Amauri Sanit Sabouren (born July 4, 1979) is a Cuban former professional baseball pitcher. Sanit played for the Industriales of the Cuban National Series before defecting from Cuba in 2006. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees in 2011, before joining the Tigres in 2012.

Amauri Sanit
Sanit with Tigres de Quintana Roo at Los Pinos in 2013
Pitcher
Born: (1979-07-04) July 4, 1979 (age 45)
Havana, Cuba
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
May 12, 2011, for the New York Yankees
Last appearance
June 10, 2011, for the New York Yankees
MLB statistics
Win–loss record0–0
Earned run average12.86
Strikeouts4
Stats at Baseball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Teams

Playing career

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Sanit grew up boxing, but switched to baseball at age 16.[1] He became a closer in the Cuban National Series for the Industriales.[1][2] When Cuban officials became aware of Sanit's desire to play in the United States, they began to hold back his career to prevent him from being showcased, not allowing him to play on the Cuban national baseball team.[1] As a result, Sanit defected in 2006.[1][3]

Sanit arrived in Mexico, then he went to Costa Rica. Later he went to Guatemala where he had a record of 4–0 and 0.00 of ERA.[4] Then he went to Panama before going to the Dominican Republic.[1]

In the Dominican Republic in 2008, the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball discovered Sanit and signed him to a minor league contract.[1][3] Sanit was invited to the Yankees' spring training camp in 2010, but failed to make the final roster.[5] While a member of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees of the Class AAA International League in 2010, he was suspended for 50 games for the use of performance-enhancing drugs.[6]

Sanit made his major league debut on May 12, 2011, after the Yankees purchased his contract earlier in the day.[7] As of 2016 he was one of 12 Yankees pitchers since 1919 to make his debut after turning 29 years old, with the most recent being Richard Bleier in 2016.[8]

On June 16, the Yankees released Sanit to clear a 40-man roster spot for Brian Gordon.[9]

In 2012, Sanit signed with the Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League. He pitched against the Texas Rangers of MLB in an exhibition in 2014.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f "Amauri Sanit's Pinstripe Dreams « Mike Ashmore's Thunder Thoughts". Thunderbaseball.wordpress.com. May 29, 2009. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  2. ^ "OnCuba | Amauri Sanit: A new Cuban samura". Archived from the original on September 24, 2013. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Texas Rangers to take swings at Cuban defector | Dallas Morning News". Rangersblog.dallasnews.com. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  4. ^ "::::::::::Todos Los Deportes De Guatemala". Comotedeje.com. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
  5. ^ "Amauri Sanit, New York Yankees, MLB - CBSSports.com Baseball". Cbssports.com. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  6. ^ "New York Yankees Yankees farmhand Amaury Sanit suspended 50 games for positive performance-enhancing drug test - ESPN New York". ESPN. May 28, 2010. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
  7. ^ "Yankees call up RHP Sanit, option INF Pena". USA Today. May 12, 2011.
  8. ^ "Yankees' Richard Bleier makes big league debut". MLB.com. Retrieved July 2, 2016.
  9. ^ Dierkes, Tim. "Yankees Release Amaury Sanit". MLBTradeRumors.com. Retrieved June 16, 2011.
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