Yandy Díaz wins batting title in Major Leagues

October 4, 2023

The infielder for the Tampa Bay Rays won the American League batting championship, becoming the third player born on the Island to achieve this feat in the Majors.

Cuban infielder Yandy Díaz (Tampa Bay Rays) won the American League batting championship, becoming the third player born on the Island to achieve this feat in the Majors.

The Caribbean player, who did not play in the last game of the regular season, woke up this Sunday as second among batters, with an average of .3295. He was surpassed by Corey Seager, of the Texas Rangers, with .3298. However, the American went hitless in four at-bats against the Toronto Blue Jays, which left the native of Sagua la Grande as the leader in this important category.

Only two other Cubans had achieved the batting championship in Major Leagues: Tony Oliva (1964, 1965, and 1971) and Yuli Gurriel (2021).

In this way, Yandy Díaz crowned a dream regular season in which he signed the best marks of his career: 137 games, 173 hits, 35 doubles, 22 home runs, 57 extra-base hits, 77 runs batted in, .522 slugging percentage, and .932 OPS.

In addition to leading the batters, Díaz had the second-best on-base average in the American League, with .410, only surpassed by phenomenon Shohei Ohtani.

2023 has been the year of Yandy Díaz's consecration in Major Leagues. The Cuban debuted in 2017 with the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians), but it was the Rays who from 2019 have given him the opportunity to establish himself as a starter at his position.

The native of Villa Clara arrived at the Tampa Bay franchise in 2019. Since then, his performance has been on the rise, until completing a magnificent 2023. In July he participated in the All-Star Game, in which he hit a home run.