X’s SIGN RELIEVER ALTAMIRANO
Sioux City Adds Relief Depth With Right Hander
The Sioux City Explorers have announced the signing of RHP Xavier Altamirano.
Altamirano will be entering into his sixth season of professional baseball, and first with Sioux City.
A 27th round draft pick of the Oakland Athletics in 2015 out of Oral Roberts University. In a year after he earned Summit League Pitcher of the Year honors thanks to his 8-2 record and 2.94 ERA. He led the Summit League in both conference wins (6) and strikeouts (61).
In the four seasons following his rookie year with the A’s, Altamirano bounced between the three different levels of Class-A. Earlier in his Athletics career he was shuffled between the starting rotation and the bullpen. Rather than in the later years when he was used primarily in the starting rotation.
Twice the righty was selected as a mid-season All-Star. First coming in 2016 when he was pitching for the Low-A, Vermont Lake Monsters of the New York Plains League. In 14 games and nine starts, Altamirano held a 2.48 ERA in 65.1 innings punching out 57 batters while walking just ten.
The second time for the now 26 year old came in 2018 with the Class-A, Beloit of the Midwest League. In a year that saw him make 12 starts with the Snappers, registering a 3.09 ERA with 63 strikeouts and 16 walks in 70 innings of work.
In five total seasons with Oakland, he racked up a 29-35 record and a 4.34 ERA in 119 games with 81 of those coming in the starting role. The righty totaled 516 innings and 422 strikeouts to just 132 walks.
Altamirano did not play during 2020.