HAVANA, Cuba, Jun 28 (acn) Cuban lefty Livan Moinelo made his debut last Tuesday in the first division of the Japanese Baseball League (NPB) with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
As closer, Moinelo did not allow hits or runs in an inning, with one strikeout and a walk to the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific circuit.
His team won 6-0 in a game in which the also Cuban and teammate in the Hawks, Alfredo Despaigne, batted 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk and scored one run. He now totals 18 homers and 53 RBIs.
Moinelo, who has been in two World Baseball Classics, pitched in the second division, in three games, five innings and two-thirds, lost one and did not win, with 8 strikeouts and two walks.
Switch-hitter and pitcher Oscar Luis Colas, another Cuban hired for the Hawks, remains at the second level.
The other Cubans playing under the auspices of the Cuban Baseball Federation in the NPB are OF Roel Santos, with the Chiba Lotte Marines, and OF Leonardo Urgelles and RHP Raidel Martinez, both with the Chunichi Dragons, club which also hired Omar Linares, considered one of the best players on the planet of all time, as batting coach.
Santos stands out as leadoff hitter with BA of .324, result of 23 hits in 71 at-bats, with two RBIs, 8 runs scored and 17 strikeouts.
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