Gabriel Arias

Note: This page is for 2020s infielder Gabriel Arias; for others with the same name, click here.

Gabriel Alejandro Arias

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 201 lb.

• Debut April 20, 2022

• Born February 27, 2000 in La Victoria, Aragua Venezuela

BR page

Biographical Information

Shortstop Gabriel Arias signed his first pro contract with the San Diego Padres on July 2, 2016, when he had just turned 16 a few months earlier. He began his professional career the following year with the AZL Padres 2, where he hit .275 in 37 games, then earned a promotion in mid-August to the Fort Wayne TinCaps of the Midwest League, where he played another 16 games, hitting .242. He was a full four years younger than the average player in the full-season Midwest League, so holding his own was already quite a feat. He then played in the Australian Baseball League in the 2017-18 off-season, lining up with the Canberra Cavalry and hit .271 in 29 games, even though he was again one of the youngest players to appear in the circuit.

In 2018, he spent a full season at Fort Wayne, playing 124 games and hitting .240/.302/.352, with 27 doubles, 54 runs and 55 RBIs. He was still noticeably younger than the average player in the circuit, making his numbers even better, then appeared for the Tiburones de La Guaira of the Venezuelan League the following off-season. In a league full of grown men, many with major league experience, the 18-year-old hit .254 in 24 games. In 2019, he was a mid-season All-Star with the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League, where he hit .302/.339/.470 in 120 games, with 21 doubles and 17 homers, 62 runs and 75 RBIs. These were outstanding numbers for a shortstop, and he entered the Padres' top-ten prospect list while earning a ticket to the major league team's spring training as a non-roster invitee in 2020.

The was no way Arias would start the 2020 season in the majors, but when COVID-19 wiped out the minor league season, he was assigned to the Padres' 60 player pool and spent the first five weeks of the season at the Padres' alternate training site, working out alongside former major leaguers and the other top prospects in the organization. On August 31st, he was one of six players sent to the Cleveland Indians in the blockbuster deal to acquire P Mike Clevinger and also OF Greg Allen. Accompanying him were three major leaguers - 1B/OF Josh Naylor, P Cal Quantrill and C Austin Hedges - and two other top prospects (although ranked below him) in IF Owen Miller and P Joey Cantillo.

Arias made his major league debut with the renamed Cleveland Guardians on April 20, 2022 after a number of the team's players had to be placed on the COVID list. He started both games of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox, the first at second base and the second at first base, going 1 for 8 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI as the Guardians swept the twinbill.

Related Sites

• Gabriel Arias on mlb.com
• BR Minors page