José Corniell

José Armando Corniell Urena
(The Wolf)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 3", Weight 165 lb.

• Debut September 28, 2025

• Born June 23, 2003 in Santo Domingo, Distrito Nacional D.R.

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Biographical Information

Pitcher José Corniell was the 242nd and final player to make his major league debut during the 2025 season, doing so with the Texas Rangers on the season's final day.

He was originally signed by the Seattle Mariners as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic on July 2, 2019. He would normally have made his professional debut during the 2020 season, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed that by a year, and by the time he played his fist games in the Arizona Complex League in 2021, it was as a member of the Rangers organization, having been traded to them along with another minor leaguer, SS Andres Mesa in return for pitcher Rafael Montero the previous December. He went 1-3, 6.98 in 13 games for the ACL Rangers his first season, then moved up to the Down East Wood Ducks of the Carolina League in 2022. It was a similar year, as he finished at 3-5, 5.45 in 22 games, but he turned things around in 2023, when he combined to go 8-3, 2.92 in 23 games between Down East and the High-A Hickory Crawdads. He was named the South Atlantic League Pitcher of the Month in August and was chosen as a Rangers organizational All-Star after the season.

José was victim of a setback in 2024 when he had to undergo Tommy John surgery and did not pitch at all. He began 2025 back in the Arizona Complex League, and had only made 13 starts at three levels, going 1-2, 1.89, when he was called up to Texas on September 26th. The Rangers were already eliminated by then and were playing out the string against the Cleveland Guardians, whose season was still very much on the line. He did not see action in the first two games, but on September 28th, he was called into action with two outs in the bottom of the 8th after Cleveland had just managed to tie the game, 5-5. He struck out Daniel Schneemann for the second out and got C.J. Kayfus to fly out to end the inning without further damage. He then pitched a scoreless 9th inning, giving up a single and a stolen base to José Ramírez with tow outs, but nothing else. The Rangers scored three runs in the top of the 10th, putting him in line for a win, but he faltered completely in the bottom of the 10th, giving up a double to Bo Naylor that cashed in the ghost runner, followed by a walk, and a three-run walk-off homer by Brayan Rocchio that ended the game and the season, confirming that Guardians had won the AL Central title (in fact, Cleveland had already clinched the title, as the Detroit Tigers had lost their own final game a short while before). The game-ending pitch was the final one thrown by anyone that season, as all games started at the same time that day, and that one was the only one to go beyond regulation innings.

Related Sites

• Jose Corniell on mlb.com