Aledmys Díaz

Aledmys Díaz - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Aledmys Díaz

Aledmys Díaz Serrano (born August 1, 1990) is a Cuban professional baseball utility player who is a free agent. He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Houston Astros, and Oakland Athletics. He played for the Naranjas de Villa Clara in the Cuban National Series from 2007 through 2012, before defecting to the United States. Díaz signed with the Cardinals in 2014, and made his MLB debut with them in 2016.

This profile of Aledmys Díaz covers Early Life and Family Background, Cuban National Series (2007–2012), Minor leagues (2014–2015), St. Louis Cardinals (2016–2017) and Toronto Blue Jays (2018).

From Santa Clara, Cuba, Díaz' career accomplishments in the Cuban National Series from 2007 to 2012 included a.307 batting average,.397 on-base percentage (OBP), and.439 slugging percentage over 342 games. As a rookie in MLB in 2016, he became the first player in history to sustain a.500 batting average after 50 at bats, and was named an All-Star for the National League team. After losing his starting job in 2017, he spent the 2018 season with Toronto and was traded to Houston before the 2019 season. He won the 2022 World Series with the Astros.

Early Life and Family Background of Aledmys Díaz

While growing up in Santa Clara, Cuba, Díaz lived on the same street as, and was friends with, future Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher José Fernández. They played for the same youth baseball team, and Díaz's father and uncle encouraged Fernández's mother to bring him to the ballpark. Fernández commented that had Díaz's uncle not been an influence early in his life, he would not have pursued a professional baseball career.

Cuban National Series (2007–2012) of Aledmys Díaz

Díaz played in the Serie Nacional de Béisbol (Cuban National Series), the primary amateur baseball competition in Cuba, for the Naranjas de Villa Clara, based in Santa Clara. He debuted in the 2007–08 season by going nine for 32 in a utility role. At age 19 in 2008–09, Díaz batted.301 with a.403 on-base percentage (OBP) and.482 slugging percentage (SLG) but fielded only.930 as a regular infielder. He was third in the Serie Nacional with 24 errors.

The next season, Díaz batted.282 with a.348 OBP,.363 SLG and fielded.950 as Villa Clara's starting shortstop. He tied for fifth in the Serie Nacional with 18 errors, having improved his defense. During his 2011–12 season, Díaz' offensive production continued to climb, as he batted.315 with a.404 OBP and.500 SLG. He hit 12 home runs in 270 at bats. From 2008 to 2012, Díaz, batted.308 with a.401 OBP and.444 SLG.

In his Cuban National Series career, Díaz totaled 342 games, batting.307,.397 OBP,.439 SLG, 193 runs scored, 54 doubles, 27 home runs and 165 runs batted in (RBI) in 1125 at bats. He defected from Cuba in 2012 while playing with the Cuban national baseball team in a tournament in the Netherlands. He was declared ineligible to sign with any MLB teams until February 19, 2014, due to lying about his age. He spent the interim 18 months from defecting from Cuba playing in Mexico City.

Minor leagues (2014–2015)

To audition for a contract with MLB clubs, Díaz held a showcase with fellow Cuban defector Odrisamer Despaigne on February 13, 2014. Although Díaz was initially projected to command a major league contract with a similar level of pay to other Cuban defectors such as Alex Guerrero and Erisbel Arruebarrena, his performance in the showcase did not leave the impression that he merited such a level of salary, and, further, many clubs passed on him altogether. He had left Mexico City effectively out of shape to play professional baseball. He signed a four-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals worth $8 million on March 9.

The Cardinals first assigned Díaz to the Palm Beach Cardinals of the High–A Florida State League in 2014, and he was promoted to the Springfield Cardinals of the Double–A Texas League that season. In 47 games between both teams, he batted.273/.324/.441 with five home runs, 24 RBIs, and seven stolen bases. In 2015, while playing for Springfield, he battled injuries before he was designated for assignment on July 8, 2015. While he had benefited from talent alone while playing in Cuba, his lack of preparation had caused his performance to suffer after playing the minor leagues. But he diligently began to prepare more and proactively ask more questions.

In the last 45 games of the 2015 season after his removal from the 40-man roster, Díaz batted.333 with a.404 OBP and a.574 SLG. The Cardinals added him to the 40-man roster on November 19, 2015. Over the full 2015 campaign, Díaz batted.278/.339/.445 with 13 home runs and 52 RBI over 116 total games between Springfield and the Memphis Redbirds of the Triple–A Pacific Coast League. He batted.239 against right-handed pitchers,.371 against left-handers,.329 in road games and.222 in home games. He played in the Arizona Fall League following the regular season, registering a.616 SLG and.987 OPS.

St. Louis Cardinals (2016–2017)

Originally planning for Díaz to spend the 2016 season in Memphis, the Cardinals eventually moved three veteran players to accommodate him becoming the starting shortstop. On April 5, 2016, the Cardinals recalled him to the major league roster to take the place of outfielder Tommy Pham, who had departed on Opening Day two days earlier with an injury. Díaz debuted on the same day as his call-up. In his first major league at bat in the third inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates, he singled off Jon Niese for his first hit in a 6–5 loss. Initially, Díaz' presence on the roster gave the Cardinals a capable hitter with upside who could play shortstop and fill a void until the return of Rubén Tejada, who had injured himself late in spring training. Tejada himself was a replacement signed as a free agent during spring training to replace the already-established starting shortstop Jhonny Peralta, who also had injured himself and was projected to be unable to play significantly longer than Tejada.

On April 8, Díaz's first major league home run contributed to the Cardinals becoming the first team in major league history to hit three pinch hit home runs in the same game. Jeremy Hazelbaker and Greg Garcia were the other pinch hitters as the Cardinals defeated the Atlanta Braves, 7–4. The previous record of two pinch hit home runs by the same team in one game was previously accomplished on 57 occasions, most recently in 2011. Tejada was reinstated from the disabled list on April 18, but Díaz's hitting had led the Cardinals to instead retain him as the starting shortstop, thus assigning Tejada to be a utility infielder.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aledmys_D%C3%ADaz), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.