Raidel Martínez has done something no other Latino or Cuban has done in the Nippon Professional Baseball League, he has saved 40 games for the third consecutive season after recording a save in yesterday’s in the nation’s capital in the land of the rising soon.
The Pinar del Río closer retired all three batters he faced in order and recorded two strikeouts to preserve the Yomiuri Giants’ 3–2 victory over the Yakult Swallows at the Tokyo Dome. After another perfect inning, Martínez lowered his ERA to 1.26 and tied Kazuhiro Sasaki for third place on the NPB’s all-time list with 252 career saves.
The Cuban right-hander is en route to a future enshrinement in the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. This would make him only the sixth foreigner and second Latino behind Venezuelan slugger Alex Ramírez to grace the halls of the museum located inside the Tokyo Dome. Only 222 players have been enshrined in the NPB Hall of Fame.
All-time NPB saves leaders:
1. Hitoki Iwase — 407
2. Shingo Takatsu — 286
3. Kazuhiro Sasaki — 252
3. Raidel Martínez — 252
5. Yoshihisa Hirano — 250
5. Naoya Masuda — 250
7. Yasuaki Yamasaki — 246
8. Kyuji Fujikawa — 243
9. Yuki Matsui — 236
10. Dennis Sarfate — 234