Last year Guillermo Heredia concluded what can be labeled as the best season by a Cuban in the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization), he even ended winning the league’s batting title hitting .360 , beating out Venezuelan Victor King (.352).
Heredia played 136 games, eight less than Reyes and was second in hits (195), only seven behind the Venezuelan. The rest of his slash line was a robust .399/.538/.937 and he also swatted 53 extra-base hits (31 2B, 1 3B and 21 HR). He set a new SSG Landers record for hits (195) and RBIs (118) . He also surpassed the RBI mark for a Cuban in Korea set José Miguel Fernández during the 2020 season when he drove in 105 runs.
Heredia also tied the record for home runs by a Cuban in the KBO with 21. José Miguel Fernández set the record with Doosan Bears in 2020 and Yasiel Puig in 2022 with Kiwoom Heroes equaled the mark. Heredia’s .937 OPS also surpassed Fernández .901 OPS in 2020 setting another record for Cubans.
The hit mark by a Cuban born player is 199 (José Miguel Fernández), but at that time he played in144 regular season games, eight more than Heredia. The outfielder also recorded 59 multi-hit games this season, 24 of them with three or more hits. Although SSG missed out on the playoffs expect Heredia to return to the Landers and be a catalyst in the team’s batting order.
Tell us about the experience of playing in the Korean league?
Playing in Korea has been an incredible opportunity for me. It opened doors in my career. I feel like the chosen one, because not everyone has the possibility to go there. The truth is that I liked it a lot. I love the culture. I would like to spend more years of my career here.
How special was winning a batting title there?
It was something very special. I was lacking a little confidence heading into the KBO, but Korea has revived me and given me that opportunity to extend my career. Having been the batting champion is something special for my career, for my personal life and for my family who have always been there in good and bad times.
The pitchers there don’t throw that hard, but they throw a lot of breaking pitches. Please elaborate on that.
It is very different from MLB pitching. They have good velocity on their fastballs, but it is not the same as the United States. They rely a lot on breaking pitches and play a lot of mind games with the batters. The truth is that facing these pitchers sometimes it is frustrating, but you try to make the adjustment to be able to move forward.
Cubans in Asia:
KBO:
Guillermo Heredia OF (SSG Landers)
Yasiel Puig OF (Kiwoom Heroes)
Rubén Cárdenas OF (Kiwoom Heroes)
CPBL:
Roenis Elías LHP (Fubon Guardians)
NPB:
Liván Moinelo LHP (SoftBank Hawks)
Dario Sarduy LHP (SoftBank Hawks)
Carlos Moiner OF (Chunichi Dragons)
Christian Rodríguez IF (Chunichi Dragons)
Randy Martínez LHP (Chunichi Dragons)
Andy Martín OF (Chiba Lotte Marines)
Raidel Martínez RHP (Yomiuri Giants)
Ariel Martínez IF (Nippon Ham Fighters)