Ronny Leonel Paulino (born April 21, 1981) is a Dominican former 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 ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

. He 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

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central ...

Florida 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 (NL) East Division. The team plays its home games at LoanDepot Park. The ...

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, and

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 ...

. He is currently the manager for the Caliente de Durango of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

Playing career

Pittsburgh Pirates

Paulino signed as a non-drafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

with the

organization on December 29, 1997, at the age of 16. In 2002, he was selected by 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 ...

in the

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

, but he was returned to the Pirates in

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

of the following year. After making his major league debut in September 2005 with the Pirates, Paulino was selected to the Dominican Republic team for the

2006 World Baseball Classic The 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. It was held from March 3 to 20 in stadiums in or around Tokyo, Japan, and the American cities o ...

as a backup catcher. The highlight of the World Baseball Classic for Paulino came on March 13, when Paulino started at catcher against the

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

n team. Paulino went 2–2 with a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

, three walks, and a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

scored in the Dominican's triumph over Cuba. On April 16, 2006, Paulino was recalled to the Major Leagues and quickly became the Pirates every day catcher. Eventually he was again demoted to the Triple-A

Indianapolis Indians The Indianapolis Indians are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are located in Indianapolis, Indiana, and play their home games at Victory ...

, as management would give

Ryan Doumit Ryan Matthew Doumit ( ; born April 3, 1981) is an American former professional baseball catcher in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played the first seven years of his career for the Pittsburgh Pirates, then two for the Minnesota Twins, and one ...

the bulk of playing time behind the plate with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Paulino was praised by the Pirates pitching staff as an excellent catcher to work with. The staff

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) was markedly better when Paulino was behind the plate. His .310

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

made him the first rookie catcher since

Mike Piazza Michael Joseph Piazza ( ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former professional baseball catcher who played 16 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), from 1992 to 2007, and is a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. He intended ...

to play in at least 100 games and bat at least .310. He is only the second rookie catcher since 1969 to have those numbers.

Florida Marlins

On December 10, 2008, Paulino was traded to the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. The Phillies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East Division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has ...

in exchange for minor league catcher

Jason Jaramillo Jason Cory Jaramillo (born October 9, 1982) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2009 to 2011 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Amateur career Jaramillo attended Oklahoma State University, ...

. He was then traded to the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

on March 27, 2009, in exchange for pitcher Jack Taschner. Two hours later he was traded to the

in exchange for pitcher Hector Correa. With the Marlins, Pauline platooned with left-handed hitting catcher

John Baker John Baker or Jon Baker may refer to: Military figures *John Baker (American Revolutionary War) (1731–1787), American Revolutionary War hero, for whom Baker County, Georgia was named *John Baker (general) (1936–2007), Australian Chief of the ...

. After Baker suffered a season-ending injury in May 2010, Paulino took over starting duties for the majority of the season. On August 20, 2010, Paulino received a 50-game suspension for violation of baseball's drug policy. Paulino claimed the positive test was a result of a dietary pill.

New York Mets

On December 9, 2010, the

signed Paulino to a one-year, major league contract. On May 1, 2011, in a game against the

, Paulino went 5–7 and hit the game-winning RBI in the 14th inning in his first game as with the Mets. With the news of the

death of Osama bin Laden Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose sh ...

, the

al-Qaeda , image = Flag of Jihad.svg , caption = Jihadist flag, Flag used by various al-Qaeda factions , founder = Osama bin Laden{{Assassinated, Killing of Osama bin Laden , leaders = {{Plainlist, * Osama bin Lad ...

leader who was the mastermind of the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

circulating during the game against their

rival A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

s, Mets manager

Terry Collins Terry Lee Collins (born May 27, 1949) is an American former professional baseball manager. He managed the Houston Astros, the Anaheim Angels and New York Mets in Major League Baseball (MLB) and the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball ...

said that Paulino delivered "a good win for us, and obviously a huge win for America tonight." On June 8, Paulino hit his first home run with the Mets, a three-run home run off of the

Milwaukee Brewers The Milwaukee Brewers are an American professional baseball team based in Milwaukee. The Brewers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Di ...

Kameron Loe Kameron David Loe (born September 10, 1981) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs, and Atlanta Braves. At , Loe was ...

. In 78 appearances for New York, he batted .268/.312/.351 with two home runs and 19 RBI. On December 13, Paulino became a free agent after the Mets decided not to tender his contract.

Baltimore Orioles

The

signed Paulino to a minor league contract on January 30, 2012. He also received an invitation to spring training, but arrived three weeks late to camp after having

visa Visa most commonly refers to: * Travel visa, a document that allows entry to a foreign country * Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Vi ...

issues. Paulino made the Orioles' 2012

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 after

Taylor Teagarden Taylor Hill Teagarden (born December 21, 1983) is an American former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 2008 to 2015 for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, New York Mets, and Chicago Cubs. Early lif ...

, newly signed by the team to be the backup catcher, went on the disabled list due to back problems. In the second game of the season, Paulino made his first start of the year as the designated hitter and went 4-for-4. On July 15, Paulino was optioned 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 ...

to make room for Teagarden, who was coming off from the 60-day disabled list. On January 25, 2013, Paulino signed a minor league contract with the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, West Division. The team joined the American ...

. He was released prior to the start of the season on March 30. On May 15, 2013, Paulino signed a minor league contract to return to the

organization.

Detroit Tigers

On August 13, 2013, the Orioles assigned Paulino to the

Toledo Mud Hens The Toledo Mud Hens are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They are located in Toledo, Ohio, and play their home games at Fifth Third Field. A baseball team nicknamed the ...

, the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. One of the AL's eight chart ...

Triple-A affiliate. He re-signed with the Tigers on November 13, to fill minor league organizational depth. On February 12, 2014, Paulino was suspended 100 games by Major League Baseball for a second PED-related offense. He was released by the Tigers organization on July 19.

Sultanes de Monterrey

On April 28, 2015, Paulino signed with the

Sultanes de Monterrey The Sultanes de Monterrey (English: Monterrey Sultans) are a professional baseball club in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Monterrey, Mexico. Established in 1939 as Carta Blanca, the Sultanes have won ten LMB titles, most recently in 2018. Fro ...

of the

. In 44 appearances for Monterrey, he batted .273/.356./.413 with four home runs and 19 RBI.

Piratas de Campeche

On June 24, 2015, Paulino was traded to the

Piratas de Campeche The Piratas de Campeche (English: Campeche Pirates) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League (LMB) based in Campeche, Campeche, Mexico. History In 1980, the Alacranes de Durango moved to Campeche, and played their home games at Ven ...

of the

. In 42 appearances for Campeche, he slashed .377/.442/.572 with six home runs and 19 RBI. Paulino was released by the Piratas on February 15, 2016.

Vaqueros Laguna

On May 3, 2016, Paulino signed with the

Vaqueros Laguna The ''vaquero'' (; , ) is a horse-mounted livestock herder of a tradition that has its roots in the Iberian Peninsula and extensively developed in what what is today Mexico (then New Spain) and Spanish Florida from a method brought to the Americ ...

of the

. In 44 games for Laguna, he batted .269/.335/.378 with four home runs and 20 RBI. Paulino was released by the Vaqueros on June 27.

Olmecas de Tabasco

On July 1, 2016, Paulino signed with the

Olmecas de Tabasco The Olmecas de Tabasco (English: Tabasco Olmecs) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League based in Villahermosa, Tabasco, Mexico. Their home ballpark is the Estadio Centenario 27 de Febrero. The Olmecas won their only Mexican Lea ...

of the

. In 34 games for Tabasco, he batted .313/.355/.420 with three home runs, 15 RBI, and three stolen bases. Paulino was released by Tabasco on February 27, 2017.

Coaching career

On February 7, 2023, Paulino was hired by the

Los Angeles Dodgers The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Div ...

organization to serve as the bench coach and hitting coach for their Single-A affiliate, the

Rancho Cucamonga Quakes The Rancho Cucamonga Quakes are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers. They are located in Rancho Cucamonga, California, and play their home games at LoanMart Field. The franc ...

. On February 23, 2024, Paulino was announced as the bench coach for the Double–A

Tulsa Drillers The Tulsa Drillers are a minor league baseball team based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The team, which plays in the Texas League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers major-league club. Stadium The Drillers play at ONEOK Field (pronounc ...

. On February 6, 2025, Paulino was hired to serve as the manager for the Caliente de Durango of the

International career

He was selected

Dominican Republic national baseball team The Dominican Republic national baseball team ( Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de República Dominicana'') is the national baseball team of the Dominican Republic. The team has won the Baseball World Cup in 1948 and World Baseball Classic in 2 ...

2002 Central American and Caribbean Games The 19th Central American and Caribbean Games were held in San Salvador, El Salvador from November 22 to December 8, 2002 and included 4,301 competitors from 31 nations, competing in 32 sports. The main stadium for these championships was the Es ...

2019 Pan American Games Qualifier The 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier is a baseball tournament that was held between January 29 and February 3, 2019 in Ibiúna and São Paulo, Brazil. The tournament qualified the last four teams to the Baseball at the 2019 Pan American Games tou ...

and

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games (), officially the XVIII Pan American Games () and commonly known as Lima 2019, were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Sports Organization held in Lima, Peru from July 26 to August 11, 2019, with preliminar ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paulino, Ronny 1981 births Living people Altoona Curve players Azucareros del Este players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Bowie Baysox players Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Central American and Caribbean Games bronze medalists for the Dominican Republic Central American and Caribbean Games medalists in baseball Competitors at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in Mexico Dominican Republic expatriate baseball players in the United States Florida Marlins players Gulf Coast Pirates players Hickory Crawdads players Indianapolis Indians players Leones del Escogido players Lynchburg Hillcats players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from the Dominican Republic 21st-century Dominican Republic sportsmen Mexican League baseball catchers New York Mets players Norfolk Tides players Piratas de Campeche players Pittsburgh Pirates players St. Lucie Mets players Sultanes de Monterrey players Tigres del Licey players Toledo Mud Hens players Vaqueros Laguna players World Baseball Classic players of the Dominican Republic 2006 World Baseball Classic players Pan American Games competitors for the Dominican Republic Baseball players from Santo Domingo