Cheslor Jesly Cuthbert (; born November 16, 1992) is a Nicaraguan

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

third baseman A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...

for the

Leones de Yucatán The Leones de Yucatán (English: Yucatán Lions) are a professional baseball team in the Mexican League. The team play its home games at Parque Kukulcán Alamo in Mérida, Yucatán. The Leones have won the Mexican League title five times in , , , ...

of the

Mexican League The Mexican League (, ) is a professional baseball league based in Mexico and the oldest running professional league in the country. The league has 18 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games each season. Five te ...

. He previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team was founded as an expans ...

and

Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. The team is owned by Jerry Reinsdorf, and p ...

Early life

Cuthbert was born and raised on

Corn Islands The Corn Islands are two islands about east of the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua, constituting one of 12 municipalities of the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. The official name of the municipality is ''Corn Island'' (the English name is ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

, where his mother is from. His father is from the town of

Pearl Lagoon Pearl Lagoon is a municipality that is often time called just Lagoon and was historically known as English Bank. It is located in the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region of Nicaragua. It is the most important town of the largest coastal lagoon ...

. Growing up he spoke an

English Creole An English-based creole language (often shortened to English creole) is a creole language for which English was the ''lexifier'', meaning that at the time of its formation the vocabulary of English served as the basis for the majority of the creo ...

rather than Spanish and had to balance learning Spanish while training with the Nicaraguan National Baseball team.

Professional career

Kansas City Royals

The

signed Cuthbert as an international free agent in 2009, for a $1.35 million

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He made his professional debut in 2010. Prior to the 2012 season, ''

Baseball America ''Baseball America'' is a sports enterprise that covers baseball at every level, including MLB, with a particular focus on up-and-coming players in the MiLB, college, high school, and international leagues. It is currently published in the form o ...

'' rated Cuthbert the 84th best prospect in baseball. After the 2012 season, he played for the

Nicaraguan national baseball team The Nicaragua national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Nicaragua'') is the national baseball team of Nicaragua. Considered the best in Central America along with Panama, it represents Nicaragua in international tournaments. Nic ...

in the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike ...

Qualifying Tournament Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

. The Royals added Cuthbert to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, and ...

on November 20, 2013. Cuthbert began the 2014 season with the

Northwest Arkansas Naturals The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are a Minor League Baseball team based in Springdale, Arkansas, Springdale, Arkansas. The team is a member of the Texas League, and serves as the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. The ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. When the Royals promoted third baseman

Hunter Dozier Hunter William Dozier (born August 22, 1991) is an American professional baseball third baseman for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). The Royals selected Dozier eighth overall in the first round of the 2013 MLB draft after he ...

to the Naturals, Cuthbert began playing

first base A first baseman, abbreviated 1B, is the player on a baseball or softball team who fields the area nearest first base, the first of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. The first baseman is responsible for the majori ...

and second base. He began the 2015 season with the

Omaha Storm Chasers The Omaha Storm Chasers are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. They are located in Papillion, Nebraska, a suburb southwest of Omaha, and play their home games at Wer ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

, and represented the Royals at the 2015

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. The Royals promoted Cuthbert to the major leagues on July 7, 2015, when

Mike Moustakas Michael Christopher Moustakas (; born September 11, 1988) is an American professional baseball infielder who is a free agent. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Cincinnati Reds. Moust ...

was placed on family leave. Cuthbert got his first major league hit, a ground-ball single into left field the same day. Cuthbert was recalled from AAA Omaha on September 1, 2015. On September 2, Cuthbert hit his first major league home run, a two-run shot off Detroit's

Guido Knudson Guido Joel Knudson (; born August 5, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Detroit Tigers. Early life Prior to playing professionally, Knudson attended Bonita Vista High Sc ...

. Cuthbert was recalled from AAA Omaha on May 7, 2016 when

was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a fractured finger. In 128 games, he hit .274 with 12 home runs and 46 RBIs. In 58 games for the Royals in 2017, he hit .231 with 2 home runs and 18 RBIs. He began the 2018 season as the Royals utility player but struggled through the season, hitting .194 in 30 games. In 2019, Cuthbert played in 87 games for the Royals, he put up better numbers than he had done the previous two seasons combined, as he finished with 330 plate appearances, hitting .246 with 9 home runs and 40 RBI. On December 2, 2019, Cuthbert was non-tendered and became a free agent.

Chicago White Sox

On December 19, 2019, Cuthbert signed a minor league deal with the

and was invited to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

. Prior to the season, he was selected to the

Nicaragua national baseball team The Nicaragua national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Nicaragua'') is the national baseball team of Nicaragua. Considered the best in Central America along with Panama, it represents Nicaragua in international tournaments. Nic ...

roster at the 2021 World Baseball Classic Qualifier. He was designated for assignment on July 27, 2020.

Cincinnati Reds

On December 8, 2020, Cuthbert signed a minor league contract with the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

organization, and was invited to spring training. In 21 games for the Triple-A

Louisville Bats The Louisville Bats are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds. They are located in Louisville, Kentucky, and are named in dual reference to the bat, win ...

, Cuthbert slashed .203/.330/.338 before he was released on June 1, 2021.

New York Mets

On June 2, 2021, Cuthbert signed a minor league contract with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major league ...

organization.

Leones de Yucatán

On January 11, 2022, Cuthbert signed with the

of the

for the 2022 season.

Personal life

Cuthbert has a son and a daughter. He lives in Corn Island during the offseason and has a chicken farm of over 150 roosters and 80 hens. Cuthbert's younger cousin, Rodney Theophile, is a

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

pitching prospect.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cuthbert, Cheslor 1992 births Living people People from the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region Nicaraguan expatriate baseball players in the United States Major League Baseball players from Nicaragua Major League Baseball third basemen Kansas City Royals players Chicago White Sox players Arizona League Royals players Idaho Falls Chukars players Kane County Cougars players Wilmington Blue Rocks players Northwest Arkansas Naturals players Peoria Javelinas players Omaha Storm Chasers players Syracuse Mets players Yaquis de Obregón players Gigantes del Cibao players Nicaraguan expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic Nicaraguan expatriate baseball players in Mexico 2023 World Baseball Classic players