to High-A Greensboro where he would pitch in 43 innings, going 3-3 with 36 punch outs and a 7.53 ERA. Florez finished 2021 8-5 in 95.2 innings with 107 strikeouts, one save and a 4.14 ERA while appearing in 21 games and making 18 starts.
In 2020, Florez did not pitch as most of baseball was shut down, but his 2019 season saw him make 10 starts at rookie-level Bristol where he would go 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA in 41.2 innings. He spent 2018 at rookie-level Gulf Coast, picking up five wins with a pair of losses and a 4.15 ERA in 43.1 innings with 35 strikeouts. Florez made his pro debut in 2017 in the Dominican Summer League. In 14 starts he went 2-5 in 53.1 innings with 30 strikeouts.
Florez has pitched in 124 games as a professional, making 57 starts in 338.1 innings. This winter he appeared in two games for Caribes in Venezuela and internationally for his native Colombia. Florez was a member of Team Colombia in the 2023 World Baseball Classic where he pitched one inning of relief against the United States in a hard luck 3-2 defeat for Colombia. He also played for the team that captured the gold medal in the 2023 Pan American Games last October. Florez, 23, hails from Barranquilla, Colombia and was an international free agent for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016.
2024 Players signed:
RHP Santiago Flores
INF/OF Nick Shumpert
INF Delvin Zinn
LHP Jared Wetherbee
RHP Pedro Gonzalez
INF/OF Brennen Dorighi
RHP Heitor Tokar
RHP Braunny Munoz
RHP Kyle Bloor
C Jake Ortega
C Wilfredo Gimenez
OF Scott Ota
INF Daniel Lingua,
INF Daniel Pérez
RHP John Sheaks
The Explorers are set to open their 31st season in the Siouxland at home Friday night, May 10th at 7:05 p.m. against the Kansas City Monarchs. Ticket packages for the 2024 season are on-sale now, including Full and Half-Season Tickets as well as 10, 15 and 25 game Flex Packs. More information is available by calling the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Stay tuned to the Explorers social media channels and the club’s website xsbaseball.com for off-season news and updates.