Mister-Baseball.com is counting down with short team-by-team previews until the World Baseball Classic starts on March 5th.
Cuba
The 2009 World Baseball Classic starts on Thursday this week with the first game of Pool A at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. Two teams are left in our preview series. Today we look at another heavily favored team with Cuba.
Opponents
The Cuban team is scheduled to start against South Africa on Sunday, March 8th in game one of Pool B at the Foro Sol Stadium in Mexico City. With nothing else as a victory expected in the opener, they will face the winner of the Australia-Mexico matchup in game two on Tuesday, March 10th. In round two, which Cuba definitely will reach, they face the two top teams from Pool A with Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. This phase is supposed to begin on March 15.
Recent Tournament History
When the first plans of the World Baseball Classic were revealed a few years ago, it was a possibility that such a tournament would be played without Cuba due to the difficult political relationships between the United States and the Caribbean country. However in the end this didn’t play a role three years ago in the inaugural edition of the WBC.
Still the first Classic was remarkable for Cuban Baseball, not because the team did participate, but due to the fact that the seemingly unbeatable team lost in the finals against Japan. Back then nobody thought it would be a big deal, just another slip like 2000 in the Olympics. However since the Cuban team has a quite a streak of lost finals on their way to the 2009 WBC. Of course, this could be coincidence or simply bad luck, but it is still notable.
Back to 2006: Cuba won the first two WBC games against Panama (8-6) and the Netherlands (11-2), before losing a meaningless third match to Puerto Rico (2-12). In the second round they also won two out of three matches (7-2 VEN, 3-7 DOM, 4-3 PUR) to advance into the semi-finals. They defeated the Dominicans 3-1 to reach the title game against Japan, losing 6-10.
In the following years the second-place finishes continued, besides a victory at the 2006 Intercontinental Cup. They lost the finals of the Olympic Qualifier in 2006 and the 2007 Baseball World Cup each time against Team USA. Last summer in the Olympics the Cuban team was upset by Korea to finish with the silver medal. They even ranked second in the latest two editions of the Haarlem Baseball Week (2006, 2008).
Nonetheless Cuba is ranked number one in the IBAF World Rankings with a 200-plus points lead over the USA and Korea.
Exhibition Schedule
Cuba – Aguilas de Veracruz 8-3
Cuba – Pericos de Puebla 13-0
Cuba – Pericos de Puebla 7-4
Tuesday, March 3:
Cuba – Pericos de Puebla
Thursday, March 5:
Cuba – Pericos de Puebla
Cuba departed to Puebla, Mexico on Friday, February 20th to start the final training camp before the start of the 2009 World Baseball Classic.
Roster
The Cuban team brings back most of their well-known highly talented players to the 2009 WBC. Obviously none of the Major League players from the Caribbean Island, like Alexei Ramirez, Jose Contreras or Yuniesky Betancourt are on the roster. Also missing is their best pitcher from 2006 Yadel Marti, who left the country at the end of last year to play in the United States. Not making the final cut were slugger Alexei Bell, all-time Cuban league batting leader Osmani Urrutia, 2006 offensive leader Yoandy Garlobo and pitchers Jonder Martinez, Yadier Pedroso and Vicyohandri Odelin.
The pitching staff will be led by veteran reliever Pedro Lazo. He gets help out in the much important bullpen from Yulieski Gonzalez, Norberto Gonzalez and Vladimir Garcia. Aroldis Chapman, Yuneski Maya, Norge Vera and Luis Rodriguez are expected to start, though Norberto Gonzalez could also be an option. Especially southpaw Chapman could open some eyes during the WBC. He supposedly was clocked 102 MPH this season in Cuba.
The Cuban teams of the last few years never had not enough fire power. This will not change for the 2009 World Baseball Classic. Catcher Ariel Pestano, who will finish his career after the IBAF Baseball World Cup next September, infielders Yulieski Gourriel and Alex Mayeta, plus switch-hitting outfielder Frederich Cepeda will lead the offense. They will be supported by the two young slugging outfielders Alfredo Despaigne (22) and Yoennis Cespedes (23), who combined for 50 homeruns this season.
Coaches
Cuba is probably the only team in the tournament, which sends the president of the national baseball federation, as manager to the World Baseball Classic. Higinio Velez, who led the team to Gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, to the Baseball World Cup titles in 2001, 2003 and 2005, and to the second-place finish in the inaugural edition of the World Baseball Classic three years ago, was named skipper of the Cuban selection a few weeks ago. He is the commissioner of the Cuban league since 2007. Velez succeeds Antonio Pacheco, who was heavily criticized in Cuba for the silver medal in Beijing.
Chances
The expectations in Cuba are pretty high and nothing else as a win at the World Baseball Classic will be considered a failure. They definitely have the talent on all positions to succeed. However it all will depend on their pitching staff and how it will fare in comparison to the top teams in the WBC. One thing should be clear: after the most recent results in international events the team will not take the games lightly and are extremely motivated to regain first place.
Previous
China
South Africa
Panama
Taiwan
Australia
Venezuela
Mexico
Puerto Rico
South Korea
Canada
Dominican Republic
Italy
Netherlands
United States of America
Photo: © IBAF, www.ibaf.org