Havana. Cuba debut this Wednesday in it V World Baseball Classiche before Netherlands, his black beast, thirsty for revenge after the failure of Farmers, your letter in the Caribbean series.
This desire for victory does not come only from the disaster in Caracas, where the team chosen for that competition came last.
In the last two years, Cuba failed to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games -which were played in 2021- and finished penultimate in its group at the U23 World Cup last year.
To heal the wounds, it will have three active players in the US Major Leagues (MLB) for the first time.
It is a historical fact. Since the ban on professionalism on the island, Cuban baseball players have been relegated to ostracism, who disassociated themselves from the Federation to succeed in the best league in the world.
The fans – who have not celebrated an international triumph since 2016 – will have their hopes pinned on three players: Andy Ibáñez of the Detroit Tigers, as well as Yoán Moncada and Luis Robert of the Chicago White Sox.
This faith in the big leagues is not blind. The trio of reinforcements, who just joined the group on March 3, have already made a difference on the diamond.
In the last two preparation matches for Cuba in Taiwan, the leap in quality has been noted. For example, Moncada managed to go 2-for-2 and drove in a two-run home run in Monday’s 6-0 victory over Hermanos CTBC, the current Taiwanese league champion.
“I have given continuity to the work I had been doing, concentrating on the fact that the most important thing is to help the team,” he said in statements collected by the official Cubadebate media.
Ibáñez, for his part, connected for 3-3. These numbers, in such a short time, are hardly found in other elements of the national team, which accumulated five wins and six losses on its Asian tour (Japan and Taiwan).
“We are satisfied with the way in which these meetings have been used,” Johnson told the state press.
The team with the four letters, as the national team is known on the island, will also have other elements that play abroad.
But the most prominent name is that of the historic slugger (high-powered batter) and team captain, Alfredo Despaigne, who holds the record for the most home runs in tournament history.
Weapons:
Cuba not only paints to hit hard, they will also have much better pitching than the one they showed in the Caribbean Series.
The addition of pitchers in the Japanese League, such as Yariel Rodríguez (starter in Wednesday’s game), Liván Moinelo and Raidel Martínez, will be a factor on the mound.
Cuba is located in group A together with Taiwan, the Netherlands, Italy and Panama.
The last game for the islanders will be against Taiwan next Sunday.
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Different Cuban sports analysts, several of them consulted by EFE throughout the preparation process, have agreed that the team has the elements to pass the first round.
The question that remains in the air is how far Johnson’s ninth will go. EFE
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