Liván Moinelo

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Liván Moinelo Pita

  • Bats Left, Throws Left
  • Height 5' 7", Weight 139 lb.

BR register page

Biographical Information[edit]

Liván Moinelo has pitched in Japan and Cuba and for the Cuban national team.

Moinelo debuted for the Vegueros de Pinar del Río in 2013-2014, going 2-2 with three saves and a 4.05 ERA. The teenager walked 25 in 33 1/3 IP. In 2014-2015, he improved to 8-1, 1.46 with 8 saves. He allowed a .188 batting average and had 63 K to 9 BB in 61 2/3 IP. He was 7th in the Cuban Serie Nacional in saves, between Ciro Silvino Licea and Yadir Rabi.

At age 19, he made the Cuban national team for the first time, at the 2015 Pan American Games; he was their youngest player, almost a year and ten months younger than Héctor Mendoza. He was, in fact, the youngest player on any of the men's teams that year (some of the players in the women's baseball event were younger), almost six months younger than Tyler O'Neill. He did well at 1-0, 1.93 in four games (tied for the team lead). He got the win over Nicaragua, relieving Yander Guevara with a 6-3 deficit and allowing no hits, walks or runs in 4 2/3 IP as Cuba would win, 11-6. Against Team USA, he entered in the 7th with the bases loaded and one out. He allowed a two-run double to Travis Jankowski, Albert Almora being thrown out at third on the play. Yunier Cano took over and gave up a two-run double as the US tied it. Cuba won the Bronze Medal.

In the 2015 Premier 12, he was no longer Cuba's youngest player as Julio Pablo Martínez was a few months younger. He put in a show against Team Canada, relieving Yosvany Torres in the first with a 3-0 deficit and striking out nine in six shutout innings before cracking in the 7th, allowing two more. He also got a win over Italy with 2 1/3 shutout innings. For the event, he was 1-0 with a 4.15 ERA. His 11 strikeouts tied Andres Santiago for 8th (leaderboards not counting the finale). In 2015-2016, he was 6-5 with 14 saves and a 2.82 ERA. In game 2 of the finals, he blanked the Tigres de Ciego de Ávila from the 8th to the 12th before allowing the losing run in the 13th. He then saved wins in games 4, 5 and 6 as the Vegueros tied the Series but they dropped game 7. He tied Alexander Rodríguez for 9th in the league with 34 games pitched, was second in saves (one behind Hector Ponce) and tied Dachel Duquesne and Frank Montieth for 4th in strikeouts (73). He was named Cuba's All-Star LHP that year.

Moinelo struggled in the 2016 Caribbean Series as his 10.38 ERA was the highest of any qualifier; reinforcing Ciego de Ávila. He was rocked for five runs in 1/3 of an inning against the Santurce Crabbers but pitched four shutout innings versus the Tigres de Aragua. That summer, he played for Cuba in the Canadian-American Association, going 0-1 with 3 saves, a 1.88 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 14 1/3 IP. In 2016-2017, he was 8-4 with two saves and a 3.25 ERA for the Vegueros in the first half and reinforced the Perros de Holguín when the Vegueros did not make the second half. He had a 4-5, 2.93 record for the Perros. He tied Vladimir García and Jonder Martínez for third in the league in wins, tied for third in losses and was 8th with 63 strikeouts (between Yariel Rodríguez and Erly Casanova). He then joined his third team of the year, playing for the Alazanes de Granma in the 2017 Caribbean Series and throwing 2 2/3 scoreless frames in saving Lázaro Blanco's opening win over the Tigres del Licey in a combined shutout. His 5 2/3 scoreless innings for the Series marked a nice improvement on 2016; only two hurlers worked more zeroes that Series - Daniel Rodríguez and Vladimir Baños.

In the 2017 World Baseball Classic, he allowed one run in three innings, giving up three hits and striking out seven but walking five. He tied Baños for the most strikeouts on the Cuban staff, but only Yoannis Yera and Josh Zeid issued more walks in the tournament and both worked at least 4 2/3 more innings. He then went to Japan, signing with the Softbank Hawks, joining Cuban slugging star Alfredo Despaigne on the team as part of an arrangement allowing Cuban players to play in NPB without defecting. He went 4-3 with a save and a 2.52 ERA in 34 regular-season games in 2017 in Japanese Baseball, helping the Hawks to the Pacific League pennant. He allowed only 21 hits in 35 2/3 IP. He had a 1.93 ERA in 4 games in the 2017 Japan Series, losing Game 5 to the Yokohama BayStars' Yoshiki Sunada but the Hawks prevailed in 6.

He pitched briefly in Cuba in 2017-2018 (1-1, 3.24 in 4 G). He was 5-1 with two saves and a 4.53 ERA for the 2018 Hawks, striking out 72 and walking 34 in 59 1/3 innings but only surrendering 35 hits. He allowed one run in 2 1/3 innings over 4 appearances in the 2018 Japan Series (on a Yoshihiro Maru homer) when Softbank beat the Hiroshima Carp. Pitching for the Leñadores de Las Tunas in the 2019 Caribbean Series, he was 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA, losing to the Charros de Jalisco's Sergio Romo. He went 3-1 with 4 saves and a 1.52 ERA in 60 games for Softbank in 2019, fanning 86 in 59 1/3 innings. He tied Naoya Ishikawa and Naoya Masuda for 9th in the PL in appearances. He missed time while Cuba played in the 2019 Pan American Games, in which he fanned 10 in 5 2/3 shutout innings. He tied Giovanni Soto for 3rd in strikeouts, behind Randy Consuegra and R.J. Freure. He threw 3 1/3 shutout innings when the Hawks topped the Yomiuri Giants in the 2019 Japan Series, only giving up one hit. He was with Cuba for the 2019 Premier 12, getting the victory over Australia's Josh Tols. He had a 6.75 ERA for the event, though.

The little lefty was on Cuba's announced roster for the 2020 Americas Olympic Qualifier in March 2020, before that was one of the first baseball events cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He was 2-3 with a save and a 1.69 ERA that summer for Softbank, only giving up 26 hits in 48 innings while setting down 77 on strikes. He tied Shinya Kayama and Naoki Miyanishi for 6th in the PL in outings. He was third in voting for the 2020 PL MVP, behind teammates Yuki Yanagita and Kodai Senga; he had 20 first-place votes and 293 vote points. He was even more dominant in the 2020 Japan Series, striking out 8 Giants in 3 innings and not giving up a hit or run as Softbank repeated as titlists. He pitched briefly in shutout work in Cuba in the 2020-2021 postseason. He was with Cuba when the Americas Olympic Qualifier was finally held in 2021 but walked an event-leading 5 in 3 1/3 IP and had a 5.40 ERA

He just kept improving in 2021 as his already-low ERA dropped to 1.15 and he was 1-0 with 5 saves. He did miss time with wrist and elbow problems. He was better yet in 2022 (1-1, 24 Sv, 1.03), finally taking over the closer's job; he only allowed 22 hits in 52 2/3 IP, striking out 87. His 53 appearances tied Yuki Matsui for 9th and he was 4th in saves, between Masuda and Roberto Osuna. He retired all four batters he faced in the 2022 NPB All-Star Games. He tied Taisei Makihara for 15th in voting for the 2022 PL MVP. Returning to his homeland for the Cuban Elite League for the 2023 postseason, he allowed only two hits in 27 AB, striking out 12; he did not allow a run and registered 3 saves in 4 games. He pitched 4 1/3 shutout innings for Cuba in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, tying José Ruiz for 4th in ERA. He allowed 2 hits and 3 walks while striking out 5. His four appearances were one behind leader Miguel Romero. He was 3-0 with 5 saves, a 0.98 ERA and .58 WHIP in 27 games in 2023 before arthritis ended his season early.

Moving to the rotation in 2024 despite his recent injury history, he was 11-5 with a 1.88 ERA. He won the ERA title, .29 ahead of Natsuki Takeuchi. He tied Masaru Fujii and Takahisa Hayakawa for 4th in wins and was 4th in K (155, between Takahisa Hayakawa and Chihiro Sumida). He was 4th in voting for the 2024 Pacific League Most Valuable Player Award, between Kohei Arihara and Hiromi Itoh. He also won the PL Gold Glove at pitcher, handling 31 chances error-free. He beat Yokohama's Shinichi Ohnuki in Game 2 of the 2024 Japan Series, though he gave up 3 runs (all earned) in 6 2/3 IP. It was one of Softbank's two wins as they fell to the BayStars in six. He had a rough time, though, in the 2024 Premier 12, going 0-2 with a 12.60 ERA, losing to South Korea's Hyeong-jun So and Japan's Tatsuya Shimizu. He tied Sam Benschoter and Po-Ching Chen for the most losses, tied for 3rd in walks issued (5), tied Luis Miranda for 3rd in runs allowed (8) and only trailed Shairon Martis and Miranda in earned runs allowed (7).

He pitched shutout ball in innings 3 and 4 of the 2025 NPB All-Star Game 1, a 5-1 PL win over the Central League. He not only defended his ERA title but improved a fair bit, going 12-3 with a 1.46 ERA and 172 K in 167 IP. He led in ERA (.17 ahead of Koki Kitayama), was 3rd in strikeouts (behind Itoh and Tatsuya Imai) and tied Naoyuki Uwasawa for 4th in wins. He allowed one run in six innings in 2025 Japan Series Game 3 to defeat fellow ERA leader Hiroto Saiki of the Hanshin Tigers in a 2-1 duel. He was the runaway winner of the 2025 PL MVP, with 177 first-place votes and 983 vote points; Franmil Reyes was second at 9 and 257. He was also named to the Best Nine as the PL's top hurler though fellow PLer Itoh won the Sawamura Award as Japan's top pitcher.

Sources[edit]

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