Yasmani Grandal

Yasmani Grandal was born November 8, 1988 and is a Cuban-American catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He played college baseball at the University of Miami. He previously played for the San Diego Padres. Grandal has also filled in at first base for the Dodgers. Grandal hit two home runs against the Padres on April 3, 2017, one from each side of the plate. It was the first time a Dodger had ever done that on opening day in franchise history. In the 2017 season, he played in 129 games, compiling a .247 batting average and 22 home runs. During the regular season, Grandal started most of the games against right handed starters, in a platoon with Austin Barnes. However, during the post-season Barnes became the primary starter, with Grandal only starting two games (once in the 2017 NLDS and once in the 2017 NLCS). He had a total of eight at-bats in the playoffs, with no hits, but he did walk three times. In his final season of arbitration, Grandal agreed with the Dodgers for a 2018 contract of $7.9 million, the second highest contract for a Dodgers catcher, trailing only the $8 million that Mike Piazza made in 1998, his final season with the club.