ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Tropicana Field was a home away from home this past weekend for Franco Aleman and his family. The former Alonso High star had nearly 150 family members and friends make their way to the ballpark at one time or another during Cleveland’s three-game series against the Rays. The righthander noted that 38 of them attended all three games.
“I find myself pinching myself a little bit because this is a surreal dream come true,” said Aleman, who made his MLB debut with the Guardians in May. “It’s awesome to have so many family members, friends and a lot of people I didn’t expect to be here. I love the support.”
The 6-foot-6 and 235-pound Aleman spent the first 11 of his 26 years in Cuba where MLB news was not abundant and revolved mostly around those who defected to play in the majors, plus teams such as the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers. Thanks to PlayStation 2, which Aleman considered himself lucky to possess, he had a favorite player.
“David Ortiz was crazy in those video games,” he said.
Aleman’s father, Omar, was a dentist in Cuba. As part of a program that dates back several decades with the idea of helping build relationships among ally nations, Omar was among tens of thousands of physicians sent abroad to help a country in need of medical aid in return for goods and services. In his case, Venezuela.
“They would trade dentists for goods or Wi-Fi or oil,” said Aleman, in Cleveland’s clubhouse prior to Sunday’s game. “Who knows how much my dad was (being paid). Whatever he was getting, Venezuela (provided) a huge raise.”
Omar’s occupation also provided an opportunity to come to the U.S through the Obama administration’s medical parole program with Cuba. That opened the door for the family to settle in Tampa to begin an entirely new chapter. For Aleman, that ultimately meant taking his place in Tampa’s rich baseball history. In fact, it has been noted that when he debuted against the visiting Twins on May 10 – he threw two shutout innings in relief – Aleman became the 100th player from Hillsborough County to appear in the majors.
Aleman was at Triple-Columbus when he got the call following a game.
“It was unbelievable,” he said. “I started crying. I called my wife (Daniella) and she started crying. It was a surreal feeling. I’ve gone through a lot to get to this point and it felt really good.”
Aleman, who was selected by Cleveland in the 10th round of the 2021 draft out of Florida, spent time on the injured list in three of his four full minor league seasons. He played three seasons of college ball with as many programs after graduating Alonso in 2018. He headed south to Miami to begin his college career at FIU in 2019. That was followed by an impressive summer in the Cape Cod League.
Aleman wanted to experience college baseball at its highest level, which he did with the Gators in 2021. Before transferring to UF and to prevent sitting out a season, which he would have had to under NCAA transfer bylaws at the time, he attended a JUCO in 2020. Aleman’s season at St. Johns River State College in Palatka was cut short due to the pandemic. That was not the worst thing following a busy year at FIU and on the Cape.
“My arm did not feel great sophomore year, so it was a little down year for me,” he said. “Honestly, when COVID happened, I was kind of glad that the season ended (early) because I wasn’t in a good spot. It was a blessing in disguise for me, my arm, because I got to work big time after COVID.”
He spent his final college season with the Gators before commencing his professional career the following year. He persevered through nagging injuries while working his way up the ladder to the big leagues.
“I find a way to have the right mindset and take the bad and try my best to turn it into something good,” he said of the journey. “There’s always a silver lining.”
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