ONE MORE IN JAPAN: Rangel Ravelo packs up for NPB play

By Juan Páez

The torrid start to the 2021 season of Rangel Ravelo in Minor Leagues it paid off. While it didn’t mean his ticket back to the Major Leagues, it did bring him an opportunity to turn his 29-year-old career upside down. According to Francys Romero of MLB.com, the Los Angeles Dodgers have agreed with an undetermined Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) club to sell the Cuban veteran’s contract.

In a team like the Dodgers, with immense depth in position players, Ravelo’s stats weren’t enough for them despite being impressive. In the Triple A branch of the Californians, the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the first baseman and outfielder has a .407 / .504 / .758 offensive line through 26 games and 113 total plate appearances.

At this point, Ravelo has 37 hits, eight doubles and an equal number of connected home runs. All of this is accompanied by 27 RBIs, 20 runs scored, 17 walks and 11 strikeouts, with an OPS of 1,263. Such is the campaign that the Antillean is experiencing, which has 13 duels in a row with at least one hit. But he hasn’t played since June 7, perhaps because the Dodgers were preparing their move to Japan.

Ravelo, who played in the majors in 2019 and 2020 with the San Luis Cardinals, will follow in the footsteps of other Cuban figures such as Adeiny Hechavarría, Leonys Martín and Rusney Castillo. That trio is among the former Antillean great leagues who most recently left the United States for a career in the Land of the Rising Sun. And, in general, he will meet Cuban players of the stature of Yurisbel Gracial, Alfredo Despaigne and Liván Moinelo.

This time Ravelo did decide to put his career in American baseball on hold. Before starting last season from the Big Top, a team from the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) showed interest in him, but he preferred to keep fighting to play daily in the Major Leagues.

However, now Rangel will have the chance to become one of the main sluggers on the Japanese circuit, even from this season.