Venezuelan baseball player (born 1996)
In this
Spanish name
, the first or paternal
surname
is
Estrada
and the second or maternal family name is
Villegas
.
Baseball player
Thairo Jose Estrada Villegas
(born February 22, 1996) is a Venezuelan
professional baseball
second baseman
for the
San Francisco Giants
of
Major League Baseball
(MLB). Estrada signed with the
New York Yankees
as an international
free agent
in 2012. He was a 2015
New York-Pennsylvania League
Mid-Season All Star, and a 2017
Eastern League
Mid-Season and Post-Season All Star. He was shot in early 2018 by robbers, with his recovery delaying the start of his season, in which he played with a bullet still lodged in his hip. He has previously played in MLB for the Yankees, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2019.
Early life
[
edit
]
Thairo Jose Estrada Villegas was born on February 22, 1996, in
Bejuma
,
Venezuela
.
Professional career
[
edit
]
Minor leagues
[
edit
]
Estrada signed with the
New York Yankees
as an international
free agent
in August 2012 for a
signing bonus
of $49,000.
[1]
He made his professional debut in 2013 with the Rookie League
Gulf Coast Yankees
, and spent the whole season there,
batting
.278/.350/.432 with five
triples
, two
home runs
, 8
hit by pitch
, and 17
runs batted in
(RBIs) in 176
at bats
over 50 games. The 17-year-old was one of the youngest players in the
Gulf Coast League
, 2.6 years younger than the average player in the league.
[2]
[1]
Baseball America
rated him the 20th-best player in the league.
[3]
He played 2014 with the Gulf Coast Yankees and the Class A-
Staten Island Yankees
(and was 3.0 years younger than the average
New York-Pennsylvania League
player). Estrada batted a combined .272/.337/.309 in 81 at bats over 23 games, with his season cut short by a leg injury he suffered while running the bases in July.
[1]
[4]
Estrada played in 2015 with Staten Island. He slashed .267/.338/.360 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 247 at bats over 63 games, and was named a New York-Pennsylvania League Mid-Season All Star.
[5]
He then played in 2016 for the Class A
Charleston RiverDogs
of the
South Atlantic League
and the Class A+
Tampa Yankees
of the
Florida State League
(where Estrada was 2.8 years younger than the average player in the league).
[2]
He batted a combined .290/.346/.391 with eight home runs, 49 RBIs, and a career-high 18
stolen bases
in 495 at bats over 118 total games between the two teams, and was named an MiLB Organization All Star.
[5]
Estrada spent 2017 with the Class AA
Trenton Thunder
, and was 3.2 years younger than the average player in the
Eastern League
.
[2]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
He batted .301(6th in the Eastern League)/.353/.392 with 72 runs (3rd), four triples (7th), six home runs, nine hit-by-pitch (6th), and 48 RBIs in 495 at bats over 122 games, with a low strikeout rate of 10.3%.
[4]
[9]
At 21 years and two months of age, he was the 7th-youngest player to make a 2017 Eastern League Opening Day roster.
[4]
He was named an Eastern League Mid-Season All Star and Post-Season All Star, and an MiLB Organization All Star.
[2]
[5]
After the regular season, the Yankees added Estrada to their
40-man roster
. He then played for the
Scottsdale Scorpions
of the
Arizona Fall League
, batting .342/.381/.430 in 79 at bats.
[10]
[11]
He was named to the AFL All-Prospect Team, and named an AFL Rising Star.
[5]
Baseball America
rated him the Yankees' # 9 prospect.
[4]
MLB.com rated him the Yankees' # 8 prospect, and assessed his defense as follows: "there's no question that Estrada is a big league shortstop. He covers a lot of ground thanks to his smooth actions and keen instincts, and he has the plus arm to make all of the throws. He's also an asset at second and third base, and he's athletic enough to handle the outfield if asked."
[12]
In January 2018, while in his hometown in Venezuela, Estrada was shot in his right hip by robbers in a robbery attempt.
[13]
Doctors in Venezuela who performed surgery upon him were unable to remove the bullet from his hip, but he was cleared to play with the small caliber bullet lodged in his hip; it was only removed in July six months later, in the United States.
[14]
[15]
After a delayed start to his season as he missed
spring training
, Estrada suffered a season-ending
lower back
injury in June 2018.
[16]
[17]
He played in 18 regular season games in the minor leagues for Tampa and the Class AAA
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders
of the
International League
(where he was 4.5 years younger than the average player) combined, batting .192/.210/.231 in 78 at bats.
[2]
He played for the
Glendale Desert Dogs
of the
Arizona Fall League
after the regular season, batting .238/.282/.263 in 80 at bats.
[18]
New York Yankees (2019?2020)
[
edit
]
The Yankees promoted Estrada to the major leagues on April 4, 2019, but
optioned
him back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 6 without Estrada appearing in a major league game.
[19]
[20]
He was again promoted to the Yankees on April 21, and made his major league debut that day. He laid down a
sacrifice bunt
that set up a walk-off single by
Austin Romine
.
[21]
He recorded his first two major league hits on April 23.
[22]
In 64 at bats for the Yankees he batted .250/.294/.438. For the Yankees he played 17 games at second base, 9 at shortstop, and 2 each in left field and right field.
[2]
In Triple-A, he batted .266/.313/.452 with 8 home runs in 241 at bats, playing 33 games at shortstop, 24 at second base, and 2 at third base.
[2]
In his minor league career through 2019, Estrada had played 225 games at shortstop, 161 games at second base, and 52 games at third base.
[2]
In 2020 for the Yankees, Estrada batted .167/.231/.229 with one home run and three RBIs in 48 at bats across 26 games, playing 20 games at second base, 6 games at third base, and 3 games at shortstop.
[23]
On April 6, 2021, Estrada was
designated for assignment
following the acquisition of
Rougned Odor
.
[24]
San Francisco Giants (2021?present)
[
edit
]
On April 11, 2021, the Yankees traded Estrada to the
San Francisco Giants
in exchange for cash considerations.
[25]
Estrada played first for the
Sacramento River Cats
of the
Triple-A West
, and batted .385 (4th in the league at the time of his call-up)/.448(9th)/.609 with 12 doubles (10th) in 156 at bats, while striking out only 14% of the time.
[2]
[26]
He played 26 games at shortstop, seven at second base, two at third base, and one in left field.
[2]
He was called up to the Giants on June 6, following an injury to third baseman
Evan Longoria
who had collided with shortstop
Brandon Crawford
.
[27]
In Estrada's debut with the Giants on July 2 against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he went 3?for-5 with five RBIs, a double, and a
grand slam
. Crawford's
oblique
injury in July shifted Estrada to start at shortstop in his place.
In the 2021 regular season for the Giants, Estrada batted .273/.333/.479 with seven home runs and 22 RBIs in 121 at bats. He played 19 games at shortstop, 16 games at second base, four games at third base, four games in left field, and one game in right field.
[28]
At AAA Sacramento, he batted .333/.399/.538 with 9 home runs and 40 RBIs in 210 at bats.
[28]
In 2022 Estrada batted .260/.322/.402 with 71 runs, 14 home runs, 62 RBIs, 21 stolen bases (7th in the NL) in 27 attempts, 5.5 at bats per strikeout (8th), and 14 hit by pitch (7th), and had the fastest sprint speed of all Giants players, at 28.3 feet per second.
[29]
[30]
On defense he had a range factor/9Inn at 2B of 4.22 (3rd).
[30]
On January 13, 2023, Estrada agreed to a one-year, $2.25 million contract with the Giants for the 2023 season, avoiding salary arbitration.
[31]
Personal life
[
edit
]
In January 2018, Estrada was shot in his right hip/thigh by a pair of teenagers in a robbery attempt in his hometown of
Bejuma
in Venezuela, while he and his wife were in a cafe and he was at the counter.
[13]
[32]
The bullet was not removed until six months later, in July 2018 in a hospital in Tampa, Florida.
[33]
[34]
He said, "The situation [in Venezuela] is not very good, not very safe... it makes you think about [not] even going back anymore."
[32]
Estrada married Lorena Cardenas on September 19, 2017. His daughter was born on January 5, 2019. He already had a son from a previous relationship.
[35]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
"Thairo Estrada"
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
"Thairo Estrada Minor & Fall Leagues Statistics & History"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
"Prospect Profile: Thairo Estrada"
. January 23, 2018.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Thairo Estrada Stats, Fantasy & News"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Thairo Estrada Stats, Fantasy & News"
.
MiLB.com
.
- ^
Miller, Sean (May 24, 2017).
"Thairo Estrada sets the table for the Trenton Thunder"
. NJ.com
. Retrieved
September 13,
2017
.
- ^
Greg Johnson (June 28, 2017).
"Four Thunder players make 2017 Eastern League All Star Game"
.
Trentonian
. Retrieved
September 13,
2017
.
- ^
"Thairo Estrada acumula 16 juegos seguidos embasandose"
.
El Carabobeno
(in Spanish). June 2, 2017
. Retrieved
August 9,
2018
.
- ^
"Thairo Estrada Stats, Highlights, Bio"
. MiLB.com
. Retrieved
May 1,
2018
.
- ^
King, George A. (November 20, 2017).
"Yankees scramble to keep top-rated farm system together"
.
The New York Post
. Retrieved
November 26,
2017
.
- ^
Cohen, Perry (October 24, 2017).
"Yankees' Thairo Estrada hits first AFL homer"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
April 4,
2019
.
- ^
Brendan Kuty (June 20, 2018).
"It just gets worse for Yankees prospect who got shot"
.
nj
.
- ^
a
b
"Yanks' Estrada recovering from gunshot wound"
. MiLB.com. February 16, 2018
. Retrieved
November 19,
2018
.
- ^
Witz, Billy (February 17, 2018).
"Shot in a Robbery Attempt, Yankees Prospect Recovers at Spring Training"
.
The New York Times
.
- ^
Adler, Lindsey.
"After successful surgery to remove bullet, Yankees hope infield prospect Thairo Estrada can get back to speed in Fall League"
.
The Athletic
.
- ^
Kuty, Brendan (May 2, 2018).
"As if getting shot wasn't bad enough for this Yankees prospect ..."
nj.com
. Retrieved
April 4,
2019
.
- ^
Kuty, Brendan (June 20, 2018).
"It just gets worse for Yankees prospect who got shot"
.
nj.com
. Retrieved
April 4,
2019
.
- ^
Miller, Randy (October 24, 2018).
"Scouting reports on Yankees in Arizona Fall League ? How Estevan Florial, Thairo Estrada are doing"
.
nj.com
. Retrieved
April 4,
2019
.
- ^
Miller, Randy (April 4, 2019).
"Yankees' Troy Tulowitzki No. 11 on injured list; Thairo Estrada called up ? What it means"
.
nj.com
. Retrieved
April 4,
2019
.
- ^
Caldera, Pete.
"Yankees call up Giovanny Urshela, planning to play him a lot at third base"
.
North Jersey Media Group
.
- ^
"Bullpen wastes James Paxton's gem before Austin Romine wins it in 10th"
. Newsday. April 22, 2019
. Retrieved
June 11,
2021
.
- ^
"
'Every kid's dream': Ford hits 1st HR with Yanks"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
Diemert, Joshua (November 11, 2020).
"Yankees 2020 Roster Report Cards: Thairo Estrada"
.
Pinstripe Alley
.
- ^
"Yankees Designate Thairo Estrada For Assignment"
.
MLB Trade Rumors
.
- ^
Guardado, Maria (April 11, 2021).
"Notes: Estrada acquired; Moronta to IL"
.
MLB.com
. Retrieved
April 11,
2021
.
- ^
"Why SF Giants should look for help from Triple-A before pursuing trades"
.
Mercury News
. June 30, 2021.
- ^
"Giants 3B Longoria out 4?6 weeks after collision"
.
ESPN
. June 6, 2021.
- ^
a
b
"Thairo Estrada Stats"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
"Statcast Sprint Speed Leaderboard"
.
baseballsavant.com
.
- ^
a
b
"Thairo Estrada Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More"
.
Baseball-Reference.com
.
- ^
"2023 MLB Arbitration Tracker"
.
MLBTradeRumors
. Retrieved
January 13,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"Yanks prospect Estrada OK after gunshot wound"
.
MLB.com
.
- ^
Brendan Kuty (February 21, 2019).
"Yankees prospect who got shot: Why I waited 6 months to get bullet out"
.
nj
.
- ^
Brendan Kuty (February 16, 2018).
"How Yanks prospect Estrada got shot in botched robbery"
.
nj
.
- ^
"Thairo Estrada"
.
External links
[
edit
]
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