In their second exhibition game FEPCUBE (Cuban Professional Baseball Federation) will send ex-big league star José Contreras to the mound against the Houston Apollos of the Western League. The game will take place at the University of Miami’s Alex Rodríguez Field at Mark Light Stadium at 5:30 PM.
Contreras who last saw action in 2016 with the Tigres de Quintana Roo in the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol going 3-4 with a 3.79 ERA. The Apollos are one of the teams FEPCUBE was supposed to face in the now canceled Intercontinental Series in Barranquilla, Colombia. Liván Hernández is scheduled to throw out the game’s first pitch.
José Ariel Contreras has been announced as the starter for @fepcube in this Monday's game against the @apollos_houston. The ex-big league star was hitting 87-88 MPH with has fastball during his latest bullpen session.
#OneTeamOneDream #AllSomosCuba 🇨🇺#CubanBaseballDigest pic.twitter.com/jk1jEhAMRP
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) January 25, 2024
The right-hander from Pinar del Río, Cuba compiled a 78-67 record and 4.57 earned run average in 11 major league seasons with the Yankees, Rockies, Pirates, Phillies and White Sox. Contreras won a world championship in 2005 and an All-Star berth in 2006 . In total the hurler was 4-3 with a 3.49 ERA in 18 playoff starts.
FEPCUBE last played against the Miami-Dade College Sharks on January 17th of this year winning a thrilling 3-2 game in front of packed house at Demie Mainieri. The game will be broadcast on FEPCUBE’s YouTube channel, while Con Las Bases Llenas Alfre Álvarez will do the play-by-play and our own Yordano Carmona will be the color analyst.
Monday, January 29th @fepcube will play an exhibition game vs. @apollos_houston, the US team that was also invited to the @ipbseries, Barranquilla 2024 We'll be back soon with more details as soon as they are available. #Cubanbaseballdigest #FEPCUBE #OneTeamOneDream 🇨🇺🇨🇺🇨🇺 pic.twitter.com/zZ20d7Bkgd
— Cuban Baseball Digest (@CBaseballDigest) January 19, 2024