The MLB beginning is closer each time. All franchises remain immersed in their spring training campaigns to grease their machines and make them running well before the first cry of “play ball” in North American stadiums.
In this preseason maelstrom, which includes training matches, several Cubans have returned to the field after winter holidays, others kept on tenterhooks the scouts who move their last pieces in MLB transfer market .
The following is a brief current scanning of some Cubans who are training for next season :
José Fernández: Last season Rookie of the Year has started to loosen his right arm. He was third in the voting for the Cy Young Award with a win-loss balance of 12-6 and ERA of 2.19. Therefore, he won’t want to rest on his laurels, and has started early strengthening his throwing hand. After completing a dream season in his major league debut, Fernandez now faces the challenge of having again a good performance. There are those who assert that for young pearls that triumph in his first season the true test is always the second course.
The Cuban has surely heard those comments and that is why he is revving up not to enter that club. “Many people have said me that. I do not know, anything can happen but I feel good . ” His manager, Mike Redmond has also opined in this regard: “Fernández already knows the league , but simultaneously he has much talent and a great repertoire, I do not care he has to adapt.”
This season Jose will have a new teammate at home plate , he is the star signing of the Miami Marlins, the catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia.
Yoennis Céspedes: He said he has gained 15 pounds of muscle. It is not overweight, just the opposite, but a strategy he will put into practice to seek higher dividends in his at-bats. Cespedes wants to shorten his swing in order to make more contact with the ball. He has dedicated the preseason time to exclusively work with Chili Davis, his batting coach. During his holidays the Oakland outfielder has been devoted to meticulously observe his at-bats during previous seasons.
” It’s a matter of focus and determination, the problem is not he was having bad contact by making swings to bad pitches, but that he tried to do too much with good pitches. The idea is to make good contact, not just hitting home runs. “That is the real purpose of the Cuban, shortening his swing to be more effective with his swings.
According to Davis, Yoennis Cespedes can easily average . 300 each year. He has excellent contact with the ball and produces to all bands . The intention now is to restructure his swing.
Yunel Escobar : At 31 the Escobar undoubtedly signed his best season in MLB. Always despised, branded as sub player, Escobar got rid off his past to become the starting shortstop o f the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last year. He is already in the training camp of his franchise and the organization expects of him a superior performance of the one achieved the previous season .
Yunel was the most effective defensive shortstop in MLB last year with an astronomical average of .989, committing just 7 errors in 610 chances. His only aspect to solve is his discipline; we must remember that the player was suspended last year for three matches by a homophobic phrase written under his eyes while playing.
Henry Urrutia: The outfielder tries to earn a place in the starting lineup of the Baltimore Orioles. It is said that his better chances are as designated hitter. Days ago he declared that “I am willing to do whatever it takes to make the team , that’s my main goal.” But this goal has been plagued in the last hours. The organization has announced through its official web the recruitment of Dominican slugger Nelson Cruz, undoubtedly a transfer that can relegate without any problem Urrutia to the bench.
Henry has no other choice but to keep working hard this spring, he still has time to get a place in the squad. On the 27-year baseball player, coach Showalter believes that “he has assimilated all other areas of the game – base running and defense, he has worked hard on it, he has his priorities. H e is not a boy whose age reflects his experience. I think Henry represents some interesting advantages. “
José Ariel Contreras: The veteran denies the idea of hanging up his gloves at home. He k eeps focused in not being overcome by time and show that at 42 he still has enough powder to be part of any pitching staff in the majors. Now he has moved to Texas looking for a place in the Rangers bullpen. His face is the most aged of all who were reported to the Rangers spring practices, his goal at this point is more than clear: pitching his 12th season in MLB.
But the truth is that he has a very difficult task ahead because lately injuries have fiercely attacked him, although he is not that impressive m an throwing over 95 mph and making rivals looking bad when using his fork, his experience and phlegm remain being a weapon that any wise coach would like having kept up his sleeve. We must wait then on what conditions Contreras is and if he can finally earn a place in the Texas bullpen.
“I thank the Rangers for giving me a chance, the least I can do is working hard and try to help as much as possible”, he said.
Yasiel Puig: He is still giving headaches to the board of the Los Angeles Dodgers. After the break, the coaches are not concerned him to put behind the wheel of his car and think he’s a Formula 1 driver, now what really worries Don Mattingly is Puig’s physical condition.
The emerging star has attended trainings notably over his weight. The scale showed he is weighing 251 pounds, incredibly 26 more of what he weighed last season.
“We do not think this is going to be a problem, but let’s put it this way, we are paying attention to it¨, Mattingly said. In addition to overweight, Puig has not begun training well and has had some aches on his shoulder that have enabled him to participate in the last two training days.
Erisbel Arruebarruena: He is already an MLB placer, it´s been some days he signed with the L.A. Dodgers a $ 25 million contract for five seasons. Although he still has to apply for a working visa, because he resides in Haiti, the team’s board has said on this regard: ¨We think he will add our club in MLB at some point this year, ¨ Ned Colletti, Dodgers general manager, noted.
Colletti clarified that Erisbel ¨has to offensively improve although he has power. But defensively he is as good that it is worth signing him. We have chosen him by his defensive skills, knowing that he can play at a very high level. He also has some offensive abilities we’ll try to refine. ¨
Thus, Arruabarrena joins the also Cubans of the Dodgers: Yasiel Puig, Alexander Guerrero and Onelki García.
Do you have a good sense of humor .