Amsterdam ? A Cuban pitcher considered by many baseball scouts to be the No. 1 left-handed prospect in the world left his hotel and vanished before the first ball was thrown at a tournament in the Netherlands, leaving his whereabouts a mystery, a spokesman for the Dutch team said Friday.

Aroldis Chapman, a player with a 100 mph fastball, was seen walking through the lobby of his hotel and climbing into a waiting car within an hour of the team’s arrival Wednesday for a four-nation tournament, said spokesman Loet van Schelbeet.

Chapman, 21, failed to show up Thursday for Cuba’s first game in Rotterdam, said van Schelbeet.

The head of the Cuban delegation, Luis Carton, said he also had no idea where Chapman was.

“We are waiting for information. We do not know anything,” Carton told The Associated Press. “No one knows anything about what happened, if he is sick, died or left.”

It was not known if Chapman was defecting and planning to join the U.S. Major Leagues.

He would be the most prominent Cuban baseball defector since Jose Contreras left during a tournament in Mexico in 2002.