Andy Ibáñez
Cuban baseball player (born 1993)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andy Ibáñez Velázquez (born April 3, 1993) is a Cuban professional baseball infielder for the New York Mets of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played in MLB for the Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, and Athletics.
| Andy Ibáñez | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Ibáñez with the Round Rock Express in 2018 | |||||||||||||||
| New York Mets – No. 77 | |||||||||||||||
| Infielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: April 3, 1993 Havana, Cuba | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| May 4, 2021, for the Texas Rangers | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics (through April 19, 2026) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .252 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 28 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 131 | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
Medals
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Career
Ibáñez played for the Cuba national baseball team at the 2013 World Baseball Classic.[1] He played for Isla de la Juventud in the Cuban National Series. He defected from Cuba on November 1, 2014, to pursue a career in Major League Baseball.[2] He signed a minor league deal with the Texas Rangers on July 7, 2015.[3]
Texas Rangers
Ibáñez made his professional debut in 2016, spending time with both the Hickory Crawdads and Frisco RoughRiders, batting a combined .285 with 13 home runs, 66 RBI, 15 stolen bases and an .804 OPS in 130 total games between the two clubs.[4][5] In 2017, he returned to Frisco and spent the whole season there, slashing .265/.323/400 with eight home runs and 29 RBI in 82 games.[6] He missed six weeks of the season due to a finger injury.[7]Ibáñez spent the 2018 season with the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A Pacific Coast League. He posted a batting line of .283/.344/.410 with 12 home runs and 55 RBI in 125 games.[8] Ibáñez played for the Aguilas Cibaenas of the Dominican Winter League in the 2018 offseason.[9]
Ibáñez received a non-roster invitation to 2019 major league spring training.[10] In 2019, Ibáñez suffered a strained right oblique during spring training,[11] and returned on April 6, when he was assigned to the Triple-A Nashville Sounds.[12] He spent the 2019 season with Nashville, hitting .300/.371/.497/.868 with 20 home runs and 65 RBI.[13][14] Ibáñez did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[15]
On May 4, 2021, the Rangers selected Ibáñez's contract to the 40-man roster and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time.[16] Ibáñez made his debut that day as a pinch hitter for David Dahl, and collected his first MLB hit off of Minnesota Twins reliever Taylor Rogers.[17] On June 21, Ibáñez recorded his first career home run, a 3-run shot off of Oakland Athletics starter Frankie Montas.[18] Over 76 games for Texas in 2021, Ibáñez hit .277/.321/.435 with seven home runs and 25 RBI.[19] Ibáñez split the 2022 season between Texas and Round Rock. Over 40 games for Texas he hit .219/.273/.277 with one home run and nine RBI; with Round Rock he hit .255/.330/.390 with six home runs and 31 RBI.[20]
Detroit Tigers
On November 10, 2022, Ibáñez was claimed off waivers by the Detroit Tigers.[21] On January 6, 2023, Ibáñez was removed from the 40-man roster and sent outright to the Triple-A Toledo Mud Hens.[22] In 20 games with Toledo, Ibáñez hit .297/.418/.609 with five home runs and 16 RBI. On April 29, Ibáñez had his contract selected to the active roster.[23]On August 22, 2023, Ibáñez had the first multi-homer game of his career, hitting two home runs off Chicago Cubs starter Drew Smyly.[24] For the 2023 season, Ibáñez batted .264 with 11 home runs and 41 RBI in 114 games.
For the 2024 season, Ibáñez played 99 games, batting .241 with 5 home runs. On October 2, 2024, in the 8th inning of Game 2 of a 3-game Wild Card series against the Houston Astros, Ibáñez hit a pinch hit 3-run double deep to the corner in left field off of closer Josh Hader, giving the Tigers a 5–2 lead. The hit proved to be the series winner, as the Tigers went on to sweep the Astros in two games.
On November 23, 2024, the Tigers and Ibáñez agreed to a one-year, $1.4 million contract, avoiding arbitration.[25] He split time between Triple-A Toledo and the Tigers in 2025, hitting .239 with four home runs and 21 RBI in 91 games at the major league level. On November 21, 2025, Ibáñez was non-tendered by Detroit and became a free agent.[26]
Athletics
On January 13, 2026, Ibáñez signed a one-year $1.2 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.[27] On February 3, he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers.[28] On February 6, Ibáñez was claimed off waivers by the Athletics.[29] He was designated for assignment on April 26, 2026.[30][31]
New York Mets
The New York Mets claimed Ibáñez off of waivers on April 30, 2026.[32]
