The new Toronto Blue Jays pitcher will make history for Cuban-born players on Saturday

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Yariel Rodriguez was impressive on Saturday afternoon. Making his first career appearance and making his first career start, he threw 3.2 innings in a win against the Colorado Rockies.

Rodriguez, who signed a five-year contract this season, allowed one run on four hits. He walked two and struck out six.

According to Cuban baseball insider Francis Romero, when the Cuban pitcher took the mound, he made a special and unique history of the team:

Yariel Rodriguez will become the first Cuban player to start a game for the Toronto Blue Jays since their inception as an MLB franchise in 1977.

In 2018, Kendrys Morales appeared in the game as a Blue Jays player, but in a player role.

Rodriguez played for Team Cuba in the World Baseball Classic last season and generated a lot of buzz in free agency before heading to Toronto this year. He began the year at Triple-A as he was slowed by a visa issue in spring training and then a reverse issue.

The Blue Jays are now 7-8 on the season after going 5-3. The loss dropped the Rockies to 4-11 as they continued to play up to projections that saw them as one of the worst teams in the league.

The two teams square off on Sunday with Kyle Freeland (0-2, 16.03 ERA) against Jose Berrios (2-0, 1.45).

The Rogers Center is scheduled to speak first at 1:37 a.m. ET. The Blue Jays play the Yankees starting Monday.

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