Dan Kubiuk wrapped up the 2026 LMB Banorte regular season as the most effective closer in the league: 24 saves — the highest total in all of Mexican baseball — and an ERA+ of 290 that puts him among the best relievers in the country. The Campeche Pirates, who looked like a non-contender back in May, punched their ticket to the South Zone playoffs with a 47-39 record, and Kubiuk was the lock that kept their late-game leads safe down the stretch.
From Double-A Arizona to the Top of the LMB
Kubiuk’s path to Mexican baseball wasn’t a fallback — but it did come through a detour. In July 2025, the Arizona Diamondbacks signed him to their Double-A affiliate, the Amarillo Sod Poodles. It didn’t stick: 11.1 innings, a 9.53 ERA. Not his level, at least not then.
The right-hander from Barrington, Illinois — a Northwestern University product — returned to the circuit where he’d already proven himself. He’d spent the 2024-25 winter with the Guasave Algodoneros in the Mexican Pacific League, sharpening his closing skills. When the Campeche Pirates assigned him on April 17, 2025 for the 2026 LMB season, the fit was immediate. The team needed a shutdown arm in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Kubiuk came in and bolted the door.
24 Saves: How You Build a Lead, One Out at a Time
At the 2026 LMB All-Star break, Kubiuk was sitting 12th in saves with 12. Brett de Geus (Tijuana Toros) led the pack with 15, with Chris Ellis (Monterrey Sultanes) right behind at 13. The second half flipped the standings entirely.
Kubiuk finished with 24 saves, pulling clear of de Geus, Ellis, and Jimmy Cordero (Tabasco Olmecas, who ended with 19 SV). His ERA+ of 290 means he performed at nearly three times the league average for a reliever — in plain terms, he delivered what you’d normally need three solid arms to produce. His FIP of 3.82 points to walks (11 on the season) as his one real weakness.
Worth noting: Cordero finished with a 2.30 ERA and a 2.28 FIP — both better than Kubiuk’s in advanced metrics. The debate over the 2026 LMB Reliever of the Year has arguments on both sides. In saves, though, Kubiuk stands alone.
The Pirates Make the Playoffs: A Turnaround Few Expected
In May, the Campeche Pirates were the second-worst team in the South Zone. Manager Lloyd McClendon reshuffled the roster, the club found its footing, and the season changed shape. They finished at 47-39 — good for third place in the zone and a playoff berth.
Kubiuk’s role in that run was concrete and measurable: every time the Pirates reached the ninth with a lead, the door was closed. Estadio Cruz Azul Nelson Barrera Remellón — the club’s home since 1980, a franchise with two Serie del Rey titles (1983 and 2004) — will host postseason baseball in 2026 in part because a reliever from Illinois decided to come back to Mexico when Double-A didn’t work out.
That’s really the Kubiuk story this season: not a pitcher who had everything figured out, but one who found his moment in the right place.
