Cuban right-hander Javier Mirabal who is 26 years of age had his first showcase yesterday in Ensenada, Mexico. Approximately 15 MLB squads were in attendance to watch him. Mirabal who is an international unrestricted free agent (more than 6 seasons and 25 years old) was on Cuba’s reserve list for the 2023 WBC impressed scouts with his array of pitches.
The native of Villa Clara, Cuba struck out five of the six batters he faced and his fastball was clocked between 92-94 mph, while he breaking pitches were clocked at between 76-77 mph with a spin rate of 2181 rpms. His changeup came in at 80 mph and 1723 rpms. The pitcher has been training at the Tijuana Toros complex for the last few months in preparation for the presentation.
Mirabal is an intriguing prospect to many scouts outside of Cuba. Armed with a fastball that can touch the mid-90’s and a good array of breaking pitches Mirabal peeked the interest of some teams, mainly Asian ones during his inclusion with the Cuban World Baseball Classic squad in their preparation games in Japan and Chinese Taipei.
Ayer en el showcase de Javier Mirabal estuvieron 15 organizaciones de MLB, en 2 entradas se enfrentó a 6 bateadores ponchando a 5 y la velocidad de su recta estuvo en 92-94 mph, sus rompientes bajitos en 76 -77 con 2181 de rotación y su changeup – 80 con 1723 de rotacion.… pic.twitter.com/cEmNDK66ll
— Yusseff305 🇨🇺🇺🇲 (@yusseff305) September 8, 2023
He impressed the Cuban brass some much during these preparation games that he was put on the WBC reserve list in case a pitcher on the staff suffered an injury or needed to be replaced for any other reason. After the tournament the right-hander from Villa Clara, Cuba was signed by the Olmecas de Tabasco.
On a trip to México to incorporate himself with the ballclub he decided not to join the team or return to Cuba, instead opting to go in search of a future in professional baseball. In 75 innings pitched this season with the Azucareros de Villa Clara he sported a 6-5 record, 2.64 earned run average and two saves. He has also fanned 54 batters over that stretch and has 1.36 WHIP, batters hit .271 on the season against the hurler.
The next showcase for the pitcher will be at Chevron Stadium home of the Tijuana Toros on Tuesday, September 12, at 10:45 AM.