Two Cuban pitchers who were 'Japanese baseball' were not missing or asylum! Coming back soon

*This content was translated by AI.

Raidel Martinez (30, Yomiuri Giants) and Livan Moello (31, Softbank Hawks), who are considered super-special outsiders of the Japanese Professional Baseball League (NPB), who played in the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) as Cuba's national team, will return to their teams soon. It has been confirmed that the missing or asylum attempt was not the one feared.

Reporter Francis Romero, a reporter who specializes in Cuban baseball, said on his SNS on the 22nd (Korea time), "It has been confirmed that Cuban stars Martinez and Moello will soon return to Japan. We will go back to our respective teams," he wrote.

Martinez and Monello, who played in the WBC side by side as members of the Cuban national team, unfortunately finished the tournament by failing to qualify. Cuba had 2 wins and 2 losses, but lost to Canada and Puerto Rico, which had good results with a 3-1 record. First of all, after the schedule was over, Martinez and Monello returned to their home country of Cuba, but Japanese media reported that they could not be reached.

Martinez and Monello are big names who are classified as super-special foreign players in the NPB. Martinez has played for the Chunichi Dragons since the 2018 season and has been active for eight seasons until the 2025 season. Ahead of the 2025 season, he left Chunichi to move to Yomiuri and secured his finishing position. He pitched in 58 games and had a very stable record of 3 wins, 2 losses, 46 saves, and a 1.11 ERA. It is the top closing pitcher with 212 saves in the NPB's total. The annual salary for the 2025 season reached 1.22 billion yen (about 11.5 billion won).

Monello is also a key player in SoftBank's starting rotation. In 24 games in the 2025 season, he recorded an unrealistic performance as a starting pitcher with 12 wins, 3 losses and a 1.46 ERA. He even had the No. 1 ERA in the Pacific League. The annual salary for the 2025 season was 1 billion yen (about 9.5 billion won). Under these circumstances, Softbank coach Hiroki Kokubo and others said they could not be reached, causing a lot of concern.

Fortunately, however, it seems to end with happening. "Currently, Cuba is experiencing an energy crisis," Japan's The Digest said. Air fuel shortages and power outages are occurring due to the impact of U.S. sanctions. Due to the unstable situation and local infrastructure conditions, there was a possibility that it would be difficult to return to Japan."

Currently, NPB is set to play the opening game on the 27th after completing the exhibition game schedule. After their return, they are expected to explore whether they will join the opening game entry.

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*This content was translated by AI.