Cuban pitcher Raidel Martínez once again closed out the game in Nippon Professional Baseball today, securing his 42nd save of the season in the Yomiuri Giants’ 3-1 victory over Hiroshima.
The right-hander worked the ninth inning at the Tokyo Dome; he issued one walk but allowed no further baserunners, retiring the remaining three batters to preserve his team’s victory.
With this performance, Martínez solidified his status as the Central League’s saves leader and added to his tally in a season where he holds a record of five wins and four losses.
The closer has allowed just seven earned runs over 52 innings—resulting in a 1.21 ERA—while recording 56 strikeouts and only 12 walks; these figures explain the confidence placed in his arm during the closing stages of games.
Martínez is one save away from matching the 43 he recorded in 2024 with the Chunichi Dragons, while last year he set a personal best of 46 with Yomiuri—a figure that allowed him to share the Central League lead and bring his total number of titles to three.
In fact, the native of the western province of Pinar del Río became the first pitcher in the history of Japanese professional baseball to surpass 40 saves in a season with two different teams.
His current season takes on even greater significance following his 250th career save on September 10—achieved against his former team, Chunichi, at the Tokyo Dome. This feat made him the sixth pitcher in NPB history, and the first foreign player, to join that select group.
That milestone was also reached with unprecedented speed; he needed only 411 games to secure 250 saves—four seasons’ worth of appearances fewer than the previous record of 435 set by Kazuhiro Sasaki. Following today’s performance, the pitcher from Pinar del Río has an official record of 254 saves in Japanese baseball—ranking third all-time, trailing only Hitoki Iwase (the record holder with 407) and Shingo Takatsu (second with 286).
