Roenis Leliebre Elías

Roenis Leliebre Elías is a Cuban left-handed professional baseball pitcher in the Chicago Cubs organization. He made his MLB debut in 2014. He previously played in the MLB for the Boston Red Sox, the Washington Nationals, and the Seattle Mariners.

Cuban Career
Elías pitched two seasons for Guantánamo in Cuba's National Series. In the 2008-09 season, he pitched 31 innings in 18 games (one start), compiling a record of 2-3 with an earned run average (ERA) of 7.84. In the 2009-10 season, he had an ERA of 7.14 with a record of 5-7 while pitching 63 innings in 21 games (17 starts).

Elías defected from Cuba in 2010 hoping to sign a contract with a Major League Baseball team. He traveled 30 hours by boat from Cuba to Cancún, Mexico. He initially played for the "B" team of the Sultanes de Monterrey in the Mexican League.

Seattle Mariners
Elías signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners on May 3, 2011. He made his minor league debut that season and pitched for the Pulaski Mariners of the Rookie League and the Arizona League Mariners, and the Clinton LumberKings Single-A. Overall, he had a record of 5-2 with an ERA of 4.28 and 41 strikeouts in 48 +1⁄3 innings pitched.

In 2012, he played for the Class A-Advanced High Desert Mavericks. He started 26 games, finishing with a record of 11-6, an ERA of 3.76, 128 strikeouts over 148+1⁄3 innings pitched. He played the 2013 season with the Jackson Generals Double-A. He started 22 games, had a record of 6-11 and 121 strikeouts in 130 innings.

Invited to spring training by the Mariners in 2014, Elías competed for a spot in the rotation on the Mariners' Opening Day roster, making him one of the team's starting pitchers. Elías made his Major League debut on April 3, 2014. Against the Detroit Tigers on June 1, Elías recorded the team's first shutout by a rookie since Freddy García in 1999. For the 2014 season, Elías pitched in 29 games (all starts) for the Mariners, compiling a record of 10-12 with an ERA of 3.85 in 163+2⁄3 innings pitched.

During the 2015 season, Elías made 22 appearances (20 starts) for Seattle, pitching 115+1⁄3 innings with an ERA of 4.14 while compiling a record of 5–8. He also made 12 starts for Triple-A Tacoma Rainiers, with a record of 4-2 and an ERA of 7.34 in 61+1⁄3 innings pitched.

Overall for the Mariners, Elías appeared in 51 MLB games (49 starts) with a record of 15-20 with an ERA of 3.97 in 279 innings pitched.

Boston Red Sox
On December 7, 2015, the Mariners traded Elías and Carson Smith to the Boston Red Sox for Wade Miley and Jonathan Aro.

Elías made his debut in Boston as a reliever on April 23, 2016, against the Houston Astros. In June, he was called up from Triple-A Pawtucket Red Sox and faced his former teammates in his first start with the Red Sox on June 17, allowing seven runs in four innings. Elías was sent back to Pawtucket after the game. He made one additional appearance for Boston during the season, pitching two innings of relief with one run against the Arizona Diamondbacks on August 16. Overall, for the 2016 season, Elías made three appearances for Boston, pitching 7+2⁄3 innings with an ERA of 12.91 and a record of 0-1.

Elías began the 2017 season on the injured list, due to a muscle strain suffered in early March. After missing several months of the season, he played with four different minor league teams of the Red Sox; the Single-A Lowell Spinners and Salem Red Sox, Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, and Triple-A Pawtucket. For those four teams, he pitched a total of 42+2⁄3 innings in 10 games with an ERA of 6.96 and a record of 1–6. At the end of the season, he made a single appearance with Boston, pitching 1/3 of an inning on September 4 against the Toronto Blue Jays; he walked one batter and struck out one batter.

Elías began the 2018 season with Triple-A Pawtucket, where he appeared in four games as a reliever, pitching a total of 7+1⁄3 innings with an ERA of 1.23, a record of 1–0 and one save.

Overall for the Red Sox, Elías appeared in 4 MLB games (one start) with a record of 0-1 with an ERA of 12.38 in 8 innings pitched.

Second stint with the Mariners
On April 23, 2018, the Red Sox traded Elías to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later (PTBNL) or cash considerations. They agreed on Eric Filia as PTBNL in June, but Filia failed his physical with the Red Sox and was returned to Seattle, and the Red Sox acquired cash considerations instead.

After reporting to Triple-A Tacoma, he had a record of 2-4 with an ERA of 4.94 (17 ER, 31.0 IP) with 27 strikeouts and 12 walks in 7 games (6 starts). On June 1, 2018, Elías was called up from Tacoma to make his season debut against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which he pitched two scoreless innings as a reliever, earning the win. Throughout the season, Elías was typically used as a long reliever or starter, finishing 2018 with an ERA of 2.65, 154 ERA+, 3.08 FIP and 2.13 strikeouts to walks ratio in 23 appearances (51.0 IP), including 4 starts.

Following the departure of All-Star closer Edwin Díaz in the 2018 offseason, as well as an early-season injury to newly acquired closer Hunter Strickland, Elías was used exclusively out of the bullpen, especially in high-leverage situations, ultimately becoming the team's new closer. In 44 games (47.0 IP) with the Mariners in 2019, he pitched to an ERA of 3.64 with 14 saves, 45 strikeouts and 17 walks.

Washington Nationals
On July 31, 2019, the Mariners traded Elías and Hunter Strickland to the Washington Nationals in exchange for Aaron Fletcher, Taylor Guilbeau, and Elvis Alvarado. Elías made his debut with the Nationals on August 2, 2019, recording the last two outs of the sixth inning. However, he was forced to leave the game and was placed on the 10-day injured list after tearing his right hamstring tendon running up the first base line during an at-bat in the next inning. In 2019 he pitched three innings for the Nationals. Between the Mariners and Nationals combined in 2019, he had a record of 4-2 with 14 saves and an ERA of 3.96, as in 48 appearances as a reliever he pitched 50.0 innings. The Nationals finished 2019 with a record of 93–69, securing the Wild Card and ultimately won the World Series over the Astros. Elias was not part of the Nationals' postseason run, but still won his first world championship. Elias was removed from the Nationals' 40-man roster on October 9, 2020, and declared a free agent the next day.

Third stint with the Mariners
On January 7, 2021, Elías signed a minor league contract with the Seattle Mariners organization. On March 16, it was announced that Elias had suffered a ulnar collateral ligament tear that required Tommy John surgery and sidelined him for the 2021 season. On March 26, Elías was released by the Mariners. On April 1, Elias re-signed with the Mariners on a new minor league contract.

On May 16, 2022, Elias was selected to the active roster. He made an appearance as a reliever for the Mariners, allowing a clean run with a hit and two walks against the Toronto Blue Jays. On May 19, Elias was removed from the 40-man roster and returned to Triple-A. On May 27, Elias was selected again to the active roster.

The Mariners designated Elías for assignment on June 20, 2022. On October 17, 2022, Elías elected free agency.

Chicago Cubs
On December 20, 2022, Elías signed a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs.

In 2023 he is part of Cuba's pitching staff for the World Baseball Classic.