Randy Arozarena is a 25-year old outfielder from Havana, Cuba. Arozarena started his professional career playing for the Vegueros de Pinar del Rio of the Cuban National Series. The Cuban National Series was founded in 1961 and is the best professional baseball league in Cuba. Arozarena hit .291 with 3 HRs and 24 RBIs in 74 games. He was also a member of the Cuban National Team in the 2013 18U Baseball World Cup. Cuba finished the tournament in 3rd place that year. He took his talents to the Mexican Pacific League in 2016 where he played for both the Toros de Tijuana and the Mayos de Navojoa. Randy played exceptionally well in Mexico as he was named the homerun champion as a member of the Mayos. This sudden success led to him being signed to the St. Louis Cardinals as an international free agent in 2016.
Arozarena made his minor league debut in the Cardinals’ organization in 2017. He stayed on track with his solid offensive stats as he slashed .266 with 11 long balls and 18 stolen bases. He was also named a Florida State League All-Star for his efforts. He returned to Mexico to play in the Mexican Pacific League following his minor league campaign. Arozarena improved his resume as he sported a .366 OBP and 14 HRs in only 64 games. He notched another impressive year in the St Louis farm system in 2018 and the big league club began to take notice. On August 12, 2019, the Cardinals called Arozarena up to the majors for 19 games. He hit an even .300 during that span. On January 9th of this year, the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Randy Arozarena in a trade that saw them lose highly touted prospect, Matthew Liberatore.
Arozarena was invited to the Rays Spring Training earlier this year and made a great first impression. He led all Rays’ hitters with a .400 BA and .586 OBP. His discipline at the plate was exceptional as he had a strikeout to walk ratio of 2:9. Despite these numbers, he was sent down to the minors right before the season was put on hold for the foreseeable future. I think Arozarena is going to go on a tear for the Rays’ farm clubs and he will most likely be called up next season. I believe he’s good enough to start in most major league outfields, but the Rays’ outfield happens to be very deep.
Source: tbraysreviews.com
