SIOUX CITY EXPLORERS PRESS RELEASE

Phone: 817.739.3693

Website: xsbaseball.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 13, 2026

 SIOUX CITY ADDS RIGHTY OTAÑO AND LEFTY BUTZ

EXPLORERS GET THE NEW YEAR ROLLING WITH TWO NEW ARMS 

 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Sioux City Explorers have announced that the team has signed returning right-handed pitcher Peniel Otaño and left-handed newcomer Reed Butz to contracts for the 2026 season. The pair are the 13th and 14th roster additions of the offseason for the Explorers and Manager Steve Montgomery.

Peniel Otaño returns to Sioux City for a second season after the native of Peravia in the Dominican Republic posted a 2-7 record with a 6.72 ERA in 2025 for the Explorers. The righty was a versatile piece of a strong Sioux City pitching staff last season, working both as a starter and as a reliever. Otaño pitched 81.2 innings with 58 strikeouts for the X’s and would finish the season in the starting rotation. Otaño would finish the year allowing 104 hits and 61 earned runs with a 1.959 WHIP.

Otaño was on the mound in a key moment of the 2025 season on August 27 at Lewis and Clark Park. He tossed five innings of one-run ball in the second-to-last home contest of the season in the X’s 8-4 win over the rival Sioux Falls Canaries. That win secured the #1 seed and West Division regular season crown for Sioux City. Otaño originally joined the Explorers after spending parts of four seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Arizona released Otaño in March of 2025 during Spring Training, but the X’s would sign the hard-throwing righty on April 26.

In 2024, Otaño started spring training in the Diamondbacks big league camp, making one appearance and pitching a scoreless 0.1 inning, earning a hold. The 24-year-old started the 2024 regular season in high-A ball with the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League. In 19 appearances with the Hops, Otaño went 1-1 with a 7.64 ERA across 17.2 innings, striking out 13 batters while walking 18. In July, Arizona sent the hurler to play A Ball for the Visalia Rawhide of the California League, where in 13 games he had a perfect 4-0 record with an impressive 1.42 ERA across 19 innings.

For his 2023 campaign, Otaño spent the entire season with Hillsboro, where he switched to a full-time relief pitcher. He tied for the team lead in appearances with 39, and his four saves led the squad. In 56 innings, Otaño posted a 3-5 record and a 6.91 ERA. The righty also struck out 58 batters while walking 39.

In A-ball with the Visalia Rawhide in 2022, Otaño bounced in and out of the starting rotation. In 23 games, he made 14 starts for a 3-7 record and 5.86 ERA across a career-high 83 innings. He also posted a career-high 68 strikeouts while allowing 42 walks.

The Arizona Diamondbacks signed Peniel Otaño in July of 2021 as an international free agent, and he was assigned to the Diamondbacks 2 of the Dominican Summer League just three days later. He tossed two scoreless innings of relief in his pro debut and made his first pro start later that week. In his first professional season at age 20, Otaño started 13 of his 14 appearances. His 2-6 record did not tell the whole story as Otaño went on to pitch to a 3.05 ERA, still the best of his professional career, where in 56 innings, he struck out 67 batters with a near 5:1 K/BB ratio. Otaño, 25, was born in Peravia, Dominican Republic.

Lefty Reed Butz, 27, joins the Explorers after spending the last two seasons with the Oakland Ballers of the Pioneer League. In 2025 Butz went 9-5 for Oakland with a 5.30 ERA in 90 innings with 70 strikeouts for the eventual Pioneer League Champions. He would add a 1.678 WHIP in 17 starts for the Ballers. Butz finished the season strong for Oakland, going seven shutout innings on September 6 in a no decision over Great Falls. Teammate and recently signed Cam Bufford would win the game for the Ballers in a “knockout” round home run duel 3-2.

Butz was outstanding last season for Oakland at home. He went 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA in eight starts with 33 punchouts in 43 innings. In his first four home starts, he allowed two runs or fewer in all four outings, and overall, the Ballers were 12-5 when Butz took the bump for the club in 2025. The lefty set a career high in innings pitched last season while leading the team with nine wins and in starts with 17. The nine wins would also tie him for third in the Pioneer League during the 2025 campaign. In the 2025 Championship Series, Butz tossed five innings, giving up two earned runs in a no decision in the Ballers 5-3 loss in the series opener at Idaho Falls.

In 2024 Butz worked both as a starter and a reliever for Oakland. He finished the season with 1-1 record and tossed 68.1 innings with 75 strikeouts, surrendering 50 earned runs for a 6.59 ERA in 27 games overall. Butz also finished with an average of 9.88 strikeouts per game and posted a 1.507 WHIP. His 75 punch-outs placed him third on the Oakland staff in 2024.

Butz would make his professional debut in 2023 in the Pioneer League with the Rocky Mountain Vibes, following his final season in college at Oklahoma Sciences and Arts University. He went 1-1 with a 5.82 ERA with Rocky Mountain in 38.2 innings, yielding 25 earned runs with 33 strikeouts. Butz would make 31 appearances out of the bullpen, notching one save in his first pro season. Butz would complete the season with a 1.784 WHIP for the Vibe. In his three seasons in the Pioneer League, he had a career 11-7 record with a 5.85 ERA in 197 innings with 178 strikeouts in 75 games while making 27 starts.

In 2023 Butz would win 10 games for The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, leading the school in wins and finishing with a 10-2 record with a 5.16 ERA. He would pitch 83.2 innings, making 15 starts with one relief appearance with a team-leading 97 strikeouts. Butz spent three seasons of college—from 2020-2022–playing at Valley City State in Valley City, North Dakota and one season at Kishwaukee Community College in Malta, Illinois. He also played at McHenry Community College in 2019 and 2018. In 2022 he went 4-2 in nine games, making seven starts with a 3.35 ERA at Valley City. That followed the 2021 season where he went 2-5 in 14 games while making six starts with a 5.92 ERA. The shortened 2020 season saw the lefty pitch in six innings over three games.

Butz spent three seasons while in college pitching in the Northwoods League. He pitched in 2020 with Bismarck, 2021 with Minnesota and 2022 with Madison. He is from Rockford, Illinois and was a standout at Rockford Lutheran High School. He gained national prominence as a 17-year-old following his senior year in high school when he used his bat to rescue a pair of stranded truckers in an overturned semitruck on Interstate 90 in June of 2017.

 2026 Players signed:

INF Cameron Bufford

C Caden Matlon

RHP Ryan Beaird

RHP Trey Morrill

LHP Ben DeTaeye

C Dillon Tatum

IF Braulio Vasquez

IF Alberto Osuna

OF Yeison Asencio

IF Elliot Good

RHP Tahnaj Thomas

RHP Julio Rosario

RHP Peniel Otaño

LHP Reed Butz

The Explorers are set to open their 33rd season in Siouxland on the road on Friday night, May 15, against the Chicago Dogs. The club will celebrate opening night at Lewis and Clark Park on Friday night, May 22, against the Lincoln Saltdogs. Ticket packages for the 2026 season along with sponsorship and partner opportunities are available now by calling the Explorers front office at 712-277-WINS. Follow the Explorers social media channels and the club’s website xsbaseball.com for off-season news and updates.

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