The Cincinnati Reds $27M investment in Cuban RHP Raisel Iglesias was in action for everyone to see for the first time as he took the mound on Monday afternoon for the Surprise Saguaros in the Arizona Fall League. It was the first of two scheduled appearances for the right hander in the AFL before he is heading to Puerto Rico.
The first appearance couldn’t have gone much better for Iglesias. He threw a perfect inning of relief on a total of 10 pitches. He threw eight strikes while getting a pop up to first base, a ground out to himself and a strikeout on what Bill Mitchell called a plus curveball. Mitchell is a photographer and contributor to Baseball America who was in attendance for the game. Here is what he tweeted out after the inning:
Another outing, another 1-2-3 inning for Raisel Iglesias in #AFL debut. FB up to 97 today. Fanned last hitter on plus curveball. #Reds
— Bill Mitchell (@billazbbphotog) October 20, 2014
Have to love 97 MPH AND a plus curveball. I’d have loved to have been able to see Pitch F/X data here, but I can’t complain too much. Iglesias will pitch again on Thursday.
Spencer Fordin talked with him after the game for MLB.com.
“I felt really good,” he said. “I took it like a normal game and just went out and did my job. I asked the team for a little rest, I got a little rest, and then I got ready, came out here and felt really good.”