Thairo Estrada

He batted .301(6th in the Eastern League)/.353/.392 with 72 runs (3rd), four triples (7th), six home runs, nine hit-by-pitch (6th), and 48 RBIs in 495 at bats over 122 games, with a low strikeout rate of 10.3%.

Thairo Jose Estrada Villegas (born February 22, 1996) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Thairo Jose Estrada Villegas was born on February 22, 1996, in Bejuma, Venezuela.

Estrada signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent in 2012.

Estrada signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent in August 2012 for a signing bonus of $49,000.

He made his professional debut in 2013 with the Rookie League Gulf Coast Yankees, and spent the whole season there, batting .278/.350/.432 with five triples, two home runs, 8 hit by pitch, and 17 runs batted in (RBIs) in 176 at bats over 50 games.

The 17-year-old was one of the youngest players in the Gulf Coast League, 2.6 years younger than the average player in the league.

Baseball America rated him the 20th-best player in the league.

He played 2014 with the Gulf Coast Yankees and the Class A- Staten Island Yankees (and was 3.0 years younger than the average New York-Pennsylvania League player).

Estrada batted a combined .272/.337/.309 in 81 at bats over 23 games, with his season cut short by a leg injury he suffered while running the bases in July.

He was a 2015 New York-Pennsylvania League Mid-Season All Star, and a 2017 Eastern League Mid-Season and Post-Season All Star.

Estrada played in 2015 with Staten Island.

He slashed .267/.338/.360 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 247 at bats over 63 games, and was named a New York-Pennsylvania League Mid-Season All Star.

He then played in 2016 for the Class A Charleston RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League and the Class A+ Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League (where Estrada was 2.8 years younger than the average player in the league).

He batted a combined .290/.346/.391 with eight home runs, 49 RBIs, and a career-high 18 stolen bases in 495 at bats over 118 total games between the two teams, and was named an MiLB Organization All Star.

Estrada spent 2017 with the Class AA Trenton Thunder, and was 3.2 years younger than the average player in the Eastern League.

At 21 years and two months of age, he was the 7th-youngest player to make a 2017 Eastern League Opening Day roster.

He was named an Eastern League Mid-Season All Star and Post-Season All Star, and an MiLB Organization All Star.

After the regular season, the Yankees added Estrada to their 40-man roster.

He then played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League, batting .342/.381/.430 in 79 at bats.

He was named to the AFL All-Prospect Team, and named an AFL Rising Star.

Baseball America rated him the Yankees' # 9 prospect.

MLB.com rated him the Yankees' # 8 prospect, and assessed his defense as follows: "there's no question that Estrada is a big league shortstop. He covers a lot of ground thanks to his smooth actions and keen instincts, and he has the plus arm to make all of the throws. He's also an asset at second and third base, and he's athletic enough to handle the outfield if asked."

He was shot in early 2018 by robbers, with his recovery delaying the start of his season, in which he played with a bullet still lodged in his hip.

In January 2018, while in his hometown in Venezuela, Estrada was shot in his right hip by robbers in a robbery attempt.

Doctors in Venezuela who performed surgery upon him were unable to remove the bullet from his hip, but he was cleared to play with the small caliber bullet lodged in his hip; it was only removed in July six months later, in the United States.

After a delayed start to his season as he missed spring training, Estrada suffered a season-ending lower back injury in June 2018.

He played in 18 regular season games in the minor leagues for Tampa and the Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the International League (where he was 4.5 years younger than the average player) combined, batting .192/.210/.231 in 78 at bats.

He played for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the Arizona Fall League after the regular season, batting .238/.282/.263 in 80 at bats.

He has previously played in MLB for the Yankees, with whom he made his MLB debut in 2019.

The Yankees promoted Estrada to the major leagues on April 4, 2019, but optioned him back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 6 without Estrada appearing in a major league game.

He was again promoted to the Yankees on April 21, and made his major league debut that day.

He laid down a sacrifice bunt that set up a walk-off single by Austin Romine.

He recorded his first two major league hits on April 23.

In 64 at bats for the Yankees he batted .250/.294/.438.

For the Yankees he played 17 games at second base, 9 at shortstop, and 2 each in left field and right field.

In AAA he batted .266/.313/.452 with 8 home runs in 241 at bats, playing 33 games at shortstop, 24 at second base, and 2 at third base.

In his minor league career through 2019, Estrada had played 225 games at shortstop, 161 games at second base, and 52 games at third base.

In 2020 for the Yankees, Estrada batted .167/.231/.229 with one home run and three RBIs in 48 at bats across 26 games, playing 20 games at second base, 6 games at third base, and 3 games at shortstop.

On April 6, 2021, Estrada was designated for assignment following the acquisition of Rougned Odor.