Yurisbel Gracial García

Outstanding Cuban baseball player who has achieved excellent results in National Series, with his country's national team, in the Canadian-American Independent League and is now being tested in Japan's Professional Baseball League.

On repeated occasions specialists from the island linked to the sport of balls and strikes have stated that Yurisbel is the local ballplayer with the best physical conditions for practicing his discipline. Gracial is a tall, strong and very fast athlete; characteristics that favor him in achieving power connections, throwing the ball very fast and moving with agility between the bases; all of this, combined with the talent he has developed to become an excellent third base defender and a contact hitter, make him an all-around ballplayer.

He started playing baseball as a child. In that sport he went through all the lower categories, although he did not complete the path to the majors; however, in his spare time he always practiced it. His idols have been: Antonio Pacheco, Omar Linares and Orestes Kindelán.

Yurisbel moved from Guantánamo to live in the hamlet of Las Marías, in the vicinity of the city of Matanzas. Gracial was a soldier, chief of a platoon belonging to a special forces command stationed on the outskirts of the yumurina capital. From there he moved on to represent the province in the National Baseball Series.

Yurisbel Gracial has been one of the pillars of the competitive Matanzas Crocodiles team that over the last six seasons has pursued the crown, although without achieving the cherished dream. Within the provincial team he has been a leader. He has always occupied slots of maximum responsibility in the lineup and on defense he has played where it was most needed for his team's cause.

The speed with which Gracial moves, his powerful arm and the skills he has acquired with the glove have made him a very useful ballplayer. Due to team needs for which he has played, they have moved him on defense from third base to shortstop, to second base and also to the outfield. His versatility has been tested within the National Series, representing his country in the Canadian Professional League and was one of the aspects that contributed to his entry into Japanese Professional Baseball. The managers of the teams where he has played have also frequently taken advantage of his speed in stealing bases and in running and batting plays.

In 2016 Yurisbel Gracial, represented by the Cuban Baseball Federation, signed a contract to play with the Quebec Capitales team, belonging to the Canadian-American Independent League. He did wonderfully. That season he achieved an offensive average of 320, after the 87 games in which he participated, with 105 hits, among them 14 doubles, five triples and nine home runs.

In March 2017 Yurisbel Gracial was part of the Cuban national team that attended the Fourth World Baseball Classic. In the event the Matanzas native was the most outstanding offensively among his team's representatives.

In 2017 he played again for the Quebec Capitales team, after an extension of his contract. That season the yumurina native won the title of the Canadian-American League (Can-Am League) and was selected as the league's best third baseman, thanks to achieving the third highest offensive average, 332; furthermore, he was second in hits, with 125; fourth in the departments of runs scored, 73, and doubles, 28; seventh among the top RBI leaders, 65; he also hit 3 triples, 13 home runs and stole 14 bases in 16 attempts.

On defense he won the Gold Glove award, an achievement thanks to committing only six errors in 52 games as a third baseman; while as a shortstop he participated in 25 games with only one error. Furthermore, in the seven games in which he played the outfield, he had no mistakes. As if that were not enough, he excelled offensively in the six playoff games. He hit 10 hits, of which four were doubles, drove in five runs and scored three; negotiated two walks and struck out only three times in 25 appearances.

In early 2018 Yurisbel Gracial was called to reinforce the Granma team that attended the Caribbean Series. And the Matanzas native did very well. He was one of the offensive leaders for the Cuban team in that tournament.

In February 2018 the defending champion of the Japanese Professional League, the SoftBank Hawks club, signed Cuban slugger Yurisbel Gracial for one season at an approximate salary of 511 thousand dollars. The contract provided for the Matanzas native's participation in the Central American and Caribbean Games that would be held that summer in Barranquilla.

Now in 2019 he returned with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks for the 2019 season of the Japanese professional league. Last year, this versatile veteran's contribution was key to the team's second consecutive championship. In the regular schedule he only participated in 54 games (injuries kept him away from the field), in which he hit nine home runs and drove in 30 runs; but in the playoffs his performance improved.

In December, the Hawks released Gracial; but they later negotiated with the player's agent, that is, the Cuban baseball federation, a new contract, although only for one year. The signing finally took place and this fact was covered by several press outlets.

The newspaper Nishi Nippon Sports revealed that the contract is for 150 million yen, approximately 1.4 million dollars (total amount, then come the deductions for taxes, there and here). The figure is the third highest amount received by a Cuban ballplayer in Japan, only surpassed by Alfredo Despaigne (16 million for three years) and the 1.5 million that the Yomiuri Giants paid Frederich Cepeda.