Emmanuel Miguel Rivera (born June 29, 1996) is a Puerto Rican professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the Baseball scorekeep ...

in the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...

organization. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

, and

Miami Marlins The Miami Marlins are an American professional baseball team based in Miami. The Marlins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League East, East Division. The ...

Career

Kansas City Royals

Rivera was drafted by the

out of the

Interamerican University of Puerto Rico The Inter American University of Puerto Rico (Spanish: ''Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico''; often abbreviated to ''UIPR'' or ''Inter'') is a private Christian university with its main campus in San Germán, Puerto Rico. It also has ...

in the 19th round, 579th overall, of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks finished the 2014 season ...

. He made his professional debut with the rookie-level

Arizona League Royals The Arizona Complex League Royals are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, competing in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Surprise Stadium in Surprise, Arizona. The team is compose ...

, playing in 38 games with the team. In 2016, Rivera played for the rookie-level

Burlington Royals The Burlington Royals were a minor league baseball team in Burlington, North Carolina, United States. They were a Rookie-level team in the Appalachian League. The team was affiliated with the Cleveland Indians from 1986 to 2006 as the Burlington ...

, posting a .249/.317/.373 slash line in 58 games. The following year, he played for the Single-A

Lexington Legends The Lexington Legends are an American professional baseball team based in Lexington, Kentucky. They are a member of the South Division of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, a "partner league" of Major League Baseball. The Legends have ...

, slashing .310/.364/.468 with 12 home runs and 72 RBI. In 2018, Rivera split the season between the High-A

Wilmington Blue Rocks The Wilmington Blue Rocks are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League and the High-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals. They are located in Wilmington, Delaware, and play their home games at Daniel S. Frawley Stadium. Fra ...

and the AZL Royals, batting a cumulative .274/.326/.416 with 6 home runs and 63 RBI. For the 2019 season, Rivera played for the Double-A

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. T ...

, logging a .258/.297/.345 slash line with 7 home runs and 57 RBI in 131 games. Rivera did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He was assigned to the Triple-A

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, Nebraska, Omah ...

to begin the 2021 season, and batted .282/.337/.593 with a career-high 14 home runs and 40 RBI in 44 games. On June 28, 2021, Rivera was selected to the 40-man roster and promoted to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day as the starting third baseman against the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

, and logged his first career hit in the game as well, a single off starter Garrett Richards. He was placed on the

injured list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 season, it was known as the disabled list (DL). General guidelines ...

on June 30 with a left

hamate The hamate bone (from Latin language, Latin wiktionary:hamatus, hamatus, "hooked"), or unciform bone (from Latin language, Latin ''wikt:uncus, uncus'', "hook"), Latin os hamatum and occasionally abbreviated as just hamatum, is a bone in the huma ...

break. In his first MLB season, he played in 29 games for the Royals and hitting .256/.316/.333 with one home run, 5 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. In 2022, Rivera made 63 appearances for Kansas City, slashing .237/.284/.399 with 6 home runs and 22 RBI.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On August 1, 2022, the Royals traded Rivera to the

for pitcher

Luke Weaver Luke Allen Weaver (born August 21, 1993) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals, ...

. He played in 39 games for the Diamondbacks down the stretch, hitting .227/.304/.424 with 6 home runs and 18 RBI. Rivera was optioned to the Triple-A

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, w ...

to begin the 2023 season. In 86 games for the Diamondbacks, he batted .261/.314/.358 with four home runs and 29 RBI. He played in 13 postseason games, starting three games in the

National League Championship Series The National League Championship Series (NLCS) is a best-of-seven playoff and one of two League Championship Series comprising the penultimate round of Major League Baseball's (MLB) postseason. It is contested by the winners of the two Natio ...

(NLCS) and Game 4 of the

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB). It has been contested since between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The winning team, determined through a best- ...

. His first postseason hit was an RBI single in Game 4 of the NLCS He hit .235/.278/.294 in 18 playoff plate appearances. On March 28, 2024, Rivera was

designated for assignment Designated for assignment (DFA) is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball (MLB). A player who is designated for assignment is immediately removed from the team's 40-man roster, after which the team must, within seven days, return the pla ...

after failing to make Arizona's

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

roster.

Miami Marlins

On April 2, 2024, Rivera was traded to the

for cash. In 96 games for Miami, he slashed .214/.294/.269 with one home run and 15 RBI. The Marlins designated Rivera for assignment on August 19.

Baltimore Orioles

On August 21, 2024, Rivera was claimed off waivers by the

. He had a pair of home runs and career-highs with four hits, four RBI, and 11 total bases in a 9–2

away Away may refer to: Film and television * ''Away'' (2016 film), a British film directed by David Blair * ''Away'' (2019 film), a Latvian animated silent film by Gints Zilbalodis * Away (2025 film), a drama film by Gerard Oms * ''Away'' (TV series ...

victory over the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team is named afte ...

in the penultimate game of the regular season on September 28. In 27 games for Baltimore, Rivera batted .313/.370/.578 with four home runs and 14 RBI. In Game 1 of the

Wild Card Series The Wild Card Series (formerly known as Wild Card Game from 2012 to 2019 and in 2021) are games that serve as the opening round of the Major League Baseball (MLB) postseason. A single wild card game was instituted in 2012. This became a best ...

, he grounded out as a

pinch hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter (PH) is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, A ...

. On January 31, 2025, the Orioles designated Rivera for assignment. He cleared waivers and was sent

outright Outright was an accounting and bookkeeping software application that assists small businesses and sole proprietors with managing their business's income and expenses. In May 2022, GoDaddy announced the software would be discontinued on June 18, ...

to the Triple-A

Norfolk Tides The Norfolk Tides are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles. They are located in Norfolk, Virginia, and are named in nautical reference to the city's loc ...

on February 10. After hitting .308 with 13 RBI in 17 games for Norfolk, the Orioles selected Rivera to their active roster on April 28. In 25 appearances for Baltimore, he batted .232/.303/.275 with three RBI and one stolen base. Rivera was designated for assignment by the Orioles on June 10. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Norfolk on June 12.

International career

Rivera played for

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

in the

2023 World Baseball Classic The 2023 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball tournament and the fifth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. It began on March 8, 2023, and ran until March 21. It was originally scheduled to take place in ...

. He batted .278 with 1 triple and 5 RBI in five games.

Personal life

Like his father Miguel, an amateur baseball player in

, Rivera is nicknamed "El Pulpo" (The

Octopus An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...

) because of his defense.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Emmanuel Living people 1996 births Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Royals players Baltimore Orioles players Burlington Royals players Charlotte Stone Crabs players Indios de Mayagüez players Kansas City Royals players Lexington Legends players Major League Baseball players from Puerto Rico Major League Baseball third basemen Miami Marlins players Norfolk Tides players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Omaha Storm Chasers players Reno Aces players Sportspeople from Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Wilmington Blue Rocks players 2023 World Baseball Classic players