# Two Cubans as opponents in MLB: Vladimir Gutiérrez vs Guillermo Heredia

**Date:** 06/28/2021

The best Cuban opening pitcher of the current season and ace of the Cincinnati Reds, Vladimir Gutiérrez, vs one of the batters with the best progression, Atlanta Braves outfielder Guillermo Heredia. If the context were different, both the player from Matanzas and the one from Pinar del Río could well be teammates on Team Cuba. However, life put them on different paths for today, capriciously, to face each other head to head.

Gutiérrez wears number 53, he stands facing home plate. He looks like a veteran from the mound of sighs, but he's still young, he lacks road experience. Nevertheless, he looks "sharp", receives the signals from his catcher and sends a four-seam fastball that reaches the plate with a velocity of 92 miles per hour.

In the seventh inning, the lucky inning was not entirely so for the rookie right-hander. On the other hand, his compatriot fared better. Heredia, with somewhat more experience in Major League Baseball, lunged furiously at that fastball. The seams traveled almost 400 feet through center field in what meant the fourth home run for the Cuban during the current campaign.

After this home run, the islander reached 23 home runs in his Major League career and confirmed himself as the ambidextrous player with the most home runs in Major League Baseball (MLB). Furthermore, he was able to break an adverse streak for him, as he had accumulated five games without hitting and six without being able to hit it out of the park.

Curiously, of the four home runs he has registered this season, the one this Friday against Vladimir Gutiérrez was the first he achieves solo, as the previous ones came with at least one runner in circulation. Likewise, it was the second he hits on a count of one ball with no strikes.

Although the projections had him with seven home runs this 2021, his current frequency of one every 43.3 at-bats suggests that he will at least surpass 10 home runs before the current season closes.