Thairo Estrada


Thairo Jose Estrada Villegas is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball.

Career

Estrada signed with the New York Yankees as an international free agent in August 2012. He made his professional debut in 2013 with the Gulf Coast Yankees and spent the whole season there, batting.278 with two home runs and 17 RBIs in 50 games. He played 2014 with the Gulf Coast Yankees and Staten Island Yankees where he compiled a combined.272 batting average in 23 games, 2015 with Staten Island where he slashed.267/.338/.360 with two home runs and 23 RBIs in 63 games, and 2016 for the Charleston RiverDogs and Tampa Yankees where he posted a.290 batting average with eight home runs, 49 RBIs, and 18 stolen bases in 118 total games between the two teams.
Estrada spent 2017 with the Trenton Thunder and was named an Eastern League All-Star. He finished the season with a.301 batting average, six home runs and 48 RBIs in 122 games. After the regular season, the Yankees added Estrada to their 40-man roster and he played for the Scottsdale Scorpions of the Arizona Fall League.
In January 2018, Estrada was shot in his right hip by teens in a robbery attempt in Venezuela. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet from his hip, but cleared him to play. After a delayed start to his season as he missed spring training, Estrada suffered a season-ending back injury in June. He played in 18 regular season games, and played for the Glendale Desert Dogs of the AFL after the regular season.
The Yankees promoted Estrada to the major leagues on April 4, 2019, and optioned him back to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on April 6 without Estrada appearing in a major league game. He was promoted to the Yankees on April 21, and made his major league debut that day. He laid down a sacrifice bunt that set up a walk-off single by Austin Romine. He recorded his first two major league hits on April 23.

Personal life

In January 2018, Estrada was shot in his right hip by teens in a robbery attempt in Venezuela, while he and his wife were in a cafe. The bullet was not removed until July 2018. Thairo and his wife have a son.