Raisel Enrique Iglesias (born January 4, 1990) is a Cuban professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("Pitch (baseball), pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, ...

for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He previously played in MLB for the

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Central Divisi ...

and

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League West, ...

. He signed with the Reds as an international free agent in 2014 after defecting from Cuba.

Career

Cuban career

Iglesias played for the

Piratas de Isla de la Juventud Piratas de Isla de la Juventud, or simply Piratas de la Isla is a baseball team in the Cuban National Series. Based in Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud, the Piratas reached the Finals of the 54th Cuban National Series, remaining as runners-up. ...

in the

Cuban National Series The Cuban National Series (, or SNB) is a domestic baseball competition in Cuba. Formed after the dissolution of the Cuban League in the wake of the Cuban Revolution, the National Series is a part of the Cuban baseball league system. For most ...

, and played for the

Cuban national baseball team The Cuba national baseball team () represents Cuba at regional and international levels. The team is generally made up of players from the domestic Cuban national baseball system, though it has at times included professional players who defect ...

, appearing in the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike the tw ...

and

2013 World Port Tournament The 2013 World Port Tournament was an international baseball competition held at the DOOR Neptunus Familiestadion in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from June 30 through July 7, 2013. It was the 12th edition of the tournament and featured teams from C ...

. In September 2013, Iglesias attempted to

defect Defect or defects may refer to: Related to failure * Angular defect, in geometry * Birth defect, an abnormal condition present at birth * Crystallographic defect, in the crystal lattice of solid materials * Latent defect, in the law of the sale o ...

from Cuba. He hid in the mountains of

Isla de la Juventud Isla de la Juventud (; ) is the second-largest Cuban island (after Cuba's mainland) and the seventh-largest island in the West Indies (after mainland Cuba itself, Hispaniola, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Trinidad, and Andros Island). The island was ...

, but was caught and was detained. In November of that same year, Iglesias successfully defected from Cuba. He established his residency in

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

before holding an open tryout in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in December 2013.

Cincinnati Reds

On June 27, 2014, Iglesias signed with the

, to a seven-year contract worth $27 million. The Reds formally added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

when he arrived in the United States on August 12. In

spring training Spring training, also called spring camp, is the preseason of the Summer Professional Baseball Leagues, such as Major League Baseball (MLB), and it is a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spri ...

in 2015, the Reds evaluated Iglesias as a

starting pitcher In baseball (hardball or softball), a starting pitcher or starter is the first pitcher in the game for each team. A pitcher is credited with a game started if they throw the first pitch to the opponent's first batter of a game. Starting pit ...

. He started the season in the Reds'

Opening Day Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent year ...

starting rotation This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

, and made his MLB debut on April 12. He had a couple of stints on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

, limiting him to just 18 games, 16 of them starts. His record was 3–7 with 104 strikeouts. The following season, after beginning the season in the rotation, Iglesias was moved to the bullpen. Iglesias served as setup man and closer for the Reds, finishing with six saves in 37 games. In 2019, Iglesias started the season as the Reds closer and ended the year with career-highs in saves (34) and appearances (68) and a 4.16 ERA. On August 8, 2020, Iglesias earned his 100th MLB career save against the Brewers. In 2020, Iglesias pitched to a 4–3 record and 2.74 ERA with 31 strikeouts in 23.0 innings of work.

Los Angeles Angels

On December 7, 2020, Iglesias was traded to the Angels for

Noé Ramirez Noé Ramirez (born December 22, 1989) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Arizona Diamondbacks. The Red Sox selected Ramirez in the fourth ...

and

Leo Rivas Leonardo Andres Rivas (born October 10, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional baseball infielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2024. Career Los Angeles Angels Rivas signed with the Los Angeles Ang ...

. With the Angels, Iglesias was named American League Reliever of the Month for July 2021. Iglesias finished the 2021 season with a 2.57 ERA, 103 strikeouts and 34 saves. The 34 saves tied his career high and he came up one strikeout short of tying his career high at 104. On December 1, 2021, Iglesias re-signed with the Angels on a four-year, $58 million contract. On June 26, 2022, after the brawl between the Angels and the Seattle Mariners, Iglesias threw a tub of sunflower seeds and a bucket of gum onto the infield. This was also the first ejection of his career.

Atlanta Braves

The Angels traded Iglesias to the

for

Jesse Chavez Jesse David Chavez (born August 21, 1983) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Atlanta Braves organization. He played college baseball at Riverside Community College, and was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 42nd round of the 2 ...

and Tucker Davidson on August 2, 2022.

Personal life

Iglesias had a son during the 2018 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iglesias, Raisel 1990 births Living people Atlanta Braves players Cincinnati Reds players Defecting Cuban baseball players Gwinnett Stripers players Louisville Bats players Los Angeles Angels players Major League Baseball pitchers Major League Baseball players from Cuba 21st-century Cuban sportsmen Cuban expatriate baseball players in the United States National baseball team players Sportspeople from Isla de la Juventud Surprise Saguaros players Toronjeros de Isla de la Juventud players 2013 World Baseball Classic players