Dalier Hinojosa Hernández (born February 10, 1986) is a

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

. Hinojosa pitched for the Indios de Guantánamo of the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, SNB) is the primary domestic professional baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. ...

and for the

Cuban national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team (Spanish: ''Selección de béisbol de Cuba'') represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is made up from the most professional players from the Cuban national baseball system. Cuba has been des ...

before he

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

from

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

in 2012. Hinojosa then played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) for the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

and

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Cuban career

Hinojosa played for the Indios de Guantánamo of the Cuban National Series from 2005 through 2012. As a 19-year-old rookie, he posted a 2–6 record with a 6.25

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

for Guantánamo in the 2005–2006 season. He then went 4–7 with a 4.83 ERA in 2006–2007, followed with a 1–2 mark and a 6.44 ERA in 2007–2008. Hinojosa improved to 7–4 with a 3.61 ERA in 2008–2009, which included one

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

and 48

strikeout In baseball or softball, a strikeout (or strike-out) occurs when a batter accumulates three strikes during a time at bat. It usually means that the batter is out. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters, and is deno ...

s in 87 innings, while tying for sixth in the Cuban Series with four

complete game In baseball, a complete game (CG) is the act of a pitcher pitching an entire game without the benefit of a relief pitcher. A pitcher who meets this criterion will be credited with a complete game regardless of the number of innings played—pitche ...

s. After that, he was 9–6 with a 4.07 ERA in 2009–2010, ending fourth in the league with 99 strikeouts, trailing only Vladimir García,

Odrisamer Despaigne Odrisamer Despaigne Orue ( ; born April 4, 1987) is a Cuban professional baseball pitcher for the Mariachis de Guadalajara of the Mexican League. He has played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Ma ...

and Yulieski González. Besides, he posted career numbers in starts (18) and innings pitched (126), while tying for the lead with six complete games, even with Maikel Folch, Norberto González, Fidel Romero, and the aforementioned González. In the 2010 World University Baseball Championship, Hinojosa threw a seven-inning mercy rule

perfect game Perfect game may refer to: Sports * Perfect game (baseball), a complete-game win by a pitcher allowing no baserunners * Perfect game (bowling), a 300 game, 12 consecutive strikes in the same game * Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League, New York ...

against the

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

squad, striking out 16 in the process. In his only other appearance in the event, he walked the two batters he faced. Cuba went on to take the gold medal. Besides, he played for Cuba in the 2010 Pan American Games Qualifying Tournament, as the team won spots in both the

2011 Baseball World Cup The 2011 Baseball World Cup (BWC) was the 39th international Men's amateur baseball tournament. The tournament was sanctioned by the International Baseball Federation, which titled it the Amateur World Series from the 1938 tournament through the ...

and

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

. He then threw another mercy rule perfecto against a third-rate Asian power, blanking the Hong Kong national team in a five-inning perfect game at the 2010 Intercontinental Cup. Hinojosa followed with two strong seasons in Cuba, going 8–4 with a 3.56 ERA in 2010–2011 and 9–7, 3.40 in 2011–2012. He only made two appearances in 2012–2013, ending 1–1 with a 5.40 ERA in just 8 innings. He defected from Cuba in February 2013 and petitioned Major League Baseball to become a free agent.

Major League Baseball career

Boston Red Sox

Hinojosa was declared a free agent in July 2013, and he signed with the Boston Red Sox to a

Minor League Minor leagues are professional sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports. Minor league teams tend to play in smaller, less elaborate venues, often competing in smaller cities/markets. This term is used in Nor ...

deal worth $4.25 million in 2013. The Red Sox invited Hinojosa to

spring training Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for Schedule (workplace), roster and position spo ...

in 2014 and started the regular season with the

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

of the

Class AAA Triple-A (officially Class AAA) has been the highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946. Currently, two leagues operate at the Triple-A level, the International League (IL) and the Pacific Coast League (PCL ...

International League The International League (IL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the United States. Along with the Pacific Coast League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A level, which is one grade below Major League Baseball ...

. Hinojosa made 41 relief appearances at Pawtucket, and despite struggling early, he turned his year around by posting a 1.57 ERA in his final 23 innings of work. Overall, he finished with a 3–5 record and a 3.79 ERA in 61 of work. He opened 2015 at Pawtucket, where he went 1–0 with a 3.68 ERA (3 ER/7 IP) and nine strikeouts in four games before being promoted to the Red Sox on April 29. Hinojosa made his majors debut on May 3, 2015 at

Fenway Park Fenway Park is a baseball stadium located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, near Kenmore Square. Since 1912, it has been the home of the Boston Red Sox, the city's American League baseball team, and since 1953, its only Major League Base ...

in an 8–5 loss to the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

. He would go on to thread 1 scoreless innings of relief and did not allow a hit, issuing three

base on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Se ...

and hitting one batter, while striking out

Alex Rodriguez Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez (born July 27, 1975), nicknamed "A-Rod", is an American former professional baseball shortstop and third baseman, businessman and philanthropist. Rodriguez played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the ...

on four pitches and Chris Young looking on three. After the game, Hinojosa was optioned back to Pawtucket in order to make room on the 25-man roster for infielder Luis Jiménez and then was designated for assignment on July 11, when the Red Sox made room for

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. He and the rest of the band were inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

on their 40-man roster.

Philadelphia Phillies

Hinojosa was claimed off waivers by the

on July 15, 2015. After playing 2 weeks with the Class AAA

Lehigh Valley IronPigs The Lehigh Valley IronPigs are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League (IL) and the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. They are located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and are named in reference to pig iron, used in the ...

, he was recalled to the majors on July 31 making his

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

debut the same day. On April 28, 2016 in his last MLB appearance against the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

, Hinojosa suffered an injury to his pitching hand after nationals center fielder,

Matt den Dekker Matthew Gerrit den Dekker (born August 10, 1987) is an American baseball coach and former outfielder, who is the minor league baserunning and outfielding coach for the New York Mets. He played college baseball at Florida for coach Kevin O'Sulliv ...

hit a line drive to the mound during the 8th inning. Hinojosa exited the game and was sent onto the disabled list for rehabilitation. Hinojosa later missed the rest of the season with a persistent shoulder injury. He was released from his minor league contract on May 17, 2017.

Retirement

On March 1, 2018, Hinojosa announced his retirement.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hinojosa, Dalier 1986 births Baseball players at the 2011 Pan American Games Boston Red Sox players Defecting Cuban baseball players Indios de Guantanamo players Lehigh Valley IronPigs players Living people Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States Pawtucket Red Sox players Philadelphia Phillies players Pan American Games medalists in baseball Pan American Games bronze medalists for Cuba Clearwater Threshers players Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games People from Isla de la Juventud