By Jesús Pérez Vichot (Chuchi)
Cuba will be well represented in the upcoming Liga Mexicana de Béisbol (LMB, Mexican Baseball League) season.
So far there are 20 Cuban players who will be present when the next LMB season starts, as reported by Yusseff Diaz on his Twitter account. Every year more and more players born (or with roots) in the largest of the Antilles join this league.
Olmecas de Tabasco will be the team with the largest number of Cuban players in its ranks, in this case with six: Roel Santos (OF), Raico Santos (OF), Maikel Serrano (OF), Yoennis Yera (LHP), Armando Dueñas (RHP) and Carlos Juan Viera (RHP).
The second team most represented by Cuban players is Leones de Yucatán with four: Yadir Drake (OF/1B), Lázaro Alonso (1B/DH), Elían Leyva (RHP) and Onelki García (LHP).
After these two teams appear Bravos de León with two Cubans: Josúan Hernández (OF/IF) and Lázaro Blanco (RHP), Saraperos de Saltillo with another two: Henry Urrutia (DH/1B) and José M. Fernández (DH/1B) and the following teams will have one: Mariachis de Guadalajara (Dariel Álvarez, OF/IF), Diablos Rojos de Ciudad de México (Yunesky Maya, RHP), Toros de Tijuana (Félix Pérez, OF/1B), Sultanes de Monterrey (Jesús Balaguer, RHP), Tigres de Quintana Roo (Lázaro Hernández, OF/3B) and Pericos de Puebla (Peter O’Brien, OF/1B).
Cuba is present in the trajectory of the Mexican Baseball League
Of these twenty Cuban ballplayers only five did not play last year in the Mexican Baseball League. Pitchers Lázaro Blanco, Jesús Balaguer and Armando Dueñas will make their debut in this circuit. While Yunesky Maya will reappear in the LMB after pitching in 2019 with the Saltillo team.
Position player José M. Fernández will also play in Mexico for the first time in his career, after spending four years in the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) and previously with the Dominican Republic’s Estrellas Orientales.
Cuban outfielders Raico Santos and Roel Santos, along with southpaw Yoennis Yera from Matanzas, represent the Cuban Baseball Federation. The rest of the players do not.
