Leandro Arturo Cedeño (born August 22, 1998) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). He has previously played in NPB for the Orix Buffaloes and Saitama Seibu Lions.
| Leandro Cedeño | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Cedeno with Orix Buffaloes in 2023 | |||||||||||||||
| Tokyo Yakult Swallows | |||||||||||||||
| Infielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: August 22, 1998 Guatire, Venezuela | |||||||||||||||
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |||||||||||||||
| NPB debut | |||||||||||||||
| May 19, 2023, for the Orix Buffaloes | |||||||||||||||
| NPB statistics (through 2025 season) | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .246 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 31 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 97 | ||||||||||||||
| Stats at Baseball Reference | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
Career
editSt. Louis Cardinals
editOn August 29, 2014, Cedeño signed with the St. Louis Cardinals organization as an international free agent.[1] He made his professional debut with the Dominican Summer League Cardinals, appearing in 74 games for the team from 2015 to 2016.
After playing in only 9 games for the rookie-level GCL Cardinals in 2017, Cedeño spent the 2018 season with the rookie-level Johnson City Cardinals, playing in 59 games and hitting .336/.419/.592 with career-highs in home runs (14) and RBI (47). In 2019, Cedeño played in 100 games for the Single-A Peoria Chiefs, slashing .271/.311/.396 with 6 home runs and 44 RBI. He did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[2] Cedeño split the 2021 season between Peoria and the Double-A Springfield Cardinals, batting a cumulative .260/.316/.427 with 12 home runs and 60 RBI across 96 games. He elected free agency following the season on November 7, 2021.
Arizona Diamondbacks
editOn November 22, 2021, Cedeño signed a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization.[3] He was assigned to the Double-A Amarillo Sod Poodles to begin the 2022 season.[4] He hit a 527-foot (161 m) home run for Amarillo on July 17, 2022, the longest measured since the debut of Statcast in 2015.[5] Cedeño enjoyed a career year with Amarillo, hitting an excellent .310/.374/.563 with new career-highs in home runs (30) and RBI (93). This led to him being promoted to Triple-A for the first time on September 6.[6] He played in 14 games for the Triple-A Reno Aces, hitting .291/.328/.436 while adding on 2 more home runs and 10 more RBI. Cedeño became a free agent following the season on November 10, 2022.[7]
Orix Buffaloes
editOn December 27, 2022, Cedeño signed with the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball.[8] He played in 57 games for Orix in 2023, slashing .244/.278/.438 with nine home runs and 34 RBI.
Cedeño played in 98 games for the Buffaloes in 2024, hitting .260/.320/.438 with 15 home runs and 37 RBI. On December 2, 2024, he became a free agent.[9]
Saitama Seibu Lions
editOn December 14, 2024, Cedeño signed with the Saitama Seibu Lions of Nippon Professional Baseball.[10] He made 74 appearances for the Lions in 2025, batting .228/.280/.357 with seven home runs and 26 RBI. On November 18, 2025, Seibu announced that Cedeño would not be offered a contract for the 2026 season.[11]
San Diego Padres
editOn January 30, 2026, Cedeño signed with the Algodoneros de Unión Laguna of the Mexican League.[12] However, on February 6, 2026, Cedeño signed a minor league contract with the San Diego Padres.[13] He made 26 appearances for the Double-A San Antonio Missions, batting .315/.421/.528 with four home runs and 14 RBI. Cedeño was released by the Padres organization on May 27.[14]
Tokyo Yakult Swallows
editOn May 28, 2026, Cedeno signed with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows of Nippon Professional Baseball.[15]
References
edit- ↑ "Leandro Cedeno Stats & Scouting Report". September 14, 2018.
- ↑ "2020 Minor League Baseball season cancelled". mlb.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ↑ "Leandro Cedeño Stats, Age, Position, Height, Weight, Fantasy & News".
- ↑ "Leandro Cedeno crushing baseballs, expectations with the Amarillo Sod Poodles". Amarillo.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ↑ "Cedeno Blasts Himself Into The History Books". MiLB.com. July 18, 2022. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ↑ "Diamondbacks' Leandro Cedeño: Mashes way to Triple-A". cbssports.com. September 6, 2022. Retrieved March 9, 2023.
- ↑ "2022-23 Minor League Free Agents For All 30 MLB Teams". baseballamerica.com. November 13, 2022. Retrieved July 31, 2023.
- ↑ "LVBP: Esto ganaría Leandro Cedeño con su nuevo contrato en Japón". MERIDIANO.net.
- ↑ "[Oryx] Sedinho is free to be removed from the list of players on hold. This season, he will hit the team's top 15 home runs". news.yahoo.co.jp=en. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
- ↑ "x.com".
- ↑ "x.com".
- ↑ "LMB: Movimientos en listas de reserva - 30 de enero de 2026". lmb.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved February 25, 2026.
- ↑ https://www.milb.com/transactions/2026-02-06
- ↑ https://www.milb.com/transactions/2026-05-27
- ↑ https://x.com/SwallowsEN/status/2059995641237880868
External links
edit- Career statistics from Baseball Reference (Minors)