Osvaldo Arias

Osvaldo Arias González

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 9", Weight 242 lb.

• Born May 12, 1977 in Palmira, Cienfuegos Cuba

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Biographical Information

Osvaldo Arias has been a long-time catcher for the Cienfuegos Elephants and played briefly for the Cuban national team.

Arias debuted for Cienfuegos in 1994-1995. He played one game in the 2006 Intercontinental Cup, going 0 for 1 as the backup to Ariel Pestano. He hit .280/.423/.448 with 13 home runs and 52 walks in 84 games in 2006-2007, the first season for which statistics are available online; he led his club in both dingers and walks. He went 2 for 9 with a double and a walk for Cuba in the 2007 World Port Tournament, backing up Yosvani Peraza. He batted .293/.396/.527 with 20 HR (8th in the Cuban Serie Nacional) in 2007-2008. He threw out 24 of 51 attempted base-stealers and he fielded .991. In 2008-2009, Arias's batting line was .320/.420/.548 with 72 RBI and 17 home runs in 86 games. He fielded .989 and gunned down 23 of 44 attempted thieves. He tied for second in the Serie Nacional with 7 sacrifice flies, one behind Eriel Sanchez. He also tied Lisban Correa for third in runners thrown out.

In 2009-2010, Arias hit .254/.375/.502 with 21 HR and 74 RBI in 85 games and threw out 15 runners in 33 attempts while playing error-free ball. He tied for 5th in the league with 6 sacrifice flies and tied Edilse Silva and Adonis Garcia for 9th in home runs. In 2010-2011, the veteran batted .307/.414/.498 with 17 more homers and 65 RBI while playing all 90 games at catcher. He fielded .993 but only threw out 8 runners while allowing 24 steals. He was second in the Serie Nacional with 25 times hit by pitch, one behind leader Vismay Santos. In the 2011 World Port Tournament, he went 2 for 7 as the third-string catcher behind Yulexis La Rosa and Yenier Bello.

Arias slumped to .253/.349/.394 in 2011-2012 and .274/.351/.393 in 2012-2013. He has reached 220 career home runs, putting him in the top 25 in Cuba since the Castro revolution.

Sources

• Ecured
• 2007 World Port Tournament
• 2011 World Port Tournament
• INDER
• Beisbolcubano
• Baseballdecuba