Yandy Díaz

Yandy Díaz
Díaz in 2017
Cleveland Indians – No. 36
Third baseman / First baseman / Left fielder
Born: (1991-08-08) August 8, 1991
Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, Cuba
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 3, 2017, for the Cleveland Indians
MLB statistics
(through 2018 season)
Batting average .283
Home runs 1
Runs batted in 28
Teams

Yandy Díaz Fernandez (born August 8, 1991) is a Cuban professional baseball third baseman and outfielder for the Cleveland Indians of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Career

Díaz played for the Naranjas de Villa Clara in the 2012–13 Cuban National Series. He defected from Cuba, leaving Holguin and arriving at Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic, twelve hours later. He signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians in 2013, receiving a $300,000 signing bonus.[1]

Díaz played for the Carolina Mudcats of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League in 2014.[2] Playing for the Akron Rubberducks of the Class AA Eastern League in 2015, Díaz was named an All-Star.[3] The Indians promoted him to the Columbus Clippers of the Class AAA International League in September,[4] and assigned him to the Arizona Fall League after the 2015 regular season.[5] Díaz began the 2016 season with Akron and was subsequently promoted to Columbus, where he won the International League Rookie of the Year Award.[6]

Díaz earned a non-roster invitation to the Indians' 2017 major league spring training camp. After batting .458 (22 for 48) with a 1.252 OPS during spring training, and after injuries to other players forced the Indians to adjust their roster, Díaz was named the Indians' starting third baseman for the start of the 2017 season.[7][8]

Personal life

His father, Jorge, also defected from Cuba to play professional baseball in the United States. Yandy was six years old when he last saw his father.[9] Diaz is of Afro-Cuban descent.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hoynes, Paul (March 18, 2017). "Straight out of Cuba: Yandy Diaz, Leandro Linares signed with Cleveland Indians after defecting together". Cleveland Plain Dealer. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
  2. ↑ "Yandy Diaz is a hit right now for Akron RubberDucks: Cleveland Indians Class AA Report". cleveland.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Yandy Diaz honored for hot season with RubberDucks: Cleveland Indians AA Report". cleveland.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  4. ↑ Jim Massie. "Baseball – Clippers: Lindor's flash kick-started season that produced a title". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  5. ↑ Spencer Davies. "RubberDucks third baseman Yandy Diaz establishing himself as one of baseball's top minor-league prospects". www.ohio.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Clippers' Yandy Diaz named IL's top rookie". The Columbus Dispatch. August 31, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  7. ↑ Zack Meisel (March 30, 2017). "Infield is set: Yandy Diaz, Michael Martinez make Cleveland Indians' Opening Day roster". Cleveland.com. Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  8. ↑ "Indians set Opening Day roster". Retrieved 2 April 2017.
  9. ↑ "Cuban Yandy Diaz breaks from past, embraces future". americansportsnet.com. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
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