On December 26, 1998, Nelson Velázquez, a 23-year-old Puerto Rican professional baseball outfielder with the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball, was born. He stands tall at 6 feet.
The Cubs selected Velázquez in the fifth round of the 2017 MLB draft. He made his professional debut in the Arizona League’s rookie-level the same year.
He batted.231 in 103 games at the Class A Short Season and Class A-levels in 2018, with 11 home runs and 40 RBIs. He batted in Class A for most of 2019.
In 72 games, he hit 286 with four home runs and 34 RBIs. He played in the Puerto Rican Winter League during the 2019–20 offseason.
Due to the termination of the minor-league season in 2020, Velázquez did not play professionally. In 2021, he participated in 69 games for the South Bend Cubs in High-A and 34 games for the Tennessee Smokies in Double-A.
He batted.270 with 20 home runs and 73 RBIs in 103 games, while also stealing 17 bases. He participated in the Arizona Fall League with the Mesa Solar Sox after the regular season, hitting.366 with nine home runs and 21 RBIs in 26 games.
Velázquez was named MVP of the 2021 Arizona Fall League season, and he was promoted to the Cubs’ 40-man roster following the season.