MLB: Five Cubans that could debut in the Majors this year

One of the bright spots of the upcoming MLB season is the introduction of some new faces. Here are five Cuban players that can make their debut in 2020.

In this peculiar and abysmally short MLB season, there are some bright spots, one of them being the expansion of rosters to 30 players to open the season. Eventually, these rosters will have to be trimmed to 28 two weeks after Opening Day, but these extra spots might open the way for various Cubans to make their major league debuts.

One such prospect that is a lock to debut this season is the highly touted Luis Robert Moirán of the White Sox, who is the # 3 prospect in MLB pipeline’s top 100. Moirán had a monster season last year the native of Ciego de Avila, Cuba hit .328 while driving in 92 runs in route to a 30-30 season. Look for the outfielder to be a favorite for the rookie of the year.

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Washington Nationals outfielder Yadiel Hernández is the wild card in this bunch, the talented slugger also had a great year at Fresno (AAA). In 126 games in the Pacific Coast League, Hernández hit .323  while going yard 33 times and driving in 90 runs. His patience at the plate and high OBP (.406) is tailor-made for the big show. This winter he tore apart the ultra-competitive Mexican Winter League pitching to the tune of a .336 batting average.

The versatile Andy Ibáñez could also sneak into the big leagues with Texas because of his pop and ability to play various infield positions. The infielder also can swing a big stick, last season he slugged 30 doubles, 20 round-trippers, and hit .300 at Nashville (AAA). Do not be alarmed to see him break camp with the club or make his debut sometime during the campaign.

Now one who came out of nowhere to be on the cusp of making a roster out of camp is Johan Oviedo of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The righty is equipped with a blazing 98 mph fastball and this weapon helped him fan 163 batters last season on the farm. Also, his array of dominant breaking pitches has the team thinking about calling him up or having him open the season in the big leagues this season.

Last Saturday he was dominant in an inter-squad scrimmage. The flamethrower pitched two innings in which he didn’t allow a run and only gave up one hit while retiring three via the K.

The long-shot here is Miguel Romero of the Oakland Athletics. The native of Guantanamo has a fastball in the triple digits and a changeup that has people comparing him to Fernando Rodney. Romero has all the makings of a future closer for the swinging A’s.