Apparently professional Japanese baseball teams are engaged – how well! – in signing several Cuban players that today are showing their quality.
While it had been reported the presence of executives of the ORIX Buffaloes, to which its analogs Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks would be added, it was the institution of the Yomiuri Giants-best team in the Land of the Rising Sun, which took another player to their venue at the Tokyo Dome.
The flamethrower Hector Manuel Mendoza will get to this franchise for the current season, and incidentally will join his countrymen Frederich Cepeda and Leslie Anderson, said today the Japanese squad.
Owner of a fastball that exceeds 95 miles per hour, and being only 20-year-old the right-hander from the Isle of Youth in three national campaigns has an ERA of 2.73 in 135 innings, with 96 strikeouts and 81 walks.
The press release explains that the lanky pitcher (1.90 meters) will go through the affiliate club in search of adaptation and understanding of the competitive league for many the second best in the planet.
However, these days he is training in Matanzas, guided by Alfonso Urquiola, for the friendly matches a national team will play against the US collegiate team which is participating in the Tournament of Harlem, the Netherlands, and is tied in the first position precisely to Japan.
On July 14 it was reported that Granma slugger Alfredo Despaigne was hired by the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Pacific League in the Japanese professional baseball. Thus, there will be four baseball players from the island in this competition, after agreement with the Cuban sports authorities.
For now, the best numbers are for third baseman Yuliesky Gourriel (Yokohama DeNA BayStars). His average is 340 (103-35), 11 doubles, six homers and 16 RBIs that puts his name in the shortlist for Rookie of the Year. Cepeda, meanwhile, did not find his way, and shows an anemic average of 171 (102-14) in 35 games.
The other Cubans playing in this league are the Juan Miguel Miranda (Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters), Barbaro Canizares (Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks), Yunieski Betancourt (ORIX Buffaloes), and Anderson (Yomiuri Giants ).
The Yomiuri is the best team in the history of the Japanese baseball league with 33 championships and 22 Series in their belts.
