By SwingCompleto / contacto@swingcompleto.com
Industriales has received a lot of bad news for the upcoming baseball season scheduled to start on January 22. Forced and voluntary withdrawals, prominent figures who have emigrated in one way or another and health situations, plus the suspense around his fourth bat, Lisbán Correa.
The panorama of the most successful team in the National Series is no more worrisome for the simple reason that almost everyone in Cuba has serious difficulties on their payroll after a 2021 that seeks records in terms of those who have decided to get out of the way of the Federation. There is no doubt that a championship with extreme parity is coming, as extreme as the low level of most of its components.
But favorable news has been received by Guillermo Carmona’s Lions and is the presence in the capital of the talented and versatile player Ariel Hechevarría, who is in the process of repatriation to join the ranks of the blue ship in the upcoming domestic competition.
In an interview with the Cubalite site, the 28-year-old player from Cotorro commented on the fundamental issues of his decisions, perspectives and career.
Considered at the time as one of the strongest prospects in Havana, he decided to make his way in professional baseball after his departure from Cuba in 2016. According to the article on this laborious platform, Hechevarría was the victim of inappropriate and unscrupulous treatment of people to achieve his dream of a contract in the United States, which is why he was stuck between the Dominican Republic and Venezuela.
Since last August 12, he has been on home soil to manage his return to national baseball with the team from his province.
The main reason for his return has to do, in his words, with the lack of possibilities to move forward in professional baseball at the point where he was out. The hires that many have achieved from Cuba in countries such as Italy, Mexico, Nicaragua or Panama made him reflect and make a complex decision, because there is also the fact of the real disadvantages in sports and economics on the Island that has forced others to take the opposite way.
He clarified that the capital’s board of directors, including manager Carmona, has the interest of his incorporation as long as he complies with the legal procedures for repatriation. Regarding the process, he altered that taking accounts must be ready for when the Creole joust begins on the 22nd of the first month of 2022.
Ariel said that he preferred to have utilization in the outfield rather than in the infield (remember that his prominence in the youth and early years in senior baseball was as third base), although he did not rule out the option of defending the so-called hot corner based on the Blues needs.
Hechevarría has one of his fundamental weapons in power, to the extent of hitting 15 home runs in three forays, two with Industriales and one with Isla de la Juventud. It was only with the Pirates that he found regular play possibilities.
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At the moment and while all the roles are made official, he maintains his sporting form with the outstanding coach Lázaro de la Torre at the 50th Anniversary stadium (DESA). From the competitive point of view, he works in the Popular League that takes place in the Ciénaga area, also within the Plaza municipality.
“I see this as an opportunity to keep fighting, not to give up. I think I still have talent. In the end, the one who perseveres triumphs. If it was not in the Dominican Republic, it will be here. What I don’t lose is the desire to play ball ”, was the closing of his telephone exchange with Cubalite.
Other names have been used to return to the ranks of Industriales, but at the moment the most important of all is Hechevarría. Right now the Lions need to inject figures with a certain level that at least have already had experience in international baseball (Ariel played with the Navegantes de Magallanes in Venezuela), although it is his pitching that lacks the most quality pieces. With the losses of Brian Chi and Andy Rodríguez, the problem with starters and relievers of a squad that will have to fight very hard to re-enter the semifinals of Cuban baseball is greatly exacerbated. Not many reinforcement options are visualized in that area, so as has happened in more than a decade the offense and fielding will have to take a good part of the weight with everything and that in the next National Series no one will come out with a good pitching. level.