14ymedio, Havana, 11 February 2022 — Cuban baseball continues to lose athletes, this time it is outfielder Dariel Polledo Aballí. The native of Matanzas left the island after the Villa Clara provincial commissioner, Ramón Moré, announced on January 5 that the 24-year-old player had withdrawn from the team due to “health problems,” according to SwingCompleto.
The Matanzan left with his girlfriend for Mexico and from there to the United States, where he will seek an opportunity with one of the Major League teams. The lack of opportunities in the Matanzas nine had been one of the reasons why he sought to make up the Villa Clara roster for the 61st National Series, which was authorized for him; he even trained with the squad led by Pedro Jova .
But something happened to Polledo along the way that led him to make the decision to emigrate. Already by May 2021 he had expressed to TeleCubanacán his annoyance at the lack of opportunities in Matanzas and his decision to join the Leopardos Azucareros (Sugar Leopards). “I’ve had good results in the Under-23s. I think what I need is to play a little more ball to develop myself,” said the 2019 Golden Glove outfielder.
Unlike the prospects who have left for the Dominican Republic, Polledo arrives in a less prominent role. “In four seasons (56, 57, 58 and 60) he had 112 times at bat, scored 37 runs and had 25 hits, in addition to starring in five steals, he struck out 26 times and his average was .223. The most relevant of his numbers was his OPB (on base percentage), .393,” published Cubalite .
Polledo joins the long list of players who have left Cuba at the beginning of the year. At the end of January, Yunior Tur and Yosimar Cousín, the players who were excluded from the “patriotic team” that Eriel Sánchez formed to compete in Mexico, reappeared in the Dominican Republic.
On January 6, one day after Polledo’s withdrawal from the Villa Clara team was announced, it was announced in Camagüey that they no longer had left-handed outfielder Leonel Segura, who left Cuba for Venezuela. “He was authorized to travel abroad and did not join on the agreed date nor has he established communication with the technical group, which is why he is dismissed from the official payroll,” the board notified.
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