Aledmys Díaz | |||
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St. Louis Cardinals – No. 36 | |||
Shortstop | |||
Born: Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba |
August 1, 1990 |||
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MLB debut | |||
April 5, 2016, for the St. Louis Cardinals | |||
MLB statistics (through May 29, 2017) |
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Batting average | .289 | ||
Home runs | 22 | ||
Runs batted in | 79 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
Aledmys Díaz Serrano (born August 1, 1990) is a Cuban professional baseball shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Cardinals signed him as a free agent on March 9, 2014. He made his MLB debut for the Cardinals on April 5, 2016. He previously played for the Naranjas de Villa Clara in the Cuban National Series from 2007 through 2012 before defecting to the United States. A right-handed batter and thrower, Díaz stands 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 m) and weighs 195 pounds (88 kg).
From Santa Clara, Cuba, Díaz' career accomplishments in the Cuban National Series include a .307 batting average, .397 on-base percentage (OBP), and .439 slugging percentage (SLG) over 342 games. He played briefly in Mexico City prior to playing in the United States. As a rookie in MLB, 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.
While growing up in Santa Clara, Cuba, Aledmys 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' father and uncle encouraged Fernández' mother to bring him to the ballpark. Fernández commented that had Díaz' uncle not been an influence early in his life, he would not have pursued a professional baseball career.