Naykel Cruz to play with the Kitchener Panthers.

Naykel Cruz, stellar pitcher of the Cocodrilos de Matanzas, is one of the athletes who will soon be leaving for foreign contracts.

The 24-year-old left-handed player from Matanzas team will play for the Kitchener Panthers, a team that competes in the Intercounty Baseball League of Canada, a team that also includes Yadián Martínez from Mayabuco and Raúl González from Avileña.

«I am grateful for having once again the opportunity to participate in a foreign league. I’m still recovering, I’m not at one hundred percent.

«I clarify that I have no injury, but it is a long process where the arm is getting stronger until I can resume pitching with catcher and then with batter, but for the contract I am in optimal conditions,» said Naykel regarding the good news and his recovery from the injury.

Precisely that injury was what prevented the also member of the Cuba team in the last World Baseball Classic from pitching with Matanzas in the final of the II Elite League of Cuban Baseball.

«For no one it is a secret how great it feels to be champion. I was always supporting the team and they knew I was present even if not with my pitches. I always knew that the result was going to come out.»
Undoubtedly, a bright future awaits the still young Matanzas pitcher with the Cocodrilos de Matanzas and in foreign leagues.