Nelson Velázquez

Nelson Javier Velázquez (born December 26, 1998) is a Puerto Rican professional baseball outfielder for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022 with the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs selected Velázquez in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB draft. He made his professional debut that year, playing in the rookie-level Arizona League. In 2018, he split time at the Class A Short Season and Class A levels, batting .231 overall for the season; in 103 games, he had 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. In 2019, he mainly played at the Class A level, where he batted .286 with four home runs and 34 RBIs in 72 games. He then played in the Puerto Rican Winter League in the 2019–20 offseason.

Velázquez did not play professionally during 2020, as the minor-league season was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he played 69 games for the South Bend Cubs, a High-A team, and 34 games for the Tennessee Smokies, a Double-A team. Overall, he batted .270 with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs in 103 game; he also stole 17 bases. After the regular season, he played for the Mesa Solar Sox of the Arizona Fall League where he batted .366 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 26 games. Velázquez was named MVP of the 2021 Arizona Fall League season, and was also added to the Cubs' 40-man roster following the 2021 season.

Velázquez reached the Triple-A level in 2022 with the Iowa Cubs, and was added to Chicago's active roster prior to a doubleheader on May 30. He made his major-league debut the same day, collecting a hit in his first MLB at bat. On July 4, Velázquez hit his first career home run off of Eric Lauer of the Milwaukee Brewers. He played in 77 games for the Cubs in his rookie campaign, hitting .205/.286/.373 with 6 home runs, 26 RBI, and 5 stolen bases.

Velázquez was optioned to Triple-A Iowa to begin the 2023 season. He was recalled back to the Majors, on April 10. The following day, he hit his first career grand slam, to give the Cubs an 8-7 lead against the Seattle Mariners, after they were previously down 7-0. Velazquez was optioned back to Triple-A Iowa on May 8.

Kansas City Royals
On July 31, 2023, the Cubs traded Velázquez to the Kansas City Royals for José Cuas. Velazquez was assigned to Triple-A Omaha to begin his time with the Royals. On August 10, 2023, Velazquez was called up to make his Royals debut, hitting a home run in his first plate appearance the next day. Velazquez hit a home run the following day in his second career game for Kansas City, making him 3-8 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs in his first 2 games with the team.