Leody Taveras
Taveras with the Round Rock Express in 2022
Texas Rangers – No. 3
Outfielder
Born: (1998-09-08) September 8, 1998
Tenares, Dominican Republic
Bats: Switch
Throws: Right
MLB debut
July 24, 2020, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Batting average.244
Home runs26
Runs batted in116
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Leody Taveras Salazar (born September 8, 1998) is a Dominican professional baseball outfielder for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Rangers signed him as an international free agent in 2015, and he made his MLB debut in 2020. He won the 2023 World Series with the Rangers.

Career

Taveras signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent in July 2015 for a bonus of $2.6 million.[1] He made his professional debut in 2016 with the Dominican Summer League Rangers and was later promoted to the Arizona League Rangers and Spokane Indians that season.[2][3] In 73 total games between the three teams, he batted .271 with one home run, 33 RBIs and 18 stole bases. Prior to the 2017 season, Baseball America ranked him as the best prospect in the Rangers system.[4]

Taveras spent the 2017 season with the Hickory Crawdads, where he posted a .249 batting average with eight home runs, 50 RBIs and 20 stolen bases.[5] Taveras spent the 2018 season with the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League, hitting .246/.312/.332/.644 with 5 home runs, 48 RBI, and 19 stolen bases in 132 games. Taveras was selected to the 2018 All-Star Futures Game.[6] Taveras was ranked as the #47 overall prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus in their preseason 2019 Top 101 list.[7] Taveras was ranked as the #62 overall prospect in baseball by ESPN's Keith Law in his preseason 2019 Top 100 list.[8] Taveras was ranked as the #94 overall prospect in baseball by Fangraphs in their preseason 2019 Top 130 list.[9]

Taveras was assigned back to Down East to open the 2019 season,[10] and hit .294/.368/.376/.745 with 2 home runs and 25 RBI in 66 games for them.[11] On June 20, he was promoted to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Texas League.[12] With Frisco, Taveras hit .265/.320/.375/.695 with 3 home runs and 31 RBI.[13][14] Taveras was added to the Rangers 40–man roster following the 2019 season.[15]

2020

Taveras made the Rangers Opening Day roster in 2020.[16] He made his major league debut on July 24, 2020, against the Colorado Rockies. Taveras hit his first career home run on August 29, 2020, while playing against the Los Angeles Dodgers.[17] He finished the 2020 season hitting .227/.308/.395/.703 with 4 home runs, 6 RBI, and 8 stolen bases over 33 games.[18]

2021

Taveras split the 2021 season between Texas and the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A West. With Texas he hit .161/.207/.270/.477 with 3 home runs, 9 RBI, and 10 stolen bases; with Round Rock he hit .245/.343/.475/.818 with 17 home runs, 55 RBI, and 13 stolen bases.[19]

2022

Taveras once again split a season between Texas and Round Rock in 2022. With Texas he hit .261/.309/.366/.675 with 5 home runs, 34 RBI, and 11 stolen bases; with Round Rock he hit .294/.335/.485/.820 with 7 home runs, 29 RBI, and 7 stolen bases.[20]

Personal life

Leody Taveras is a cousin of former outfielder Willy Taveras, who played seven seasons in Major League Baseball.[21]

References

  1. ↑ "Rangers Agree To Sign No. 3 International Prospect Leodys Taveras". Baseball America. July 2, 2015. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  2. ↑ Josh Horton (August 3, 2016). "Indians notebook: Leody Taveras, the Rangers' fourth-ranked prospect, called up to Spokane". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  3. ↑ Horton, Josh (August 18, 2016). "Q&A with top Rangers' prospect Leody Taveras". The Spokesman-Review. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  4. ↑ "2017 Texas Rangers Top 10 Prospects". Baseball America. Retrieved June 29, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Leody Taveras Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  6. ↑ Staff Report (July 6, 2018). "Pair of Wood Ducks named to All-Star Futures Game". Sun Journal. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  7. ↑ "2019 Prospects: The Top 101". Baseball Prospectus. January 23, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
  8. ↑ Keith Law (January 29, 2019). "Keith Law's 2019 top prospects: Nos. 100-51". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 29, 2019.
  9. ↑ Eric Longenhagen and Kiley McDaniel (February 13, 2019). "2019 Top 100 Prospects". FanGraphs.com. Retrieved February 13, 2019.
  10. ↑ Matt Present (March 27, 2019). "Wood Ducks Announce 2019 Roster". MiLB.com. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  11. ↑ Chris Bumbaca (May 1, 2019). "Wood Ducks' Taveras stays sizzling in box". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  12. ↑ RotoWire Staff (June 20, 2019). "Rangers' Leody Taveras: Promoted to Double-A". CBSSports.com. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  13. ↑ Duane Cross (June 22, 2019). "RoughRiders' Taveras finding his stroke". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  14. ↑ Jamey Newberg (September 12, 2019). "Long-term looks: Three high-upside Rangers outfield prospects on the horizon". The Athletic. Retrieved September 12, 2019.
  15. ↑ Evan Grant (November 20, 2019). "Rangers add six prospects to 40-man roster, topped by OF Leody Taveras and 3B Sherten Apostel". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Rangers finalize opening day roster with some surprises, including OF Leody Taveras". Dallas News. July 23, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Rangers' Leody Taveras: Slugs first career homer". CBSSports.com. August 30, 2020. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Leody Taveras Player Page". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  19. ↑ Levi Weaver (October 6, 2021). "Grading the 2021 Texas Rangers: Position players edition". The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-10-08.
  20. ↑ Postins, Matthew (October 16, 2022). "Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps: Leody Taveras". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
  21. ↑ "Willy Taveras stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
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