Guillermo Heredia (baseball)

Guillermo Heredia Molina Jr. (born 31 January 1991) is a Cuban professional baseball outfielder for the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO). He made his MLB debut in 2016. He previously played for the Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays, Pittsburgh Pirates, New York Mets and Atlanta Braves. He bats right-handed and throws left-handed.

Professional career
Heredia played for the Cuba national baseball team at the 2013 World Baseball Classic. He played for Matanzas in the Cuban National Series since 2009. He defected from Cuba in January 2015, to pursue a contract with a Major League Baseball team.

Seattle Mariners
On 23 February 2016, the Seattle Mariners signed Heredia to a one-year major league contract for $500,000. He made his major league debut on 29 July 2016. He spent most of his time on the Mariners in 2016 as a late-innings defensive replacement. He played in the Arizona Fall League to work on making his swing more compact before the start of the 2017 season.

Tampa Bay Rays
On 8 November 2018, Heredia was traded, along with Mike Zunino and Michael Plassmeyer, to the Tampa Bay Rays for Mallex Smith and Jake Fraley. In his first season with the Rays, he hit .225 in 89 games. On 2 December 2019, Heredia was non-tendered by Tampa Bay and became a free agent.

Pittsburgh Pirates
On 9 January 2020, Heredia signed a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates. On 24 August 2020, Heredia was designated for assignment by the Pirates after only playing in 8 games on the year.

New York Mets
On 28 August 2020, Heredia was claimed by the New York Mets on waivers.

On 21 September 2020, Heredia made his debut with the Mets. He started the Mets' next game as well, and hit a home run against John Curtiss.

Heredia was designated for assignment on 21 February 2021, after the Mets signed outfielder Kevin Pillar.

Atlanta Braves
On 24 February 2021, Heredia was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves. On 18 April, Heredia hit two home runs, one a grand slam, to become the first Braves player to record 6+ RBIs in a game from the No. 8 spot in the lineup since the RBI became an official stat in 1920. As the season went on, Heredia adopted a sword slashing movement as a celebratory gesture, which was picked up by his teammates.

In 2021 he batted .220/.311/.354 with 5 home runs and 26 RBIs. On 30 November 2021, the Braves signed Heredia to a one-year, $1 million contract.

On 15 November 2022, Heredia was designated for assignment. Three days later, he was non-tendered and became a free agent.

SSG Landers
On 11 December 2022, Heredia signed with the SSG Landers of the Korea Baseball Organization. He played in 122 games for the team in 2023, batting .324/.385/.461 with career–highs in home runs (12), RBI (76), and stolen bases (12).

On 17 December 2023, Heredia re–signed with the Landers on a one–year, $1.5 million contract.