Former Major League Baseball relief pitcher Reyes Moronta has died at the age of 31 following a reported driving accident in his native Dominican Republic on Sunday (July 28), a source close to his family confirmed to MLB insider Mike Rodriguez.
Moronta pitched for the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Angels during six MLB seasons and signed to the Bravos de León of the Mexican League in May before being released last week. The Bravos de León confirmed Moronta's death in a post shared on X.
“We deeply regret the departure of Reyes Moronta. We wish family and friends a quick resignation to this news,” a translated version of the post states. “A hug to heaven.”
Moronta was reportedly driving a four-wheeler home at the time of the fatal crash, according to MLB insider Héctor Gómez, who shared a photo of the vehicle on its side and cited a source reported to be "very close" to the former MLB reliever.
Moronta went 10-11 with a 3.05 ERA in 177 total MLB appearances, the last of which came for the Angels in May 2023. The Dominican right-hander recorded 202 strikeouts in 171 1/3 innings during his MLB career.