From Cuba to Clean-Up: Barbaro Canizares

Who is Barbaro Canizares?

He is a former Cuban baseball player that defected to North America and signed, rather quietly, with the Atlanta Braves organization in 2006. The first baseman is, if you believe the accuracy of the records, 29 years old. In parts of four minor league seasons he has some pretty nice numbers, with a career line of .318/.376/.461, playing mostly in triple-A and double-A.

The big first baseman (6-3, 210) was hitting well in triple-A at the time of his promotion to Atlanta this week. Canizares was batting .344/.412/.533 with eight home runs and 33 RBI in 227 at-bats. He was posting good plate rates, too, with a walk rate of 9.6% and a strikeout rate of just 12.3%.

In dire need of some pop in the lineup, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox made the unusual decision to put the rookie in the clean-up spot, sandwiched between Chipper Jones and Matt Diaz. Canizares went 1-for-4 with a single and two strikeouts in his debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates and southpaw Paul Maholm. The right-handed batter was called out on strikes on a curveball in his first at-bat. In his third at-bats versus Maholm, Canizares singled to left field.

While in Cuba, he played eight years for the Industriales of the Cuban National Series, and was a teammate of Los Angeles Angels’ first baseman Kendry Morales and Atlanta’s Yunel Escobar. It reportedly took him four attempts to successfully defect from Cuba and he spent time in both Mexico and Costa Rica before be could sign his first pro contract in North America. His defense is below average at first base and he was a catcher in Cuba.

Career-wise, you really cannot expect a ton from Canizares. As mentioned, he’s already (at least) 29 and he’s got the kind of body that will probably age quickly. With that said, he can rake and he also shows some power, especially against left-handed pitching (.501 slugging, .907 OPS vs southpaws) so he could perhaps have a five-to-six-year career as a platoon first baseman and pinch hitter. Regardless of what happens going forward, you have to be happy for Barbaro Canizares.

He’s come a long way to realize his dreams.