Yasmani Tomás

Yasmani Tomás Bacallao
(El Tanque)
also listed as Yasmany

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 255 lb.

• Debut April 15, 2015
• Final Game July 30, 2019
• Born November 14, 1990 in Havana, Cuba

BR page

Biographical Information

Yasmani Tomás was an outfielder in the Cuban Serie Nacional before playing in Major League Baseball.

Tomás hit .297 for the Industriales in 2008-2009 and was 5 for 26 with a triple and a homer in 2009-2010. After not playing for a year, he hit .301/.333/.580 with 16 homers in 69 games in 2011-2012 to establish himself as a power threat at DH. He played for Cuba in the 2013 World Baseball Classic.

Tomás defected from Cuba in June of 2014 and established residence in Haiti. On September 11 was unblocked by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, allowing him to petition Major League Baseball to have him declared a free agent and sign with a major league team. In the meantime, he held workouts for interested scouts in the Dominican Republic. After a bidding war involving a number of major league teams, he signed a six-year contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks on November 26th for $68.5 million. There was speculation that he would go straight to the major leagues, as fellow Cuban stars Jose Abreu and Yoenis Cespedes had done, but the Diamondbacks decided to send him to the AAA Reno Aces begin the 2015 season. he had been given a chance to win the team's starting third base job in spring training, but had been outplayed by rookie Jake Lamb. His stay in AAA did not last long, though, as after only a handful of games for Reno, the Diamondbacks called him up on April 15th as they felt they needed an extra player on their bench for the time being, sending down pitcher A.J. Schugel to make room. The plan was only to keep him around for a short time, before he could head back to play regularly in AAA. He made his major league debut that same day, grounding out as a pinch-hitter against Brandon Morrow of the San Diego Padres. He hit his first career homer on May 16th, a solo homer off Ken Giles of the Philadelphia Phillies in a 7-5 loss. He played 118 games as a rookie, hitting .273 with 9 homers and 48 RBIs. However, his batting eye left a lot to be desired, as he struck out 110 times while drawing only 17 walks. As a result his OPS+ was only 88. He played mainly right field and third base, but also started games at three other positions.

He made the Diamondbacks' opening day roster in 2016, being entrenched as the team's regular left fielder after some off-seasons deals had opened a full-time spot for him. On April 17th, he had the first two-homer game of his career, with both long balls coming off Robbie Erlin of the San Diego Padres in a 7-3 win. He played 140 games that year, hitting .272 with 31 homers and 83 RBIs while splitting his time between left field and right field. But just as he was emerging as a star player, he was set back significantly by injuries in 2017, playing just 47 games, during which he hit .241 with 8 homers and 32 RBIs. He had to miss the D-Back's fist appearance in the postseason in a number of years as a result of the injury.

On the morning of January 18, 2018, his name appeared in the Arizona Department of Public Safety's police blotter after he was caught driving at 105 mph on Loop 101 in Tempe, AZ. He was arrested and jailed and his car was impounded, and he faced criminal speeding and reckless driving charges. He was sent down to the minor leagues at the end of spring training in spite of his having hit well, as the team wanted him to work on his defence. In order to be able to outright him to Reno, the D-Backs put him on waivers. They were taking the risk that a team could claim him for nothing, although it was very unlikely given that there was $42.5 million still due him over the three remaining years of his contract. No one bit and he cleared waivers, allowing the minor league assignment to take place. He spent the entire season in the minors with the AAA Reno Aces, where he hit .262 with 14 homers and 65 RBIs in 106 games.

He was back with Reno in 2019 and on May 20th had a tremendous game in a 25-8 win over the Tacoma Rainiers, hitting four home runs. In the same game, teammate Matt Szczur hit for the cycle, making it only the second time in baseball history that teammates had achieved the two rare feats in the same game - the first had been when Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri had done so for the 1932 New York Yankees. The homers gave Tomas 13 in 42 games, one fewer than he had managed in an entire season the year before. However, it was in a context where homers were being hit at a record pace all over AAA baseball. He finally made his return to the major leagues on July 26th; he was batting .309 with 29 homers and 80 RBIs in 98 games with Reno. He went 0 for 6 in 4 games in the majors before returning to Reno where his season finished in mid-August due to an injury.

Notable Achievements

• 20-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2016)
• 30-Home Run Seasons: 1 (2016)

Sources

• Beisbolcubano.cu
• Baseballdecuba.com

Further Reading

• Jorge L. Ortiz: "Yasmany Tomas has arrived, but will he thrive?", USA Today Sports, April 16, 2015. [1]
• Jesse Sanchez: "Cuba's next big thing ready to impress scouts: Tomas, a 6-foot-4, 240-pound outfielder, will work out Sunday in the Dominican Republic", mlb.com, September 18, 2014 [2]

Related Sites

• Yasmany Tomás on mlb.com