By Rabiel Vega
When Leostany Molina of Santiago made his debut with the Wasps in the ’59 National Series, he could never have imagined that three years later, he would hit his first home run in the uniform of a franchise that had won the major leagues, such as the Houston Astros.
At the age of 19, Leostany Molina left Cuba for the Dominican Republic in 2019 with his teammate Ricardo Ramos. News broke that he became a free agent in 2021. His athletic abilities caused a stir among many scouts.
In the same 2021 he signed for the Astros and was taken to the Dominican Summer League. He was named an All-Star after combining for 51 hits in 164 at-bats with six doubles, three triples and one home run extra-base hit. Additionally, he finished the tournament with a .311 average and 27 RBIs.
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He spent all of 2022 playing in Fayetteville of the Carolina League, playing in 116 games, hitting 214/.277/.298/.575 (AVE/OBP/SLG/OPS), with 98 hits, six of them home runs. He played 54 times and scored 37 runs.
Leostani Molina took advantage of the opportunity
Leostani Molina had a hit in his previous five at-bats, but during a game against the Atlanta Braves on Friday, March 3, he shook the post to send the ball orbiting around left-center field.
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The drive traveled a distance of 392 feet bringing the footings clean. After a big comeback by the losing Sidereals, the tie produced solid figures for the match, which ended with 11×8 points. 8×0.
Molina replaced Jeremy Pena, who had a pair of hits in four at-bats.
Cuban prospect Leostany Molina homered in the eighth inning of the afternoon clash. @planets And @The Braves #SpringTraining #SpringTraining2023 #Ready2Government pic.twitter.com/eQN5p8pWie
— Robiel Vega (@robielvega) March 4, 2023
