Bluefish Sign Three Key Players for Stretch Run

BRIDGEPORT – The Bridgeport Bluefish have announced that outfielder Welington Dotel and pitchers Wander Perez and Ross Seaton will return to the Park City for the second half of the 2017 season.

Dotel had been playing this season with Vaqueros Unión Laguna (the Laguna Union Cowboys) of the Mexican League where he hit .333 with nine home runs and 44 RBIs, scoring 64 runs scored and stealing 17 bases in 77 games. Making his Bluefish debut in 2015, Dotel made a quick and lasting impression on baseball fans in Southern Connecticut. That season, the Neiba, Dominican Republic, native was named the 2015 Atlantic League Player of the Year after batting .340 with eight home runs, 68 RBIs, 68 runs scored, and 45 stolen bases in 133 games. An Atlantic League All-Star, he also won the All-Star Home Run Derby. In 2016, Dotel returned to the ’Fish and batted .335 with six home runs, 49 RBIs, 58 runs scored and 19 stolen bases in 95 games for the ’Fish. Overall, the 6-1, 180-lb. outfielder owns a career .320 batting average with 57 home runs, 378 RBsI, 445 runs scored, and 192 stolen bases in 707 career minor league games.

Perez, a 6-3, 160-lb. southpaw, returns to the Bluefish after splitting the 2017 campaign between Lehigh Valley, the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, the Cleburne, Tex., Railroaders of the independent American Association. In 11 combined games, Perez has struck out 13 batters in 22.1 innings. In 2015, he made his Atlantic League debut with the Bluefish, allowing no earned runs in 5.2 innings in six appearances. Overall, he has a career 4.01 ERA with 305 strikeouts in 318.1 spanning 186 minor league games.

Seaton also returns to the Park City for the second half of the 2017 season. Last year, the 6-4, 200-lb. right-hander made nine mound appearances for the ‘Fish, posting a 4.83 ERA with 24 strikeouts in 50.1 innings. In 185 career minor league games, the Tulsa, OK native owns a 4.83 ERA with 618 strikeouts in 978.0 innings pitched.

“It’s great to have these familiar faces back in the clubhouse as we make our second half push for a playoff spot,” says Bluefish general manager Paul Herrmann. “Dotel has been a staple of our lineup since 2015, and Wander and Ross will be great to have back on our pitching staff.”

—Staff Reports