# Young baseball player Dariam Gutiérrez signs with the Philadelphia Phillies

**Date:** 12/09/2021

Young Cuban outfielder Dariam Gutiérrez, who left the Island in 2020, will begin his professional career with the Philadelphia Phillies after signing a contract with the Major League organization this Monday in the Dominican Republic, according to sports journalist Francys Romero in his blog.

The baseball player, only 19 years old, continued training at the Dominican academy Jesús Mateo following his departure from the Island. For signing with the U.S. team he received a signing bonus of $20,000.

Among Gutiérrez's main skills, who was born in Havana, are his consistency at bat, the acceleration of his swing, his speed, and his arm.

For his performance in youth categories he earned a spot on the Havana City team between 2019 and 2020.

With the Phillies he will join Cubans Derek Escobar, Luis Pelegrín, and Yoan López, bringing the total to more than 150 baseball players born on the Island within the U.S. Major League system.

The departure of young prospects from Cuba is increasingly frequent. In early December it was news that 16-year-old Cuban Rafael Álvarez, according to what Cuban baseball specialist Francys Romero published in his blog.

Twelve days before Álvarez, another 16-year-old prospect, Luis Jesús Quesada, left for the Dominican Republic.

His departure from Cuba was preceded by those of Darlin Jiménez and Gustavo Urgellés, just a week earlier.

A little over a month ago, prospects Luis Antonio Pérez Hemmings and Cristian de Jesús López, who were part of Cuba's talent lists compiled by specialist Romero, left the Island headed to the Dominican Republic to try to make a career in the Major Leagues.

Pérez Hemmings's departure from the country coincided with baseball being declared a cultural heritage of the nation.

From the lists compiled by Romero, the right-handed pitchers Reimi García, Leandro Hernández, Rubén Menes, and Luis Dannys Morales had already left Cuba, the latter being the first baseball player to abandon the under-23 team in Mexico, where a record number of 12 players fled the team.

Before the end of 2021, it is already the year in which the most baseball players have left the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB), through the abandonment of national teams during tournaments outside of Cuba, leaving the country, or requesting to withdraw from the FCB.