Javier Mirabal has decided to sign with the Águilas de Mexicali of the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico. Although the Cuban is represented by Thor Agency his contract was negotiated by renowned international agent Carlos Pérez. 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.
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. Mirabal tossed 20 innings this winter in the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol with the Guerreros de Oaxaca and posted a 3.15 ERA over that span.
Right-hander Javier Mirabal signs with @AguilasDeMxli of the @Liga_Arco. The pitcher belongs to the Thor Agency, but his contract was negotiated by @cperez58.
#CubanBaseballDigest #LigaARCO pic.twitter.com/svLC97w6zt
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) December 11, 2023
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 also fanned 54 batters over that stretch and has 1.36 WHIP, batters hit .271 on the season against the hurler.
Today his is training in Tijuana, México to showcase his talents for future MLB clubs. In his last live BP his fastball was at a sustained 94 mph and went as high 97, curve at 78 mph, slider at 83 mph and his changeup at 78. Mirabal is a pitcher physically similar to Bluejays prospect Yosver Zulueta, his ex-teammate in Cuba with Villa Clara. The righty has done various showcases for MLB organizations and his incorporation with Mexicali is to showcase those talents a little more during in-game situations.