Yunior Paumier

Yunior Paumier Oliva

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 194 lb.

• Born July 26, 1984 in Holguín, Holguín Cuba

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Yunior Paumier has been a star infielder in Cuba, leading the league in walks, doubles and sacrifice flies.

Paumier debuted for Holguín in the 2002-2003 Cuban Serie Nacional, getting his first hit off Yoennis Trujillo. He hit .225/.324/.281 for the team. He became a starter in 2003-2004 and batted .246/.318/.345 (his first homer came against Maicel Díaz) but fell to .209/.310/.325 in 2004-2005. He sat out the next year but was back in 2006-2007, splitting short with Yordan Manduley and third with Juan Rondón. He hit .331/.418/.420 and fielded .942 at SS, .965 at 3B. He tied for 8th in the league with 22 doubles.

In 2007-2008, he hit .313/.408/.419 while fielding .952 at the hot corner. The next season, he remained a solid offensive force (.336/.455/.454, 58 R, 48 BB in 68 G). He produced at a .318/.391/.477 clip in 2009-2010, rapping 25 doubles to tie José Abreu for 3rd in the Serie Nacional. He doubled 25 more times in 2010-2011 with a batting line of .319/.421/.446 and 48 walks. He tied Frederich Cepeda and Hector Olivera for 5th in doubles.

Yunior missed 2011-2012 but returned in 2012-2013, hitting .310/.389/.513 in the first half. When Holguín failed to qualify for the second half, he was picked up by Sancti Spíritus but only batted .233/.304/.333 for them. He tied for 10th in the loop with 21 doubles and was 8th with 13 homers (between Edilse Silva and Cepeda), showing more pop. In 2013-2014, he drew 78 walks in 87 games, posting a .289/.451/.440 batting line. He was 9th in the league in runs (50), tied for 7th in home runs (10) and 2nd in walks (22 behind Cepeda).

He hit .293/.436/.437 with 52 walks in 67 games in 2014-2015. He tied Alfredo Despaigne for 7th in walks. The 3B/SS produced at a clip of .321/.453/.486 in 2015-2016 with 60 runs in 85 games, drawing 72 walks while only striking out 20 times. He was 7th in runs (between Adolis García and Yosvani Alarcón), tied Guillermo Avilés for 9th in doubles (18), led in walks (11 ahead of Yurisbel Gracial) and was 6th in OBP (between Alexander Pozo and Osvaldo Vázquez). He was named to the postseason All-Star team as the utility man. He started at 2B and hit 7th for Cuba when they played in the 2016 Tampa Bay Rays-Cuban National Team Exhibition Game, going 0 for 2 and drawing a walk from Matt Moore. While he appeared in that contest, he had not yet appeared for the Cuban national team in a major tournament.

Paumier hit .226/.385/.258 in 39 plate appearances for the Cuban entry in the 2016 Canadian-American Association. Back in Cuba in 2016-2017, he batted .275/.422/.393 for Holguín with 64 walks in 80 games. He led the league with ten sacrifice flies and was second in walks (5 behind Michael González). Reinforcing Granma for the 2017 Caribbean Series, he started at third for them but struggled (.111/.200/.167) and had the lowest OPS of their starters.

He had a big year in 2017-2018, starting with Holguín then spending the second half with Las Tunas after Holguín failed to advance. He hit .366/.516/.524 with 89 walks and 25 doubles in 90 games. He tied Anibal Medina for 6th in runs (61), was 4th with 107 hits (between Avilés and Yunier Mendoza), led in doubles (two ahead of Rafael Viñales), was 6th with 153 total bases (between Jorge Yhonson and Yordanis Samón), was 9th with 61 RBI (between Danel Castro and Yhonson), was second in walks (20 behind Cepeda), ranked 6th in average (between Mendoza and Avilés) and was 7th in slugging (between Dennis Laza and Norel González) (Cuba did not list OBP or OPS leaders that year, but it's hard to imagine too many better OBP players). In the finale of game 7, he singled off Raidel Martínez to put the potential winning run aboard but was stranded. He was named the loop's All-Star second baseman.

The veteran hit .323/.424/.534 with 13 homers and 59 walks in 2018-2019. He tied Maikel Caceres for 4th with 23 doubles, tied Vázquez and Raúl González for 8th in homers, was 9th in slugging (between Silva and Carlos Benítez) and was 10th in OPS.