Ronald Luna

Ronald Luna Paternina

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 195 lb.

• Born October 18, 1992 in Cartagena Colombia

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Ronald Luna was a minor league infielder.

Luna was signed by Atlanta Braves scouts Rolando Petit and Miguel Teheran. He hit .204/.265/.241 for the 2009 DSL Braves, then batted .315/.376/.338 for the 2010 DSL Braves. He came to the US in 2011 and hit .270/.293/.312 for the GCL Braves. In 2012, he hit .292/.320/.348 with the Danville Braves and logged his lone home run in six years in the Braves system.

In 2013, Ronald split time between Danville (.247/.275/.273 in 23 G) and the Rome Braves (.240/.269/.284 in 64 G), now a utility infielder instead of a regular at short. During 2014, he hit .191/.242/.225 in 24 games for Rome. Overall, he had produced at a .260/.301/.299 clip in 274 games, with 122 runs, 93 RBI and 28 steals in 40 tries, while fielding .930 in 129 games at SS, .942 in 65 games at 2B, .941 in 42 games at 3B and playing error-free ball in 20 games at 1B.

Luna helped Colombia win the 2015 South American Championship, their first South American Championship title, punching their ticket for that year's Pan American Games. hit .235/.235/.471 as Colombia's starting shortstop in the 2015 Pan American Games. He hit a two-run homer off Aaron Blair to put Colombia ahead against eventual Silver Medal-winning Team USA; the lead held to the 6th thanks to fine pitching by Nabil Crismatt but the Colombian bullpen failed to hold on. He was also on the Colombian roster in the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers but did not get into a game as Adrian Sanchez was their shortstop; they won a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

He played for Colombia in the 2016 South American Championship; they won a Bronze Medal. He starred in the round-robin phase, hitting .389/.476/.611. He tied for 5th in the phase in hits (7), tied Alan Fanhoni for 4th with 7 RBI (most on Colombia), tied Federico Gómez and Steve Brown for 7th in average and tied Eduardo Zurbriggen and Gómez for 7th in slugging. He was only 1 for 7 in the semifinals and Bronze Medal game, albeit with two walks and a hit-by-pitch, scoring twice and making an error. He finished the event at .320/.438/.480 as a result. He was named the All-Star third baseman, joining Brown as the Colombians picked.

Sources

• 2014 Braves Media Guide
• 2015 Pan American Games
• 2016 South American Championship Final Report