Dayán Viciedo

Dayán Viciedo Pérez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 240 lb.

• Debut June 20, 2010
• Final Game September 28, 2014
• Born March 10, 1989 in Remedios, Villa Clara Cuba

BR page

Biographical Information

Dayán Viciedo was an outfielder in the majors after playing the infield as a youngster.

Viciedo debuted in the Cuban Serie Nacional in 2004-2005, when he was only 15 years old. He hit .230/.279/.323 for Villa Clara, seeing regular action despite his youth. In 2005-2006, he became a starter at third base and batted .337/.399/.542. In a league with three .400 hitters and 15 guys over .350, it was only impressive when you consider his age. He failed to make the eastern league's All-Star team, something he never accomplished in Cuba. Viciedo played for the Cuban squad in the 2006 World Junior Championship; he would never make the senior national team or come close.

Viciedo's progress then stalled, as he hit .252/.378/.399 the next year. He had a .286 average and 26 HR in 868 AB in four seasons through 2006-2007. In 2007-2008, Dayán produced at a .294/.405/.503 rate and fielded .947. His 10 home runs did tie for the lead (with Eduardo Paret) on a weak Villa Clara club homer-wise. He was easily surpassed as the team's bright prospect by Leonys Martín.

Viciedo then left Cuba to try his hand at US baseball. His agent immediately hyped him as the "next Omar Linares" despite his performance in Cuba being far inferior to Linares at that same age. He was signed by scouting director Doug Laumann and scout Jose Ortega for the Chicago White Sox in December. His 2009 White Sox Media Guide listed his correct stats for 2005-2007 but left out 2007-2008 for some reason and also included two blatant lies (Viciedo played for the Cuban senior national team in 2005; Viciedo was MVP of the 2004 World Junior Championship - he was not on the Cuban team and Yadier Pedroso was MVP). A less blatant error was claiming that Viciedo had been with a Cuban national team through 2008; he never appeared for Cuba in an international event once he turned 18 in March 2007 and no longer qualified for junior level play.

Viciedo was hitting .283/.305/.385 after 63 games in the US with the 2009 Birmingham Barons; he had only 9 walks to 48 strikeouts and was fielding just .874 at third base. He finished the year at .280/.317/.391 with 12 home runs, 78 RBI and just 23 walks while fielding .894. He played for the World Team in the 2009 Futures Game. He entered as a backup, replacing 34-year-old Cuban Bárbaro Cañizares in the lineup while Alex Liddi moved from third to first. In his first at-bat, Viciedo grounded out against Casey Kelly. In the 7th, he came up with a 6-5 lead against Brad Lincoln and provided insurance by doubling home Rene Tosoni. Baseball America did not rate him as one of the top 20 prospects in the Southern League.

Due to his defensive woes, Dayán was moved to first base in 2010. With the Charlotte Knights, he improved his line to .290/.329/.525 with 14 homers after 62 games, while drawing only eight walks to 52 whiffs. He was then promoted to the majors to replace Jayson Nix. In his MLB debut, he hit 7th and started at the hot corner. Viciedo flew out against John Lannan in his first MLB at-bat then singled his next trip up. He later ground into a double play and struck out to end his debut game.

Notable Achievements

• 20-Home Run Seasons: 2 (2012 & 2014)

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia entry
• Defunct IBAF site
• 2007 Baseball Almanac
• Peter Bjarkman's Baseball Blog
• 2009 White Sox Media Guide

Related Sites

• Dayán Viciedo on mlb.com
• Radio Marti interview about his escape from Cuba (Spanish)