Sandel Cuevas

Sandel Onesimo Cuevas Ledezma

• Bats Left, Throws Left

• Born March 4, 1983

Biographical Information

Sandel Cuevas has played in the Division de Honor/Spanish Baseball League for many years and was on the Spanish national team.

He was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in the 2003 European Championship. Pre-2008 Spanish league stats are unavailable online (as of 11/25/22). He did not play in Spain's top loop in 2008-2009. In 2010, he hit .361/.404/.503 with 39 RBI and 13 doubles in 36 games for the Astros Valencia, fielding .984 (mainly at 1B) and posting a 2.08 ERA in bit action on the hill. He was 4th in hits (53), tied Oscar Angulo for 5th in RBI, was second in doubles (2 behind Richard Montiel), placed 9th in total bases (74) and was 3rd with 286 putouts.

During 2011, he was steady at .360/.412/.583 with 42 RBI in 34 games, fielding .984 again and allowing two runs in 7 innings. He was 4th in hits, led in RBI (six more than Marc Carrillo), was second in homers (six, one behind Montiel), ranked third with 81 total bases (after Adolfo Gonzalez and Montiel) and was 4th in putouts (278). The next year, he was far better on offense (.467/.513/.800, 15 2B, 8 HR, 44 R, 42 RBI, 8 SB, 4 CS in 35 G), allowed four runs (three earned) in four innings and fielded .989. He was among the leaders in average (2nd, .004 behind Larry Infante), slugging (2nd, .038 behind Infante), OBP (4th), runs (2nd, 7 behind Infante), hits (63, one shy of Infante), RBI (2nd, 8 behind Infante), doubles (1st, one ahead of Carrillo), triples (3, tied for 2nd), home runs (3rd, trailing Infante and Blake Ochoa), total bases (108, 2nd, 6 behind Infante), steals (tied for 10th), putouts (333, 1st) and double plays (27, 2nd, two behind Jose Luis Riera).

In 2013, he slumped to .281/.333/.360 and .970 for a sharp drop-off, pitching four shutout innings for Valencia. He led in double plays turned (29) but also grounded into the most (6). He bounced back in '14, with a .351/.401/.575 batting line, 36 runs and 35 RBI in 32 games. He fielded .981 and allowed one run in one inning. He was 9th in slugging (between Jesús Golindano and Montiel), tied Ochoa for 7th in runs, tied for 8th in hits (47), tied Yancarlo Franco for 4th in RBI, led with five triples, tied for 7th in homers (4), was 5th in total bases (between Franco and Golindano) and was second with 275 putouts (two behind Marco Davalillo Jr.). He stole nine bases in nine attempts in '15, when he hit .327/.372/.442 with 24 runs in 28 games. He fielded .989 and was 9th in average, tied Franco and Franklin Tavarez for 3rd in runs, tied for 5th in hits (37), tied for 2nd in doubles (10, 3 behind Angulo), tied for 5th in steals, was 6th in total bases (between Jean Acevedo and Golindano) and was 3rd in putouts (237).

The veteran had an off-year in 2016 (.303/.372/.394) though he fielded .994 as the Astros won their first championship. He was 8th in the circuit with 21 RBI, tied for second with two triples, was 9th with 43 total bases, tied for 4th in steals (7), led in putouts (243, 12 more than Ochoa) and led in double plays turned (22). In the 2017 Federations Cup, he hit .370/.414/.519 with four doubles and six runs in six games for the hosts, handled 47 chances error-free and allowed one run in three innings, getting the win over Nabil Tauil and the K. Deurne Spartans. He led the event in fielding (Ochoa was next, at 1.00 in 42 chances), tied for 5th in hits (10), tied Acevedo for second in doubles (one behind Steven De Lannoy) and tied Michel Rodriguez for 7th in total bases (14). That summer in Spain, he produced at a .366/.455/.677 rate with 26 runs and 24 RBI in 26 contests. He fielded .995. He made leaderboards for average (7th), slugging (2nd, .224 behind Rodriguez), OBP (10th), doubles (10, 4th), triples (2, tied for 2nd), circuit clouts (5, tied for 5th) and total bases (63, 7th).

Cuevas starred for Valencia in the 2018 Federations Cup. In the round-robin phase, he was at .636/.625/.955 with 7 doubles, 7 runs and 9 RBI in 5 games, stealing 3 bases in 3 tries. He made no errors in 13 chances (he moved to outfield that season) and allowed four runs in six innings in a loss to Eddie Aucoin and the Sölvesborg Firehawks, Valencia's lone loss. He led in average by .025 to win the Best Hitter Award. He was second in slugging (.045 behind Ochoa), fourth in slugging (between Ochoa and Héctor Acuña), tied Kestas Vilimas and Acuña for 7th in runs, led in hits (14, 2 ahead of Emmanuel Febles and Ochoa), was 3rd in RBI (behind Ochoa and Vilimas), led in doubles (4 more than anyone else) and led in total bases (21, one more than Ochoa). In the title game, he was 2 for 4 with two runs and two RBI as Valencia beat the Firehawks to avenge their loss and take the title. That summer's Spanish season was a very good one. He hit .473/.569/.741 and was 2-0 despite a 6.00 ERA. He was 4th in average (between Franco and Febles), 8th in slugging (between Roibert Decena and Montiel), 5th in hits (53), tied Febles for 8th in RBI, 1st in doubles (3 ahead of Febles and Leopoldo Correa) and 9th in total bases (between Ochoa and Febles).

He was only 2-for-13 in the 2019 CEB Cup but drew four walks and scored a pair. He tied for third in walks, one behind Simon Liedtke and Andrei Tatarevich. In Spain, he batted .337/.414/.512 with 22 RBI in 24 games, was 0-1 with four runs (two earned) in two innings and had 43 putouts, 3 assists and no errors. In 2020, he hit .426/.476/.444 with 15 runs in 15 games, placing 6th in average and 5th in putouts (124) while moving to 1B.

Sandel had a couple big moments in the 2021 CEB Cup, scoring the winner in a comeback against the Dornbirn Indians and hitting a three-run double off Shane Priest to rally from a 2-0 deficit in the 8th against the Templiers de Sénart. He hit .381/.458/.429 with five RBI in five games. He tied for 9th in hits and tied for 8th in RBI. That year, he batted .404/.500/.491 in the Spanish Baseball League, with 18 runs in 18 games, but averages were high and he did not make the top 10. In the 2022 Confederation Cup, he was 3 for 14 with a homer, five RBI and four walks in four games. He tied for fifth in both walks and RBI. In the '22 SBL, the 39-year-old struggled at .216/.322/.297.