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Yadir Drake Dominguez (born April 12, 1990) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. He has previously played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.

Career

Amateur career

Drake played for the Matanzas team in the Cuban National Series.

He defected to Mexico in 2011. He then played with a couple of semi-professional minor league teams in Mexico before participating in a workout for Major League Baseball scouts in August 2014.

Los Angeles Dodgers

On August 25, 2014, Drake was signed as an international free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He hit .310 in seven games for the Single–A Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League at the start of the 2015 season, and was promptly promoted to the High–A Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League. After another seven games for the Quakes (where hit .407) Drake was again quickly promoted, this time to the Double–A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League. In 106 games for Tulsa, he hit .269. After the season, he was selected to the roster for the Mexico national baseball team at the 2015 WBSC Premier12.

Drake returned to Tulsa to start the 2016 season. He hit only .109 in 19 games and was released on May 27, 2016.

Generales de Durango

Drake signed with the Generales de Durango of the Mexican League for the 2017 season and hit .385 in 71 games for them with 14 homers and 61 RBI. His .385 average led the league in 2017.

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters

On June 29, 2017, the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Nippon Professional Baseball announced that they had signed Drake for the remainder of the season.

Generales de Durango (second stint)

Drake re-signed with the Generales de Durango for the 2018 season.

Sultanes de Monterrey

On April 28, 2018, Drake was traded to the Sultanes de Monterrey of the Mexican League.

Leones de Yucatán

On December 10, 2019, Drake was traded to the Leones de Yucatán of the Mexican League. Drake did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Mexican League season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. He played in 54 games for the Leones in 2021, hitting .362/.412/.604 with 12 home runs and 40 RBI.

In 2022, Drake played in 84 games for Yucatán, slashing .328/.379/.530 with 14 home runs and 61 RBI. Drake won the Mexican League Championship with the Leones in 2022.

Personal

Drake became a naturalized Mexico citizen.

References

1. Bernreuter, Hugh (April 11, 2015). "Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Yadir Drake remains Cuba's international man of mystery". mlive.com. Retrieved April 20, 2015.
2. ^ "Yadir Drake minor league baseball statistics & history". Baseball Reference.
3. Bernreuter, Hugh (April 20, 2015). "Los Angeles Dodgers prospects Yadir Drake, Jeff Brigham promoted to Rancho Cucamonga". mlive.com. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
4. Lennox, Brandon (May 2, 2015). "Yasier Drake homers in Double-A Tulsa debut". SB Nation. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
5. "MEX Roster". World Baseball Softball Confederation: WBSC. Archived from the original on January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
6. Lewis, Barry (April 4, 2016). "Drillers' roster set for season opener". Tulsaworld.com. Retrieved April 4, 2016.
7. Minami, Craig (May 28, 2016). "Three extra-base hits by Johan Mieses pace Quakes 6-2 win". SB Nation. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
8. "] Nippon Ham Fighters reach agreement with Yadir Drake". yakyudb.com. June 29, 2017.
9. "Generales, listo para el 2018". El Siglo de Durango (in Spanish). 7 January 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
10. "Mexican League Cancels 2020 Season". July 2020.
11. "LMB King's Series — Championship Series 2022 — Round-up". gambyl.com. 20 September 2022. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
12. "日本ハム、プレミア12メキシコ代表の新助っ人を獲得！ 「北海道の人々の温かさをたくさん聞いた」". ベースボールチャンネル (in Japanese). June 29, 2017. Retrieved January 14, 2018.

External links

• Career statistics from MLB, or ESPN, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors)

• 1990 births
• Living people
• Cañeros de Los Mochis players
• Charros de Jalisco players
• Defecting Cuban baseball players
• Delfines de Ciudad del Carmen players
• Generales de Durango players
• Great Lakes Loons players
• Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters players
• Leones de Yucatán players
• Mexican baseball players
• Mexican expatriate baseball players in Japan
• Mexican expatriate baseball players in the United States
• Mexican League baseball outfielders
• Mexican people of Cuban descent
• Naturalized citizens of Mexico
• Nippon Professional Baseball outfielders
• Baseball players from Matanzas
• Rancho Cucamonga Quakes players
• Sultanes de Monterrey players
• Tigres de Aragua players
• Cuban expatriate baseball players in Venezuela
• Tulsa Drillers players
• Yaquis de Obregón players
• 2015 WBSC Premier12 players
• 2023 World Baseball Classic players