Quick Facts
Biography
Ricardo Michael Nanita (born June 12, 1981) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder who is a free agent. He has played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Chunichi Dragons.
Personal
Nanita attended Chipola College, and then transferred to Florida International University (FIU), where he played college baseball for the FIU Panthers baseball team. The Chicago White Sox drafted Nanita in the 14th round of the 2003 Major League Baseball draft.
Career
Chicago White Sox
Nanita spent his first season in the minors with White Sox affiliate Great Falls in the Pioneer League registering a .384 batting average with 37 RBIs in 212 plate appearances.
Toronto Blue Jays
Nanita played for the Toronto Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas 51s in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. The Blue Jays invited him to spring training in 2013.
Nanita played for the Dominican Republic national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
Nanita started the 2013 season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He was promoted to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons on May 21.
On January 20, 2014, the Blue Jays announced that Nanita had been signed to a minor league contract for 2014 with an invitation to major league spring training. He was assigned to the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons before the end of spring training. Nanita was transferred to the temporarily inactive list on May 11, 2014, after he opened the season batting .118 over 6 games. On May 17, it was announced that Nanita had been loaned to the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican Baseball League.
Chunichi Dragons
Nanita was signed by the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball on December 15, 2014.
On October 29, 2016, it was confirmed that Nanita would be released from the Dragons along with Leyson Séptimo, Juan Jaime, Drew Naylor, and Anderson Hernández.