Yadier Pedroso González

Cuban baseball player, right-handed pitcher for the teams Habana, Artemisa and the Cuban national team. Known as Pedrosito.

He was Junior Category World Champion in 2004, winning a memorable game against Japan's starting pitcher, Yu Darvish. He made his debut in National Series with the Habana team, with which he achieved the title of National Champion in the XLVIII National Baseball Series. He would later pitch two seasons with Artemisa and would be selected as a reinforcement for the Sancti Spíritus team in the LII Series, although he would not come to pitch with them due to his premature death.

Considered among the best pitchers in Cuba, he represented the Island in multiple international events, including two World Baseball Classics and an Olympiad.

He was born in Guanajay, Habana. From age 7 he began playing baseball. He participated in the 2004 Junior World Championship where he won two games and was not defeated, pitching with an earned run average of 0.50, and winning the championship with Team Cuba. In the final game, he pitched a one-hit shutout against Japan, surpassing Yu Darvish. Thanks to his performance in the tournament he was included in the event's All-Star team and was awarded the event's MVP award. Backup pitcher for the I Classic in 2006 and for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

He made his debut in the XLIV National Baseball Series with Habana, winning eleven games and losing four, with an earned run average of 2.47 as a rookie. In that series he reached the playoff finals, where he lost the sixth game, 2-1 against Ormaris Romero, of Santiago de Cuba.

In the XLV National Baseball Series 2005-2006, he won eight games and lost five with an earned run average of 3.63. In the XLVI National Baseball Series he won seven games and lost seven with an earned run average of 3.69.

In the XLVII National Baseball Series 2007-2008, Yadiel had a record of 8-3 wins and losses with an earned run average of 2.73, in 105 1/3 innings, struck out 106 and allowed 81 hits. He tied for 5th place in the league in earned run average and was second in strikeouts, five behind his teammate Yulieski González.

In the XLVII National Baseball Series 2008-2009, he wins 9 and loses only 3 games with an earned run average of 1.91, in addition to delivering 114 strikeouts in 113 innings allowing 89 hits. He leads the league in earned run average and is third in strikeouts behind Aroldis Chapman and Yunieski Maya.

In the LI National Baseball Series 2011-2012, he wins 9 and loses 6 games with an earned run average of 2.64, in addition to delivering 128 strikeouts in 129.1 innings allowing 97 hits, opposing batters only hit .210 against him.

During the LII National Baseball Series he suffered an injury, which is why he could only pitch in the final stage of the first half of the tournament with his Artemisa team, despite which he was selected for his historical results to integrate Team Cuba for the III World Baseball Classic. When Artemisa did not qualify, the manager of Sancti Spíritus, Roger Machado, chose him as a reinforcement for his team for the second part of the tournament, but he did not arrive to wear the Espirituano uniform when death surprised him in a traffic accident on March 16, 2013.

He joined the Cuban national team at the 2005 World Baseball Cup, where he allowed 2 runs in 2 1/3 innings.

He was part of Team Cuba that participated in the II World Baseball Classic in 2006, allowing two runs in five innings spread across three games. Already at that time he was considered among the best pitchers of the Cuban National Team.

In the qualifying tournament for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, he wins a game and does not lose with an earned run average of 2.25 and 11 strikeouts in eight innings.

In the Haarlem Baseball Week 2008 he wins a game and does not lose with an earned run average of 1.50. He also participates with Cuba in the 2008 Olympic Games. In Beijing, he only participates in one game where he allows 6 hits and 2 runs in 3 innings against the Dutch national team, a game won by Cuba.

Despite having a bad year with Artemisa in the LII National Baseball Series, he was selected to be part of Team Cuba's pitching staff for the III World Baseball Classic, but he only had a brief appearance on the mound, in which he looked out of form and gave up a home run, so Cuba's manager, Víctor Mesa chose not to use him any longer on the mound.

Yadiel Pedroso died as a victim of a traffic accident on March 16, 2013 in Manga Central, Artemisa, when the car he was traveling in crashed into a cargo truck.

The body was laid out at the theater of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of Artemisa, where he was paid tribute by family members, friends, directors of INDER, members of the Cuban delegation to the III World Baseball Classic and teams from Artemisa and Las Tunas, which at that time were playing a subseries of the II Division of Cuban Baseball in the 26 de Julio baseball park. He was buried on Monday, March 18.

The funeral procession with the remains of Pedrosito, as he was nicknamed, traveled through the main streets of Artemisa, accompanied by family members, friends, political authorities and fellow citizens, to the cemetery. In the tribute, Roberto Pacheco, sports commentator for Radio Rebelde, recalled the pitches of this pitcher.

Sergio Suárez, General Director of Education, Sports and Culture of the Provincial Administration Council, presided over the funeral of the Cuban pitcher, his girlfriend Yanet Kessell and footballer Raciel Torres, who died along with Pedroso.