Blue Jays Guerrero Jr and Espinal featured in new music video with Eladio Carrión and 50 Cent

Toronto Blue Jays infielder Santiago Espinal returned to the Jays lineup after being on the 10-day injury list because of a right hamstring strain.

The 2022 MLB All-Star is no stranger to the spotlight, but just three-years shy of when he made his Major League Debut with the team, he did something he never imagined: be featured in a music video.

When the Jays were in New York in April, Espinal and teammate Vladdy Guerrero Jr. were on set for rapper Eladio Carrión’s new music video with 50 Cent called ‘Si Salimos’. The music video has almost 5 million views in just under three weeks on Youtube.

"I was really nervous!"- Santiago Espinal.
I don't know about you, but I didn't know that Jays' @santdr13 and @27vladdyjr are in @eladiocarry_on & @50cent 's new music video for their single 'Si Salimos'. #NextLevel pic.twitter.com/2NlnA9jujt

— Lindsay Dunn (@LindsayDunnTV) June 8, 2023

“Oh my God!” Espinal said with a big smile when CityNews asked him about how he ended up in the video. “It was through my agency. They have a couple of singers through the agency and they said ‘You’re in New York, we’re doing a music video, we would like you to be a part of it.’ And they didn’t have to ask me twice.”

The cameos are brief but it was an exciting moment for the 28-year-old.

“I never thought in my life I would do a music video until that day happened.”

Espinal met Carrión before when he went to Puerto Rico for vacation and kept in contact.

“Before we shot the video I let him know that I was really nervous and that they would probably have to do a thousand retakes but I was going to do it, but I was nervous.”

For the record, he only had to do five takes.

Interesting to hear that from an MLB player who stands at a plate when a pitcher whips a 100 mph ball past their face almost daily. It was during this trip to New York when Espinal was hit in the wrist with a 98 mph pitch by New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole and had to leave the game.

“I’m not going to lie. When I got hit, I thought my hand was broken. I couldn’t even move it. I didn’t feel it at all. So I was thinking I was done, that’s it for this year. But, the next day, I was actually moving my fingers, my hands, and in the next couple of days, which is rare to see, I was ready to go, you know. I really I thought my hand was broken.”

Espinal made his MLB debut on July 25, 2020, during the pandemic in Tampa Bay. Now almost three years to the day from his debut, he is still taking in each moment on the field.

“I mean, every day something still surprises me,” Espinal said about being on a Major League Baseball Team. “I feel like playing in the big leagues, it feels like it’s a video game. I mean, even when I’m in the dugout and I look out, it doesn’t look real to me.

“It’s a blessing to be here, there’s a lot of players out there that wish to be here, a lot of kids out there that wish to be here with this opportunity that I have, and thank God that I had this opportunity every day to play baseball.”

You can watch Espinal and the Jays finish out their series against the Houston Astros at 7:07 p.m. ET on Sportsnet.