| Yohandy Morales | |
| Team: | Washington Nationals |
| Number: | 35 |
| Position: | Third baseman |
| Birth Date: | 9 October 2001 |
| Birth Place: | Miami, Florida, U.S. |
| Bats: | Right |
| Throws: | Right |
Yohandy Morales (born October 9, 2001) is an American professional baseball third baseman in the Washington Nationals organization.
Morales attended G. Holmes Braddock Senior High School in Miami, Florida. He was selected for the 2019 Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at Wrigley Field.[1] He was considered a prospect for the shortened 2020 Major League Baseball draft, but went unselected and enrolled at the University of Miami to play college baseball.[2]
As a freshman at Miami in 2021, Morales became a part of the starting lineup and appeared in 53 games, mainly at third base.[3] For the season, he batted .284 with 11 home runs, 45 RBIs, and 13 doubles.[4] That summer, he played in the Cape Cod Baseball League with the Wareham Gatemen, and batted .182/.308/.236, playing primarily first base and third base.[5] [6]
As a sophomore in 2022, Morales played in sixty games at third base and slashed .329/.411/.650 with 18 home runs, 59 RBIs, and 17 doubles.[7] In Miami's opening game of the 2022 NCAA Division I baseball tournament, Morales hit three home runs in a win over Canisius College, making him the fourth player in Miami history to hit three home runs in one game.[8] After the season, he was selected to the USA Baseball National Collegiate Team.[9] [10] For the 2023 season with Miami, Morales hit .408 with twenty home runs and seventy RBIs.[11]
Morales was selected by the Washington Nationals in the second round with the 40th overall pick in the 2023 Major League Baseball draft, and signed for $2,600,000 on July 18, 2023.[12] [13]
Morales was born to Andy Morales and Daiyana Castillo. Andy Morales played for the Cuban national baseball team and, for part of two seasons, in the minor leagues for the New York Yankee and Boston Red Sox organizations.[14]