SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Sioux City Explorers have announced that the team has signed a pair of arms for the 2024 season. Sioux City has acquired left-handed pitcher Javier Reynoso via trade from the Ottawa Titans (Frontier League) for future considerations and signed right-handed pitcher Jasseel De La Cruz. The addition of Reynoso and De La Cruz gives the Explorers 17 players under contract for the upcoming season.
Javier Reynoso comes to Sioux City after spending last season with Windy City (Frontier League) where he went 4-1 with a 4.57 ERA. He made 10 starts and two relief appearances for Windy City while pitching in 63 innings with 61 strikeouts. Reynoso had a short stay following the season as property of Ottawa who traded for him on January 2. Reynoso did not pitch in 2022, and he spent parts of the 2021 season in Mexico on the injured list of the Generales de Durango. The 2020 season was cancelled due to the worldwide pandemic.
In 2019, Reynoso pitched with New Jersey of the Can-Am League, going 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA in nine games of relief. He would work in 11.2 innings with 17 strikeouts. His stay in New Jersey was bookended by one stop in AAA Mexico to begin the season and two more stops after at Mexico’s highest level. Reynoso began the season with Olmecas de Tabasco and appeared in just three games, totaling a third of an inning before being released. He would then spend from May 18 to June 9 with New Jersey before being signed by the Toros de Tijuana. He would post a 1-0 record in eight innings with a 5.63 ERA with nine strikeouts in seven relief appearances. On July 29, Tijuana traded Reynoso to the Generales de Durango. With Durango, the lefty would appear in five games, all in relief pitching, in 6.1 innings with six strikeouts. He would allow 15 earned runs, leading to a 21.32 ERA. Durango would move Reynoso back to Tijuana following the end of the 2019 season.
Reynoso would spend the 2018 winter-ball season with Puebla in Mexico and follow that short season back in Puebla during the spring season in Mexico. In the winter-ball campaign, he would pitch in eight games out of the pen in 6.1 innings with a 4.26 ERA and four strikeouts. His spring season saw him pitch in 8.2 innings in nine games of relief with five strikeouts with an 8.31 ERA. In 2017, Reynoso would make his first appearance in Mexico, pitching in two games over two innings for Monclova. The bulk of his season was spent with Gateway in the Frontier League. He would pitch in 21 games out of the bullpen, good for fourth in appearances for the club . Reynoso would go 1-0 in 31.2, surrendering 18 earned runs with 36 strikeouts and a 5.12 ERA.
Reynoso would miss the 2015 and 2016 seasons after being drafted in the 23rd round by the Kansas City Royals in 2013 out of Middle Georgia State University. He would spend 2013 at rookie-level Burlington in the Appalachian League, going 0-2 with a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings. He followed that season up with a 1-4 record in 2014 in 25 innings at Idaho Falls in the Pioneer League. His lone season at Middle Georgia, Reynoso made 10 starts and six appearances out of the pen, pitching 64.1 innings. He would go 5-2 with a 2.80 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP adding 83 strikeouts.
Reynoso began his college career with Coastal Carolina in 2012. He would make 11 starts while adding another eight games out of the pen for the team. He would strike out 22 in 48 innings and would go 3-2 on the season. Reynoso had his name called in the 2011 draft in the 39th round by the Chicago White Sox while in high school at Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School in Tampa, Florida. He would elect to sign with Coastal Carolina and forgo professional ball. While in high school, Reynoso helped lead his team to their first state tournament berth appearance, going 9-4 on the mound with a 1.30 ERA. Reynoso’s two brothers played in the Cardinals and Twins organizations while his father Reggie Williams played in the Major Leagues.
Jasseel De La Cruz a native of Hato Mayor del Rey, Dominican Republic, comes to Sioux City after achieving top prospect status while with the Atlanta Braves organization. In 2020 De La Cruz was listed as the 12th ranked prospect by MLB.com for the Braves system. He would eventually find his way to the 40-man roster, but he never appeared in a Major League game.
De La Cruz was signed as an international free agent in 2015 at the tail end of the international signing period. In his first professional season in 2015, the then 18-year-old De La Cruz pitched in seven games of relief for the Braves club in the Dominican Summer League. He would strike out six in 6.1 innings with a 7.11 ERA. He would return to the Dominican Summer League in 2016 pitching in 26.1 innings over 15 games (12 relief and 3 starts) with a 3.42 ERA and 20 strikeouts. He would go 2-0 for the Braves in the DSL. De La Cruz would then pitch in another 15 innings at rookie-level Gulf Coast, picking up a pair of wins in six relief outings with 12 strikeouts while not allowing an earned run in six games.
De La Cruz made two stops in the Braves organization in 2017. At rookie-level Danville in the Appalachian League, he made six starts (one relief appearance) in 23.2 innings with a 5.32 ERA. In 19 innings with the Gulf Coast Braves, he would go 2-1 in four starts with 17 strikeouts. His 2018 season was spent entirely at A-level Rome in the South Atlantic League. He would appear in 15 games while making 13 starts in 69 innings. The right-hander would strike out 65 while allowing 37 earned runs, good for a 4.83 ERA.
De La Cruz would make three stops in the Braves system in 2019. At low-A Rome, he went 0-1 with a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings while making four starts. He would strike out 22 with a 1.33 WHIP. At advanced A Florida, he went 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA in another four starts, covering 28 innings. He would strike out 26 with a 0.679 WHIP. He would pitch a no-hitter on May 18 for the Fire Frogs in the Florida State League. De La Cruz would make a final stop at AA Mississippi where he would pitch in 87 innings, making 16 starts (one relief outing) with 73 punchouts going 4-7 with a 3.83 ERA. Following his 2019 season, De La Cruz was added to the Braves 40-man roster. On September 15, 2020 he would be promoted to the Major League roster, but he would be optioned back to the taxi squad camp the next day.
In 2021, De La Cruz would spend the entire season at AAA Gwinnett. He would appear in 20 games, making 15 starts over 56.1 innings for the Stripers. De La Cruz would strike out 55 and go 1-3 with a 7.03 ERA. He would once again get called up to the Major League roster on May 8, but he would get sent back down on May 10 without making an appearance. After the 2021 season, De La Cruz was designated for assignment and became a free agent. He would sign a minor-league contract with Atlanta for the 2022 season and make three stops in the organization during the season. At AAA Gwinnett he went 0-2 with an 8.03 ERA in 12.1 innings. In eight innings of relief at AA Mississippi, he went 0-1 with a 6.00 ERA. He would add another six innings at the Braves club at the Florida Complex League with a 6.00 ERA. De La Cruz would then elect free agency following the 2022 season and ink with the Oakland Athletics organization on November 29, 2022. At AA Midland he would make 18 relief appearances over 19.2 innings. De La Cruz struck out 19 while going 2-0 allowing 30 earned runs with a 13.73 ERA. He added another seven frames of work, including a pair of starts at rookie-level Arizona with 10 strikeouts and a 5.14 ERA. During the 2023-2024 winter season De La Cruz worked in 4.1 scoreless innings over three games for Escogido of the Dominican Winter League.
2024 Players signed:
RHP Jasseel De La Cruz
LHP Javier Reynoso
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.
