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.
Otano returns to Sioux City for a second season after the native of the Dominican Republic posted a 2-7 record with a 6.72 ERA in 2025 for the Explorers.
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 originally joined the Explorers after spending parts of four seasons in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.
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 was outstanding at home last season for Oakland. He went 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA in eight starts with 33 punch outs 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.
