Yasmani Grandal is a professional baseball player who plays for the Los Angeles Dodgers in the catcher position. Grandal turned pro again in 2010 after a successful college career at the University of Miami. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds, where he spent the first 2 years of his professional career. He also had a 3 season with the San Diego Padres before joining the LA Dodgers in 2015.
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Yasmani Grandal Bio (Age)
Yasmani Grandal was born on November 8, 1988, in Havana, Cuba, but grew up mostly in the USA, where his family finally moved when he was just 10 years old.
After a successful high school baseball career at Miami Springs High School in Miami Springs, Florida, Grandal was named one of the top 20 baseball players in the 2007 class. He participated in the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft and was selected in the 27th round by the Boston Red Sox. However, he eventually did not sign with the team because he was dissatisfied with their offer. Since he rejected the idea of going pro, he enrolled in college at the University of Miami and played for the Miami Hurricanes baseball team during his three-year stay at the facility.
Yasmani Grandal achieved a batting average of 0.234 in his first season and 0.299 in his second year, and peaked his college career in his junior season, where he hit an amazing .401 with 15 home runs, hit 60 runs (RBIs) with an on-base percentage of .527 in 62 runs. His outstanding performances earned him the Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year Award and he finished second in the Golden Spikes Award. The talented player also received an award for the All-America Team of NCBWA Division I.
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Ethnicity – Where is he From
Originally Grandal’s mother Maria Luisa Gomez and his father Avelino Grandal are both of Hispanic descent, so he was born in Cuba. The family lived in Havana until his parents’ marriage broke up before he was one year old and his mother remarried afterward. He spent the first 10 years of his life in his home country before his family moved to the USA. As an early bloomer, Grandal played as shortstop and third baseman for a junior team of the Cuban national baseball team. His entire family emigrated to the United States via the lottery system in 1999.
Yasmani Grandal Professional Career
With still fresh talent and skills, Yasmani Grandal was selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2010 MLB Draft as the twelfth overall candidate. His term of office with the team lasted 2 seasons, during which he was assigned to several minor-league baseball teams. In December 2011 he was transferred to the San Diego Padres in a multiplayer deal. At the beginning of the 2012 season, Grandal was assigned to the Tucson Padres, the then Triple-A branch of the San Diego Padres. However, he was later appointed to the main team, and on June 2, 2012, he made his debut in the Major League as a substitute player.
In his historic MLB rookie season, Grandal was nominated for the 2012 All-Star Futures Game. On June 30, 2012, he made history as the first MLB player to score two home runs from both sides of the field in a single game for his first two goals in his career. He eventually ended the season with a slash of .297/.394/.469, with 8 home runs and 36 RBIs in 60 games, including 52 starts.
In November 2012, Yasmani Grandal tested positive for banned substances, which earned him a ban for 50 games. In addition to the suspension, his 2013 season was also marred by a knee injury he sustained in July 2013. In the end, he only played 28 games this season, beating .216 with an HR and 9 RBI. In the 2014 season, the talented player beat .225/.327/.401 with 15 HR and 49 RBI in 128 games.
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Grandal was sold to the Los Angeles Dodgers in December 2014 as part of a multiplayer deal. He made history on June 21, 2015, when he became the first Dodgers catcher in 60 years to hit 2 home runs and a bunt single in a single game. He earned the first All-Star pick of his career when he was nominated for the 2015 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. For the entire 2015 season, Grandal scored 0.234 with 16 HR and 47 RBI. In the 2016 season, he improved his performance and finished the season with a batting average of 0.228 with 27 HR and 72 RBI in 126 games. In the 2017 MLB season, he scored an outstanding goal of 0.247 in 129 games with 22 home runs.
Wife, Family
Yasmani Grandal’s wife Heather Grandal (née Thomas) was born in Denver, Colorado, and grew up in Mesa, Arizona. She is a nurse and holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.
The couple married on October 19, 2013, and their son Yasmani Ryker Grandal was born on October 23, 2017. They also have a daughter Alaynah (born in March 2009), Heather’s child from a previous relationship.
