Noel González (Cuba)

Noel González Saname

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 165 lb.

• Born April 9, 1996 in Holguìn, Holguìn Cuba

BR register page

Biographical Information

Noel González has played in Cuba and Italy and for the Italian national team.

He is the son of Noelvis González. He debuted in the 2015-2016 Cuban Serie Nacional, backing up Yeison Pacheco at 2B for Holguín and hitting .296/.387/.296 in 32 plate appearances. He batted .253/.351/.295 in increased time in 2016-2017 (BR Register gives slightly different stats; these are per Beisbolcubano) and .299/.385/.393 in 2017-2018.

In 2018-2019, he was at .267/.356/.344, then improved to .323/.422/.435 in 2019-2020. He hit .321/.416/.369 in 2020-2021 with 39 runs in 55 games. At this point, he signed with Parma in Italy. In the 2021 European Champions Cup, he hit .238/.360/.476 with four runs in five games, starting in right field for the champion Parma team. He hit a home run off the Amsterdam Pirates' Kevin Geestman.

For the 2021 Serie A1, he hit .436/.508/.653 with 43 putouts, 4 assists and no errors, mostly playing right. He tied for 6th in hits (44), led with 15 doubles (one ahead of Ernesto Liberatore), tied Alessandro Deotto for 10th in total bases (66) and was 3rd in average (after Exequiel Talevi and Ramón Bonilla). He then played for Italy in the 2021 European Championship; while Italy had regularly used foreign players and many Cubans had appeared in the European Championship, Italy had almost never used Cuban players before; Laidel Chapellí was an exception. González led off in their opener against Greece, drew a walk from Nick Pantos and came around to score. He was 0 for 2 that day but scored 3 times, setting his trend for the Euros - he hit .176/.440/.353 with 8 walks and 7 runs in 6 games, while playing good defense in right (7 PO, 2 A, 0 E). A highlight was a three-run homer off Austria's Paul Astl. In the Bronze Medal Game versus Spain, he moved to the bench, replacing Andrea Sellaroli in the lineup late in a 2-0 win and striking out against Rhiner Cruz his lone at-bat. For the Euros, he tied Denys Brechko and Shawn Larry for 2nd in walks, one behind former major leaguer Roger Bernadina.