LAST MINUTE: Outstanding pitcher of Industriales LEFT Cuba

By Jose Alejandro Rodriguez Zas

On the afternoon of this Tuesday, January 25, the Industriales team will make its debut in the 61st edition of the National Baseball Series, when it faces its counterpart from Artemisa, at the 26 de Julio stadium, home of the Cazadores.

In recent days we have reported on our website that one of the members of the official roster of the capital team, the experienced infielder Wilfredo Aroche left Cuba for Europe, leaving the team with 39 men for the start. The athlete himself explained that the cause of his trip was for strictly personal reasons and that his intention to play with Industriales in Series 61 was still latent, waiting for the authorities to decide on his case.

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At the moment, according to the regulations of the tournament, at the beginning of March the Blues should designate a player to occupy the place left vacant by Aroche, for which specialists and fans had considered the names of the utility player Ariel Hechavarría, with experience in foreign leagues and pitcher Eddy Abel García, with an outstanding performance in previous domestic tournaments.

However, the option of Eddy Abel is already ruled out because, as confirmed to SwingFull different sources close to the situation, the young right-hander would have left Cuba in recent days for Italy, seeking to continue pitching in European professional baseball.

The news was also confirmed by the Cubalite website, whose sources specified that the athlete arrived in that European country a week ago and intends to play in Serie A (first division) of the Italian baseball circuit.

“Eddy Abel will be the foreign player of the Paternó Red Sox club, because this year only one foreigner will be able to play for each team. He requested his withdrawal from the Cuban Federation, so the contract is on his own, “the Cubalite note specified.

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“I think Eddy can do the job in Italy. He will turn 30 in March and I don’t think he can go for contracts in higher-level professional leagues, not because of his quality, but because previous experience is always important,” said a source close to the player, who preferred anonymity.

“If he can do well over there and stand out in that league, he can participate in other European tournaments and who knows whether to sign with a team in the winter leagues in Mexico, the Dominican Republic or Venezuela. He has quality and his seven years in the series are a good guarantee, also in Italy he has done very well twice. We’ll see how it goes. I wish him much success,” he added.

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Eddy Abel He has experience in seven seasons in Cuba, in which he has accumulated 23 wins and 13 losses, in addition to five saves, a clean average of 4.23, a WHIP of 1.56 and a rival batting average of .286, with 203 strikeouts and 153 walks, in 160 games pitched, primarily as a reliever.

In Italian baseball, the right-hander has participated in two previous campaigns, with Cagliari Baseball in 2018 and with the Red Sox themselves in 2021.

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