| Norberto Obeso | |
| Team: | Leones de Yucatán |
| Number: | 9 |
| Position: | Outfielder |
| Birth Date: | 9 July 1995 |
| Birth Place: | Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico |
| Bats: | Left |
| Throws: | Right |
Norberto Obeso González (born 9 July 1995) is a Mexican professional baseball outfielder for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. Obeso played in the minor leagues for the Toronto Blue Jays organization and has represented Mexico at the 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup, 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games and 2023 Pan American Games.
Obeso was born on 9 July 1995 in Hermosillo, Sonora and made his professional debut in the Mexican Pacific League during the 2014–15 season, for his hometown team, the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, playing only one game for the Naranjeros.[1]
In 2015, Obeso signed with the Toronto Blue Jays and was assigned to the DSL Blue Jays, where he finished the season with a .351 batting average and 47 RBI and won the Webster Award, a recognition for the best Blue Jays minor league players and made it to the DSL All-Star team.[2] The next season, Obeso played for the GCL Blue Jays, finishing the year with a .316 batting average, one home run and 18 RBI.[3]
In 2017, Obeso was promoted to the Vancouver Canadians of the Northwest League.[4] He finished the season with a .252 average, two home runs and 23 RBI. In 2018, he played for the Lansing Lugnuts of the Class-A Midwest League, recording a .227 average, three home runs and 37 RBI. In 2019, Obeso played for the Dunedin Blue Jays of the High-A Florida State League, finishing the season with a .262 batting average, one home run and 32 RBI in 82 games.[3]
On 19 November 2019, Obeso was assigned to the Triple–A Buffalo Bisons and on 9 March 2020 he was assigned to the Double–A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[5] On 2 November 2020, Obeso elected free agency.
On February 3, 2021, Obeso joined the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League, ahead of the 2021 season.[6] [7] He finished the 2021 season with a .243 batting average, two home runs and 20 RBIs. Obeso won the 2022 Mexican League championship, recording a .316 batting average, one home run and 23 RBIs in 68 games.[8]
Obeso has played for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo and Águilas de Mexicali of the Mexican Pacific League. He debuted and played for the Naranjeros from 2014 to 2022, when he was traded to the Águilas de Mexicali in exchange for Isaac Paredes. Obeso officially joined the Águilas on 13 November 2022 and has since played for the Mexicali squad.[9] [10]
In 2018, Obeso was selected as part of the Mexican squad that competed in the 2018 U-23 Baseball World Cup held in Barranquilla, Colombia. Mexico won the gold medal, defeating Japan 2–1 in the final game.[11] [12] Obeso won the tournament's Leading Hitter award, with a .591 batting average, and was named to the championship's All-World Team.[13] That same year, Obeso was awarded as the Professional Baseball Player of the Year by the Mexican Baseball Federation.[6]
In June 2023, Obeso was selected to represent Mexico at the 2023 Central American and Caribbean Games, where the team won the gold medal.[14] [15] [16] Later, in October 2023, he was part of the Mexican team that won the bronze medal at the 2023 Pan American Games contested in Santiago, Chile.[17] He played six games, batting .250 with one RBI.[18]