Carlos Yánes

Carlos Alberto Yánes Artiles

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 183 lb.

• Born May 20, 1965

Carlos Yánes holds numerous Cuban pitching records, both positive and negative, in a career noted primarily for his durability.

Yánes, pitching for Isla de la Juventud, tied for the 1984-1985 Serie Nacional lead with 12 intentional walks, his first of many appearances on the league leaderboards. Carlos led the eastern league in walks (41) in 1988-1989. Three years later, he led the east with 103 1/3 IP. He led the 1993-1994 Serie Nacional in innings (125 1/3) and hit batsmen (14).

Carlos led the 1995-1996 Serie Nacional with 141 hits allowed. In 1996-1997, he set an aluminum-bat era record with 25 starts and set the all-time record of 204 hits given up. He was the losing pitcher in the 1999 Cuban All-Star Game.

Yánes made his only Cuban national team appearance in 1999. He was with Cuba for game two of the 1999 Baltimore Orioles-Cuban National Team Exhibition Series. He remained with Cuba for the 1999 Intercontinental Cup. He was 0-2 with a 2.45 ERA, walking 5 in 7 1/3 innings; the rest of the staff was 6-1. Despite having over a decade left in his career, he was the club's second-oldest performer. He made negative history in the Gold Medal game against the Australian national team. After 2/3 scoreless innings in the 10th, he opened the 11th with walks to Ronny Johnson and Paul Gonzalez. He recovered to fan Grant McDonald and get Dave Nilsson on a fly. Gary White pinch-hit for Mike Moyle and flew to Yasser Gomez in center; Gomez lost it in the sun, giving White a RBI single. That gave Australia a 2-1 victory, depriving Cuba of a title.

In 1999-2000, the veteran tied Ciro Licea for the lead with 25 starts. He also threw a no-hitter on march 5 against Villa Clara. During 2001-2002, he finally led the league in a positive with four shutouts. He also won the All-Star game in Cuba that year.

Yánes led the 2002-2003 Serie Nacional in starts (22) and hits allowed (172). In 2003-2004, he lost the All-Star Game. It was one of his best years as he led the circuit in wins (13), innings (167) and complete games (12) as well as hits (177).

Through 2003-2004, the Isla de la Juventud mainstay was among the Cuban all-time leaders in seasons pitched (21, 2nd to Faustino Corrales), games pitched (588, 1st), games started (386, 3rd), complete games (160, 7th), wins (187, 5th), losses (194, 1st), runs allowed (1,794, 1st), hits allowed (3,442, 1st; no one else was over 3,000), innings (3,093 1/3, 3rd), earned runs allowed (1,572, 1st), strikeouts (1,808, 6th), walks (1,061, 3rd), homers allowed (399, 91 more than anyone else) and hit batsmen (185, 5th).

In the 2004-2005 season, Carlos led with 13 complete games. During 2005-2006, he tied Pedro Luis Lazo for the lead with 12 wins. Through 2006-2007, Yánes was among the Cuban leaders in career games (648, 107 more than anyone else), starts (446, 1st), innings (3,495, 1st), strikeouts (2,022, 5th), complete games (179, tied for 4th), walks (1,175, 2nd to Corrales), wins (214, 3rd) and losses (216, 1st).

He went 8-7 with a save and a 3.84 ERA in 2007-2008 despite more walks (51) than strikeouts (45). He entered 2008-2009 with a 222-223 record, 40 saves and a 4.49 ERA for his career. In 2008-2009, the old-timer was 9-7 with a save and a 4.69 ERA to go over .500 for his career. He was 8th in the league in innings (121), 4th in hits allowed (144), 9th in runs allowed (70) and tied for the most homers given up (18).

Carlos announced his retirement on November 25, 2011. He leaves the sport with 235 wins, second only to Pedro Luis Lazo, who comes in first among Cuban pitchers with 257.

Sources

• Defunct IBAF site
• A History of Cuban Baseball by Peter Bjarkman
• Baseballdecuba.com
• Beisbolcubano
• Cubasi.com