Omar Estévez

Omar Estévez

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 185 lb.

• Born February 25, 1998 in Matanzas, Matanzas Cuba

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Biographical Information

Infielder Omar Estévez was one of a number of Cuban defectors signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers after they had struck gold with the signing of OF Yasiel Puig a few years earlier. Born in Matanzas, Estévez played one season for the hometown team, Matanzas in the Cuban League, in 2014-15. Only 16 at the time, he still managed to hit .213 in 51 games as a back-up. He then defected and signed a contract with the Dodgers on November 21, 2015. In recent months, the Dodgers had signed Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarrena, Hector Olivera, Yadier Alvarez and Yusniel Diaz in addition to Omar, and would add Yaisel Sierra a couple of months later. None of them would have the same success as Puig, however.

Estévez began his U.S. career in 2016 with the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League where he played 122 games as a second baseman and shortstop. Still just 18, he hit .255/.298/.389 with 32 doubles, 9 homers and 61 RBIs. He then spent 2017 and 2018 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League, hitting .256 in 120 games the first year, and .278/.336/.456 in 128 games the second. He was named a mid-season All-Star the second year, when he demonstrated some promising power with 43 doubles and 15 homers, numbers he would never match again. In 2019, he moved up to the AA Texas League with the Tulsa Drillers, where he batted .291 in 93 games, with 6 homers and 36 RBIs. He missed time with an injury and made a rehabilitation stint with the AZL Dodgers Mota, but before that was named the league's Player of the Month for April. The injury occurred in May, and he was unable to return until early July. After the season, he played in the Arizona Fall League and was picked for the circuit's All-Star Game.

Things were thus going rather well for Omar when the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020 and made him lose a full year of playing time at a very bad time for his development. When he returned in 2021, he was assigned to the AAA Oklahoma City Dodgers, but seemed to have lost his hitting stroke, batting just .199/.281/.308 in 106 games. He wasn't able to right the ship in 2022, when he batted .216 in 52 games for Oklahoma City. He became a back-up and was not re-signed when he became a free agent after the season. He played winter ball for the first time after the season, appearing with both the Tomateros de Culiacan in the Mexican Pacific League and the Leones de Ponce in the Puerto Rican League, but only played a handful of games for each team. Heading into spring training in 2023, he remained unsigned, with his career in jeopardy.