| Leandro Cedeño | |
| Team: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Number: | 40 |
| Position: | Infielder |
| Birth Place: | Guatire, Venezuela |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
| Debutleague: | NPB |
| Debutdate: | May 19 |
| Debutyear: | 2023 |
| Debutteam: | Orix Buffaloes |
| Statleague: | NPB |
| Statyear: | May 8, 2024 |
| Stat1label: | Batting average |
| Stat1value: | .259 |
| Stat2label: | Home runs |
| Stat2value: | 16 |
| Stat3label: | Runs batted in |
| Stat3value: | 53 |
| Teams: |
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Leandro Arturo Cedeño (born August 22, 1998) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).
On August 29, 2014, Cedeño signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization as an international free agent.[1] He made his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Cardinals, appearing in 74 games for the team from 2015 to 2016.
After playing in only 9 games for the rookie-level GCL Cardinals in 2017, Cedeño spent the 2018 season with the rookie-level Johnson City Cardinals, playing in 59 games and hitting .336/.419/.592 with career-highs in home runs (14) and RBI (47). In 2019, Cedeño played in 100 games for the Single-A Peoria Chiefs, slashing .271/.311/.396 with 6 home runs and 44 RBI. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] Cedeño split the 2021 season between Peoria and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, batting a cumulative .260/.316/.427 with 12 home runs and 60 RBI across 96 games. He elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.
On November 22, 2021, Cedeño signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.[3] He was assigned to the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles to begin the 2022 season.[4] He hit a 527feet home run for Amarillo on July 17, 2022, the longest measured since the debut of Statcast in 2015.[5] Cedeño enjoyed a career year with Amarillo, hitting an excellent .310/.374/.563 with new career-highs in home runs (30) and RBI (93). This led to him being promoted to Triple-A for the first time on September 6.[6] He played in 14 games for the Triple-A Reno Aces, hitting .291/.328/.436 while adding on 2 more home runs and 10 more RBI. Cedeño became a free agent following the season on November 10, 2022.[7]
On December 27, 2022, Cedeño signed with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball.[8]