BIOGRAPHY
Aledmys Díaz was born August 1, 1990, in Santa Clara, Villa Clara, Cuba. He is an infielder in the MLB.
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, However, Díaz' hitting had led the Cardinals to instead retain him as the starting shortstop, thus assigning Tejada to be a utility infielder.
In an 11–2 win over the San Diego Padres on April 23, Díaz garnered his first five-hit game. After collecting two hits in his first two at bats in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 25 to give him 26 hits in 52 at bats, he became the first rookie in MLB since 1900 to carry at least a .500 batting average at any point after accumulating 50 at bats, per the Elias Sports Bureau. Meanwhile, past defensive liabilities reemerged: in Díaz' first 31 games of the season, he committed nine errors. However, he garnered early attention for the National League (NL) Rookie of the Year Award; as of June 6, he was third in the NL in batting at .328 and had hit eight home runs with 30 RBIs. When Peralta returned from the disabled list on June 7, Díaz' sustained level of play convinced the Cardinals to displace Peralta to third base and third baseman Matt Carpenter to second base.
As the season progressed, Díaz' defense notably improved; in the remaining 51 games leading up to the All-Star break, he committed six errors. On July 7, he was selected to his first MLB All-Star Game to replace Carpenter, who had been injured two days earlier. Díaz appeared as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded against Will Harris in the eighth inning, and struck out looking as the American League defeated the National League, 4−2. On July 21 against Padres in a 5−5 game, Díaz batted against Carlos Villanueva with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning and, this time, singled home the game-winning run for his first career walk-off hit.
Díaz avoided arbitration with the Astros on March 22, 2022, agreeing to a $4.45 million contract for the season. On May 8, 2022, Díaz hit a grand slam versus the Detroit Tigers to lead a 5–0 Astros win. He started at third base and homered on June 4 to help lead a 10–3 win over the Kansas City Royals, and added two singles for his first three-hit game of the season. Díaz singled and scored in the ninth on July 12 versus the Los Angeles Angels to catalyze a four run comeback after hitting an early two-run home run and walking twice. He homered twice on July 29 versus the Seattle Mariners to help fuel an 11–1 rout. On August 6, Díaz started at shortstop versus Cleveland, doubling twice and driving in one run. Díaz hit his second grand slam of the season versus Martín Pérez of the Texas Rangers on August 9, bringing the Astros back from a 4–0 deficit to result in a 7–5 win.
On August 16, Díaz exited a game versus the Chicago White Sox due to a groin injury, and was placed on the 10-day injured list the following day. He was activated on September 13.
In 2022 he batted .243/.287/.403 in 305 at bats with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs.
In 2022 he batted .243/.287/.403 in 305 at bats with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs. He played 28 games in left field, 22 at second base, 18 at shortstop, 10 at third base, 7 at DH, 6 at first base, and one in right field. The Astros advanced to the World Series and defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in six games to give Díaz his first career World Series title.
Following the World Series, Díaz became a free agent.
On December 13, 2022, Díaz signed a two-year contract with the Oakland Athletics.
