Raidel Martínez Perez (born October 11, 1996) is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher for the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB).

Raidel Martínez
Martínez with the Chunichi Dragons in 2023
Chunichi Dragons – No. 92
Pitcher
Born: (1996-10-11) October 11, 1996 (age 27)
Pinar del Río, Cuba
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
NPB debut
May 6, 2018, for the Chunichi Dragons
NPB statistics
(through 2023 season)
Win–loss record12–15
Earned Run Average1.85
Strikeouts294
Holds35
Saves123
Teams
Career highlights and awards

NPB records

  • 35 consecutive strikeouts

Professional career edit

On February 26, 2017, Martínez signed with the Chunichi Dragons of Nippon Professional Baseball.[1] After spending the 2017 season with the club's farm team, Martínez recorded his first NPB victory on May 15, 2018, in a win over the Hiroshima Toyo Carp.[2] However, he struggled to a 6.65 ERA in 7 games. In 2019, Martínez recorded a stellar 2.66 ERA with 48 strikeouts in 43 appearances. In 2020, he pitched to a neat 1.13 ERA in 40.0 innings across 40 appearances.[3] On May 27, 2022, He made his first NPB All-Star appearance at Matsuyama Central Park Baseball Stadium. He took the mound in the eighth inning and allowed one hit but kept one scoreless inning.[4]

International career edit

Martínez previously pitched for Vegueros de Pinar del Rio in the Cuban National Series. Martinez played for the Cuba national baseball team at the 2017 World Baseball Classic[5] and the 2023 World Baseball Classic.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ "Chunichi Dragons adds two Cuban players to Ikusei deal". 26 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Dragons rookie Raidel Martinez records first NPB victory". 15 May 2018.
  3. ^ "Raidel Martínez Cuban, Winter & Japanese Leagues Statistics & History".
  4. ^ "【オールスター】前日のヒーロー清宮斬り!ライデル・マルティネスが球宴に初出場し1イニング無失点(中日スポーツ)".
  5. ^ Lara-Cinisomo, Vince (February 8, 2017). "2017 CUBA WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC ROSTER". Baseball America. Retrieved March 25, 2017.
  6. ^ "The Official Site of Major League Baseball". MLB.com.

External links edit