Sebastián Elizalde

Sebastián Elizalde

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 175-195 lb.

• Born November 20, 1991 in Guaymas, Sonora MEX

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Outfielder Sebastián Elizalde has played as high as AAA.

Elizalde made his pro debut with the 2010 Sultanes de Monterrey, going 1 for 3. He was 1 for 2 in 8 games for the Naranjeros de Hermosillo that winter. He hit .306/.341/.472 in 26 games (41 PA) for the 2011 Sultanes and was 0 for 4 for Hermosillo in 2011-12. With Monterrey in 2012, he batted .276/.351/.448, then he was 3 for 15 with 3 walks in winter play. In '13, he produced at a .328/.361/.448 clip with 24 runs in 36 games for Monterrey. He then was signed by Cincinnati Reds scout Tony Arias.

He split 2014 between the Dayton Dragons (.311/.439/.503 in 55 G) and Bakersfield Blaze (.272/.330/.461 in 66 G). He had 29 doubles, 16 homers, 71 RBI and 60 walks for the year; one negative was his steal rate (19-for-36). He was among the top Reds minor leaguers in doubles (tied for 7th with Jason Bourgeois and Ryan Wright), homers (tied for 4th with Aristides Aquino), walks (4th, between Ruben Gotay and Jamodrick McGruder) and caught stealing (1st, 5 more than Beau Amaral). In the winter, he was now a starter for Hermosillo, hitting .277/.348/.412 with 15 doubles in 66 games.

With the Daytona Tortugas in 2015, he hit .253/.310/.397 with 28 doubles and 77 RBI. He tied L.B. Dantzler and Chad Wallach for 6th in the Florida State League in two-baggers and tied Luke Voit for second in RBI (two behind Dominic Smith). The Sonora native batted .277/.318/.376 for Hermosillo in 2015-2016.

Making the Mexican national team for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March 2016, he hit leadoff and played right field in the opener against the Czech national team but went 0 for 4. For the event, he was 2 for 10 with three runs and three RBI as Mexico won a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He tied for second on the team on runs (one behind Adrian Gonzalez) and was third in RBI, behind Agustín Murillo and Esteban Quiroz. He hit .297/.324/.387 for the 2016 Pensacola Blue Wahoos, finishing third in the Southern League in average (behind Ozzie Albies and Chesny Young). Hermosillo traded him with Édgar González to the Tomateros de Culiacán for Arturo Rodríguez and Jorge Cantú and he had a rough debut with them at .231/.324/.308.

In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he was 2 for 5 with a run and three RBI as a part-timer for Mexico. He opened 2017 with the Louisville Bats, hitting .277/.329/.377 with six triples. He was their most-used first baseman (33 games) but also played his most games in RF (63, though Jesse Winker had more there) and also played 30 in LF (where Phil Ervin was the main option). He tied for 6th in the Reds chain in triples and tied J.P. Crawford and Logan Schafer for 3rd in the 2017 IL.

In the winter, he batted .380/.446/.524 for the Tomateros with 17 doubles and 16 steals in 21 tries. He won the batting title (.009 over Manny Rodriguez), led in OBP (.015 ahead of Ramon Urias), was 5th in slugging (between Chris Roberson and Fernando Perez), was second in OPS (39 points behind MVP Manny Rodriguez), was 5th with 42 runs (between Roberson and Jeremias Pineda), tied Manny Rodriguez for the hit lead (95), was 3rd in doubles (8 behind Manny Rodriguez and Randy Arozarena), was 7th in RBI (between Arozarena and Murillo), was second in steals (a distant 15 behind Pineda) and tied for 9th in walks (27). In the 2018 Caribbean Series, he hit .294/.333/.294 for Culiacán.

Elizalde split 2018 between Louisville (.254/.312/.423 in 21 G) and Monterrey (.297/.429/.392 in 21 games in the spring season, .333/.422/.571 in the fall season as the Mexican League went to a two-season year (a one-year innovation which would be discarded after '18). In the fall campaign, he was 8th in runs (43). He was down to .290/.378/.371 in winter ball and was just 3-for-8 in steal attempts. In 2019, he hit .313/.389/.414 for the Sultanes. In the winter, he was at .308/.397/.507 with 10 homers, 44 runs, 37 RBI and 21 steals (caught 7 times) in 60 games. He was 9th in average (between Murillo and Dariel Álvarez), 7th in OBP (between José Aguilar and Julian Leon), 2nd in slugging (.020 behind MVP Álvarez), 2nd in OPS (14 behind Joey Meneses), 3rd in runs (behind Rico Noel and Taiki Sekine), tied Noel for 2nd in triples (4, one behind Sekine), tied Paulo Orlando and Félix Pérez for 4th in home runs, tied Carlos Muñoz for 9th in walks (32) and was second in steals (9 behind Noel) for a dazzling all-around campaign (he also fielded .983 with 5 outfield assists). He was at .231/.286/.462 in the 2020 Caribbean Series, with a 3-run homer off Giovanni Soto the big blow in a win over the Cangrejeros de Santurce.

The Sonora native did not play in the summer of 2020 as the Mexican League season was wiped out by COVID-19. In the winter of 2020-2021, he hit .282/.344/.553 with 11 home runs and 45 RBI in 46 games. He tied for 2nd in circuit clouts (four behind Japhet Amador), tied Alex Robles for 5th in steals (12) and was second in RBI (six shy of Amador). While far from his best season, he won MVP, which he not won in his two prior more dominant winters. He got 30% of the vote, 9% ahead of the next-best, Sebastian Valle.

Sources

• 2016 Reds Media Guide
• World Baseball Classic