Yandy Díaz Fernández (born August 8, 1991) is a Cuban-born

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professional ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

and

first baseman A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

for the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since its inception, the team's home v ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He previously played for the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive Fi ...

Cuban career

Diaz played for the

Naranjas de Villa Clara The Azucareros de Villa Clara (Villa Clara Sugarmakers) is a baseball club that plays in the Cuban National Series. Based in Santa Clara, the Naranjas have been one of the league's most successful Cuban squads over the last 30 years; winning ...

in the

2012-13 Cuban National Series 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

. In 2013, at 21 years old, Diaz defected from Holguin, Cuba to

Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic San Fernando de Monte Cristi is the capital town of Monte Cristi Province in the Dominican Republic. It is located in the northwest region of the country in a coastal area above the border with Haiti. History Monte Cristi was founded by Nicol� ...

alongside his childhood friend Leandro Linares and another unnamed individual. He had previously attempted to defect twice, both times which he was caught and arrested by the Cuban government. In August, he signed with the Cleveland Indians for $300,000.

American career

Minor Leagues

Díaz played for the

Carolina Mudcats The Carolina Mudcats are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Zebulon, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh, and play their home games at Five County Stadium. ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

in 2014. Playing for the

Akron RubberDucks The Akron RubberDucks are a Minor League Baseball team based in Akron, Ohio. The team, which plays in the Eastern League, is the Double-A affiliate of the Cleveland Guardians. They play in Canal Park, located in downtown Akron, which seats 7,630 ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Eastern League in 2015, Díaz was named an All-Star. The Indians promoted him to the Columbus Clippers of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL). ...

International League in September, and assigned him to the

Arizona Fall League The Arizona Fall League (AFL) is an off-season sports league owned and operated by Major League Baseball (MLB) which operates during the autumn in Arizona, United States, at six different baseball complexes. Arizona Fall League rosters are fille ...

after the 2015 regular season. Díaz began the 2016 season with Akron and was subsequently promoted to Columbus, where he won the

International League Rookie of the Year Award The International League Top MLB Prospect Award is an annual award given to the best rookie player in Minor League Baseball's International League based on their regular-season performance as voted on by league managers. Broadcasters, Minor Leag ...

Cleveland Indians

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. Diaz played 49 games, slashing .262/.352/.327 predominantly playing third base. Diaz spent the 2018 season between Columbus and the Cleveland Indians, playing 39 games and slashing .312/.375/.422 with one home run and 15 RBIs.

Tampa Bay Rays

On December 13, 2018, the Indians traded Díaz to the

in a three-team trade in which the Rays also acquired

Cole Sulser Cole Young Sulser (born March 12, 1990) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019. He has also played for the Baltimore Orioles ...

for

Jake Bauers Jakob Christopher Bauers (born October 6, 1995) is an American professional baseball first baseman, outfielder, and designated hitter in the New York Yankees organization. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleve ...

, and the

Seattle Mariners The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team ...

acquired

Edwin Encarnación Edwin Elpidio Encarnación (born January 7, 1983) is a Dominican former professional baseball designated hitter, third baseman and first baseman. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cincinnati Reds, Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland ...

from the Indians for Carlos Santana. Díaz missed some time due to injury during the season, only accumulating 307 at bats. He did hit 14 home runs and 38 RBI. Díaz hit two home runs in the

2019 American League Wild Card Game The 2019 American League Wild Card Game was a play-in game during Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2019 postseason contested between the American League's two wild card teams, the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays. It was played on October 2, w ...

as the Rays defeated the Oakland Athletics. Although plagued by a hamstring injury in September 2020, Díaz appeared in 34 games of the abbreviated 2020 season, slashing .307/.428/.386 with 2 home runs and 11 RBI.

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. Diaz is of

Afro-Cuban Afro-Cubans or Black Cubans are Cubans of West African ancestry. The term ''Afro-Cuban'' can also refer to historical or cultural elements in Cuba thought to emanate from this community and the combining of native African and other cultural el ...

descent.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Diaz, Yandy 1991 births Living people American League All-Stars Akron RubberDucks players Carolina Mudcats players Cleveland Indians players Columbus Clippers players Defecting Cuban baseball players Leones del Caracas players Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball third basemen Naranjas de Villa Clara players Scottsdale Scorpions players Tampa Bay Rays players People from Sagua la Grande Sportspeople from Villa Clara Province