Eddie Rosario

Eddie Manuel Rosario, Jr. (born September 28, 1991) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball left fielder in the Washington Nationals organization.

Eddie Rosario was born to parents Eddie Sr. and Maria on September 28, 1991.

He was raised in Guayama, Puerto Rico.

Rosario was scouted by Hector Otero, who worked for the Minnesota Twins at the time, as the organization's lead scout for South Florida and Puerto Rico.

Rosario was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draft.

He has also played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Cleveland Indians and Atlanta Braves.

Rosario was subsequently selected by the Minnesota Twins in the fourth round of the 2010 MLB draft.

Rosario first played in Minor League Baseball in 2010, in the Gulf Coast League.

Leading off the bottom of the 3rd inning, Rosario swung at the first pitch he saw from Oakland Athletics starter Scott Kazmir, and hit an opposite-field home run, becoming the 115th player in major league history to hit a home run in his first at-bat.

Rosario played in 122 games for the Twins, sharing outfield duties with Torii Hunter, Aaron Hicks, and fellow prospect Byron Buxton.

Despite being called up a month into the season, Rosario led all of baseball in triples with 15, and was second in outfield assists with 16, just one behind Avisail García of the Chicago White Sox.

Rosario finished his rookie campaign with a .267 batting average and 13 home runs.

Rosario represented Puerto Rico in the 2013, 2017, and 2023 editions of the World Baseball Classic, winning a silver medal in his first two appearances.

After the 2013 season, Rosario received a 50-game suspension for using a banned substance, which he served at the start of the 2014 season.

He advanced through the farm system of the Twins, first reaching Double-A in 2013 and Triple-A in 2015.

He also played several seasons in the Puerto Rican Winter League, and played in the Arizona Fall League in 2013 and 2014.

He made his major league debut in 2015, hitting a home run in his first at bat, on the first pitch, off of Scott Kazmir of the Oakland Athletics.

Rosario made his major league debut on May 6, 2015.

With the retirement of Torii Hunter and the Twins' trade of Aaron Hicks, Rosario entered 2016 as the Twins' projected everyday left fielder.

After a slow start and the emergence of both Robbie Grossman and Max Kepler, Rosario saw his playing time dwindle ultimately leading to his demotion to Triple-A.

He was brought back up towards the end of the season, and finished the year batting .269/.296/.421 with 10 home runs, and 32 RBI in 92 games played.

In 2017, Rosario became the Twins’ everyday left fielder and emerged into one of the AL’s best hitters.

On June 13 he had his first career 3 home run game going 4-5 and driving in 5 runs.

Later in the season he won his first Player of the Week for the week of August 13, going .444/.484/1.000 with 4 home runs.

He ranked in the top 25 for batting average, OPS, slugging, and doubles.

In 151 games he batted .290 with 27 home runs and 78 RBI.

On April 18, 2018, before a sold-out crowd at the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in his homeland Puerto Rico, Rosario scored the winning run in the bottom of the 16th inning, coming around on Ryan LaMarre’s single that gave Minnesota a 2–1 win over the Cleveland Indians.

Rosario hit three home runs in a game for the second time in his career on June 3 against the Cleveland Indians, going 3-5, driving in four runs, while hitting the game winning walk-off home run.

He finished the season with the lowest fielding percentage among major league left fielders, at .967, and batted .288 with 24 home runs, 77 RBI, and a career high 161 hits in 138 games.

Rosario was considered an All-Star "snub" in 2018.

In 2019 he batted .276/.300/.500.

He swung at the highest percentage of all pitches of all American League batters (59.1%).

In 57 games in 2020, he batted .257 with 13 home runs and led the team with 42 RBI.

On December 1, 2020, Rosario was placed on outright waivers and cleared waivers the next day.

On December 2, Rosario was non-tendered by the Twins.

On February 4, 2021, Rosario was signed to a one-year, $8 million contract with the Cleveland Indians.

He played 78 games for the team, batting .254/.296/.389 with a .685 on-base plus slugging percentage.

He was placed on the injured list on July 5.

On July 30, 2021, Rosario was traded to the Atlanta Braves along with cash considerations in exchange for Pablo Sandoval.

On September 19, Rosario hit for the cycle against the San Francisco Giants.