Yandy Díaz Fernández

Born in Sagua la Grande, Cuba is a Third base, Second base and outfielder Cuban professional baseball player who played for the Leones del Caracas of the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League (LVBP).2​ He currently plays for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball MLB. He previously played for the Cleveland Indians.

Díaz played for the Naranjas de Villa Clara in the Cuban National Series 2012-13. In 2013, at age 21, Díaz defected from Holguín, Cuba to Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic along with his childhood friend Leandro Linares.

In August of that year he signed with the Cleveland Indians for $300,000.

American Career
Minor Leagues
Díaz played for the Carolina Mudcats of the Advanced Carolina League in 2014. Playing for the Akron RubberDucks of the Class AA Eastern League in 2015, Díaz was named an All-Star.

The Indians promoted him to the Columbus Clippers of the International League Class AAA in September, and assigned him to the Arizona Fall League after the 2015 regular season. Díaz began the 2016 season with Akron and was subsequently promoted to Columbus.

Cleveland Indians
Díaz earned an invitation to the Cleveland 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.

Díaz played 49 games, cutting .262/.352/.327 predominantly playing third base.

Díaz spent the 2018 season between Colón 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 Tampa Bay Rays in a three-team trade in which the Rays also acquired Cole Sulser for Jake Bauers, and the Seattle Mariners acquired Edwin Encarnación from the Indians for Carlos Santana. Díaz missed some time due to injury during the season, accumulating only 307 at-bats. He hit 14 home runs and 38 RBIs.

Díaz hit two home runs in the 2019 American League Wild Card Game when the Rays defeated the Athletics.
Díaz appeared in 34 games of the 2020 season, posting .307/.428/.386 with 2 home runs and 11 runs.

In the 2022 season, Díaz batted .296/.401/.423, leading the Rays in on-base percentage (.401), OPS (.824) and OPS (142), and finished second only behind Harold Ramírez in batting average. He received MVP votes for the first time in his career.

Díaz was named to his first All-Star Game in 2023, when he was elected as the best of the American League at first base. In his first at-bat, he hit a solo home run to put the AL ahead 1-0, becoming the first Rays player to hit a home run in an All-Star Game and the first player born in Cuba to do so since Cookie Rojas in 1972.

In particular, Díaz and his wife welcomed their first son the day after the All-Star Game, which meant that Díaz flew to Seattle the morning of the All-Star Game and flew immediately after. He was officially placed on the paternity list on July 14.

Personal Life

His father, Jorge, also defected from Cuba to play professional baseball in the United States. Jorge Díaz briefly played in the Texas Rangers organization and spent the rest of his career in independent leagues. Yandy was six years old when he last saw his father. Díaz is of Afro-Cuban descent.

Díaz is married to his wife, Mayisleidis. They welcomed a son, Yandy Jared Díaz, in July 2023