Three Players from Las Tunas in Cuba’s Pre-selection to Baseball Premier 12

Wednesday, 02 October 2019 15:30

Three Players from Las Tunas in Cuba’s Pre-selection to Baseball Premier 12

Written by Dubler R. Vázquez Colomé

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Lefty Yudiel Rodríguez, one of the best pitchers this season.

Catcher Yosvani Alarcón and pitchers Yudiel Rodríguez and Carlos Juan Viera were ultimately the three players of Las Tunas Champion announced in the national pre-selection heading to the Premier 12 tournament, to integrate the team that will be led by the Camagüey mentor Miguel Borroto.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- In a press conference hosted on Tuesday by the Adolfo Luque Hall of the capital's Latin American Stadium, the list of 37 players who aspire to participate in the second edition of the tournament was announced, with the very difficult objective of get the only ticket in dispute for the American continent to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Outfielder and slugger Alfredo Despaigne, a star player of Japan's professional league Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks (36 homers and 88 RBIs, heads the group that will be under Miguel Borroto's order, who has just returned to the National Baseball Series and commands one of the best teams of the season, Camagüey Bulls.

In addition, players like the historic Fréderich Cepeda, of great performance in the 59 National Series; also members of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Yurisbel Gracial, Liván Moinelo, and Oscar Luis Colás; and the closer Raidel Martínez, of the Dragons of Chunichi.

Although the Regulations of the Premier 12 set October 3 as the deadline for each country to report the final roster, it became known that Cuba's Federation requested an extension and on a date yet to be defined will announce the 28 athletes who will ultimately be on 6 November at Gocheok Sky Dome stadium in Seoul, when Cuba debuts against Canada for Group C of the tournament. The regulation itself, however, grants the possibility of making up to eight changes to each roster, which can be made even during the Technical Congress of the competition.

NO SURPRISES FOR THE LUMBERJACKS

The announcement of the national pre-selection has not generated too many surprises for the followers of Las Tunas Lumberjacks, current monarchs of Cuba. Alarcón, Yudiel and Viera were the three main aspirants to be included in the group, assuming that the pitcher Yoelkis Cruz has ceased to be of interest for the baseball's national direction and the outfielder Yuniesky Larduet, a member of the team that attended Lima 2019 Panamerican Games, has not exhibited the same numbers of the previous season.

The other player with performance to be among the pre-selected players is the third baseman Yordanis Alarcón, one of the best hitters in the 59 Series, with an average of 379, six home runs and 33 RBIs. The eldest of the Alarcón brothers, however, has never been in the plans of the national strategists. Perhaps because of his youth, infielder Denis Peña also remains in the shade, waiting to be taken into account by those who decide.

Yosvani, on the other hand, will have to fight for a place in the team if the technical group decides to attend Premier 12 with only two catchers, just like in Lima. In the 59 Series, he averages 310, with a pair of home runs and 18 RBIs in 30 games, while he has captured eight of the 11 runners who came to steal.

Alarcón has not had outstanding performances in his most recent international appearances, although he is by far the most experienced in his position. In his two campaigns with the Chunichi development team, Ariel Martínez barely accumulates 81 games and 228 at-bats, with a pair of home runs, 30 RBIs and a very poor slugging of 356; while Yúnior Ibarra averages 263 in the current Cuban season, with a home run, 12 RBIs in 33 games and 50 percent of effectiveness capturing runners in the bases.

Better numbers show pitchers Yudiel Rodríguez and Carlos Juan Viera, although they must also hold the step at the end of the first phase and then in the brief training period.

Lefty Rodríguez has already joined the last Cuba team and has been one of the best pitchers in the 59 Series. At the moment, he exhibits 7-1 wins average and occupies the second place in ERA, 1.77, only surpassed by Yasmani Insua's 1.70.

Viera, meanwhile, shows 5-2 record and is the leader in strikeouts with 54 in 57.1 innings. His ERA is 3.30 and his WHIP, 1.19.

Premier12 gathers the 12 best national baseball teams according to the World Baseball and Softball Confederation ranking. This second edition will begin on November 2 in three different countries: Mexico, South Korea and Japan. The Cuban squad will face the Korean, Canadian and Australian teams in tournament key C.

CUBA'S PRE-SELECTION ROSTER

Catchers: (3)
Ariel Martínez, Yunior Ibarra, Yosvani Alarcón.

Infielders: (9)
William Saavedra, Yordanis Samón, Raúl González, Alexander Ayala, César Prieto, Yurisbel Gracial, Pavel Quesada, Yordan Manduley, Erisbel Arruebarrena.

Outfielders: (8)
Alfredo Despaigne, Yoelkis Guibert, Roel Santos, Oscar Luis Colás, Frederich Cepeda, Geisel Cepeda, Yusniel Ibáñez, Jorge Luis Peña.

Pitchers: (17)
Lázaro Blanco, Raidel Martínez, Liván Moinelo, Freddy Asiel Álvarez, Yoanni Yera, Carlos Juan Viera, Yosimar Cousín, Yariel Rodríguez, Vladimir García, Vladimir Baños, Frank Madán, Andy Rodríguez, Ulfrido García, Frank Luis Medina, Yudiel Rodríguez, Yasmani Insua, Miguel Ángel Lastra.