Liván Moinelo Pita (born December 8, 1995) is a Cuban

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. Moder ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks The are a Japanese professional baseball team based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture. They compete in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as a member of the Pacific League. Founded on February 22, 1938, as the Nankai Club, being the first Kansai t ...

Nippon Professional Baseball is a professional baseball league and the highest level of baseball in Japan. Locally, it is often called , meaning simply ''Professional Baseball''; outside of Japan, NPB is often referred to as "Japanese baseball". The roots of the league ...

(NPB).

Career

Moinelo played for the

Cuban national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team () represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is generally made up of players from the domestic Cuban national baseball system, though it has at times included professional players who defect ...

at the

2015 Pan American Games The 2015 Pan American Games (), officially the XVII Pan American Games () and commonly known as the Toronto 2015 Pan-Am Games (Toronto 2015), were a major international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Pan American Games, ...

, 2015 Premier 12 and

2017 World Baseball Classic The 2017 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, composed of 16 competing nations, held from March 6 to 22, 2017. It was the fourth iteration of the World Baseball Classic. The first-round hosts wer ...

Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks

2017–2020

On May 10, 2017, the

Government of Cuba Cuba is communist and has had a socialist political system since 1961 based on the "one state, one party" principle. Cuba is constitutionally defined as a single-party Marxist–Leninist socialist republic with semi-presidential powers. The pre ...

signed a contract to dispatch Moinelo and Oscar Colas to the

as a developmental player. From May 28, 2017, he played on the Western League, one of the two minor league teams in the NPB. On June 16 of the same year, Moinelo signed a 20 million yen contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks as a registered player under control. On June 27, he pitched his debut game against the

Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters The are a Japanese professional Baseball in Japan, baseball team based in Kitahiroshima, Hokkaido, Kitahiroshima, Hokkaidō, in the Sapporo metropolitan area. They compete in the Pacific League of Nippon Professional Baseball, playing the major ...

as a

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who pitches in the game after the starting pitcher or another relief pitcher has been removed from the game due to fatigue (medical), fatigue, injury, ineffectiveness, ejection ...

. On July 2, he won a game as a relief pitcher for the first time in the

Pacific League The , or , or the , due to sponsorship reasons, is one of the two professional baseball leagues constituting Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. The winner of the league championship competes against the winner in the Central League for the a ...

. In 2017 season, he finished the regular season as a

Setup man In baseball, a setup man (or set-up man, also sometimes referred to as a setup pitcher or setup reliever) is a relief pitcher who regularly pitches before the closer. They commonly pitch the eighth inning, with the closer pitching the ninth. As ...

with 34 games pitched, a 4–3 Win–loss record, a 2.52 ERA, 15 holds, 1 save, and 36 strikeouts in innings. He pitched as a setup man in the postseason, and he pitched well in the 2017 Pacific League Climax Series against

Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles The , often shortened as the , are a baseball team based in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. It has played in Nippon Professional Baseball's Pacific League since the team's formation in November 2004. The team is owned by the Internet shopping ...

and the

2017 Japan Series The 2017 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2017'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's postseason. The 68th edition of the Japan Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the F ...

against

Yokohama DeNA BayStars The are a professional baseball team in the Japanese Central League. Their home field is Yokohama Stadium, located in central Yokohama. The team has been known by several names since becoming a professional team in 1950. It adopted its current n ...

, and contributed to the Hawks' Japan Series championship victory. In the 2018 season, Moinelo finished the regular season with 49 games pitched, a 5–1 Win–loss record, a 4.53 ERA, 13 holds, 1 save, and 57 strikeouts in innings. And in the postseason, he pitched as a setup man in the 2018 Pacific League Climax Series against

Saitama Seibu Lions The are a professional baseball team in Japan's Pacific League based north of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture. Before 1979, they were based in Fukuoka, Fukuoka Prefecture, in Kyushu. The team is owned by a subsidiary of Seibu Railway ...

and the

2018 Japan Series The 2018 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2018'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2018 Nippon Professional Baseball season, 2018 season. The 69th edition of the Japan Ser ...

against

Hiroshima Toyo Carp The is a professional baseball team based in Hiroshima, Japan. They compete in the Central League of Nippon Professional Baseball. The team is primarily owned by the Matsuda family, led by , who is a descendant of Mazda founder Jujiro Matsuda ...

, and contributed to the team's second consecutive Japan Series championship. In the 2019 season, Moinelo finished the regular season with 60 Games pitched, a 3–1 Win–loss record, a 1.52 ERA, 34 holds, 4 saves, and 86 strikeouts in innings. And in the postseason, he pitched as a setup man in the

2019 Pacific League Climax Series The 2019 Pacific League Climax Series (PLCS) was a post-season Climax Series playoff consisting of two consecutive series that determined which of the three teams who finished in the top three during the 2019 regular season would represent the Pa ...

against

and the

2019 Japan Series The 2019 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2019'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2019 season. The 70th edition of the Japan Series, it was played from 19-23 October. The ...

against

Yomiuri Giants The are a Japanese professional baseball team competing in Nippon Professional Baseball's Central League. Based in Bunkyo, Tokyo, they are one of two professional baseball teams based in Tokyo, the other being the Tokyo Yakult Swallows. They h ...

, and contributed to the team's third consecutive Japan Series championship. On October 8, he was selected by the Cuba national baseball team for 2019 WBSC Premier12. In the 2020 season, Moinelo finished the regular season with 50 Games pitched, a 2–3 Win–loss record, a 1.69 ERA, a 38 Holds (League Holds leader), a one Save, a 77 strikeouts in 48 innings. And he recorded his career high with K9 (14.44) and AVG (.164). In the

2020 Japan Series The 2020 Japan Series (known as the ''SMBC Nippon Series 2020'' for sponsorship reasons) was the championship series of Nippon Professional Baseball's (NPB) 2020 season. The 71st edition of the Japan Series, it was played from November 21 to 25. ...

against the Yomiuri Giants, He pitched in three games as a

, scoring no hits, no runs and 8 strikeouts, contributing to the team's fourth consecutive Japan Series champion. On December 17, Moinelo was honored for the

Best Relief Pitcher Award at the NPB AWARD 2020.

2021–present

In 2021, Moinelo finished the regular season having made 33 appearances and compiling a 1–0 record and 1.15 ERA, with 5 saves and 42 strikeouts across innings pitched. On January 27, 2022, Moinelo re-signed a three–year contract with the Hawks for an annual salary of 300 million yen. Moinelo made 53 appearances for the Hawks in 2022, registering a 1–1 record and 1.03 ERA with 24 saves and 87 strikeouts over innings of work. Moinelo was excellent for SoftBank to begin the 2023 season, recording an 0.98 ERA with 37 strikeouts and 5 saves in innings across 27 appearances. After being diagnosed with

arthritis Arthritis is a general medical term used to describe a disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, Joint effusion, swelling, and decreased range of motion of ...

in his left elbow, it was announced on July 16, 2023 that he would undergo a cleanup procedure on the same elbow and miss approximately three months. On March 26, 2024, it was announced that Moinelo had agreed to a four–year, $26.4 million contract extension with Fukuoka. Moinelo also transitioned into a starting pitcher role for 2024, starting his first game on March 30, against the 3 time defending pennant winning

Orix Buffaloes The are a Nippon Professional Baseball team formed as a result of the 2004 Nippon Professional Baseball realignment by the merger of the Orix BlueWave of Kobe, Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan, and the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes of Osaka, Osaka Prefecture ...

, where he gave up only 3 hits, 2 earned runs, and 1 walk in an 8 inning, 90 pitch losing effort. He earned his first win as a starter on April 13 against the

, only giving up 3 hits in 8 innings of work as the Hawks won 11-2. Moinelo also picked up his first hit during the 2024 season during

Interleague play Interleague play in Major League Baseball refers to regular-season baseball games played between an American League (AL) team and a National League (NL) team. Interleague play was first introduced during the 1997 Major League Baseball season. ...

Yokohama Stadium is a baseball stadium in Naka-ku, Yokohama, Japan. It opened in 1978 and has a capacity of 34,046 people. It is primarily used for baseball and is the home field of the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. The stadium features dirt around the bases an ...

against the

. Moinelo picked up the Pacific League ERA title in his first season as a starter with a 1.88 ERA, 155 strikeouts and an 11–5 record in 163 innings pitched.

References

External links

Team Roster Listing Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Moinelo, Livan
NPB.jp
35 Livan Moinelo PLAYERS2024
- Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks Official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Moinelo, Livan 1995 births Living people Baseball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Baseball players at the 2019 Pan American Games Cuban expatriate baseball players in Japan Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks players Nippon Professional Baseball pitchers Pan American Games bronze medalists for Cuba Sabuesos de Holquin players Vegueros de Pinar del Rio players 2017 World Baseball Classic players 2023 World Baseball Classic players Pan American Games bronze medalists in baseball Pan American Games baseball players for Cuba Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Baseball players from Pinar del Río