On July 28, 2024, the Leñadores de Las Tunas won the Cuban National Series title, defeating Los Vegueros de Pinar del Río 4-1 in the seven-game series. We have all heard the classic mantra, “Defense wins championships,” but Las Tunas won the 2024 Cuban National Series title behind their blistering offense. Las Tunas was second in the league in OBP, tied for fifth for home runs, and fourth in batting average.
Plenty of offensive contributors led Las Tunas to be a top offense in the league. Yosvani Alarcón was the offensive leader for the whole season. The Cuban right-handed hitter boasted an impressive batting line of .396/.456/.638. In addition to Alarcón, Las Tunas had eight other players who hit over .300 this season.
Although I have made it clear that Las Tunas’s offensive firepower won them the title this season, Las Tunas did have one of the most productive pitchers in the league. Rodolfo Diaz Silva had a 3.55 ERA, the sixth-best of any pitcher who pitched more than 70 innings. Additionally, Silva had the sixth-most strikeouts in the league.
The best hitter in the league played for the 2024 runner-ups, Los Vegueros de Pinar del Río. Los Vegueros 42-year-old first baseman, William Saavedra Valdes, batted .411 throughout the season. In addition to his staggering average, Saavedra Valdes was able to hit for power, smashing 14 home runs. The Cuban only stuck out 14 times, earning him a remarkable strikeout-to-home run ratio of one. Although Los Vegueros came up short of the title in the end, William Saavedra Valdes, at 42 years old, had one of the most impressive seasons in league history.
The best pitcher in the league this season was the ace for Tigres de Ciego de Ávila, Ediel Ponce La Rosa. La Rosa had the best ERA in the Cuban League by far, with an impressive 2.15. La Rosa was one of only four pitchers with an ERA under three and the only pitcher with one under two and a half. Although La Rosa was not a strikeout pitcher, barely having over one K/BB, La Rosa found ways to effectively get outs and manage the game. In a league that is so offensively dominant, having a pitcher like La Rosa is so rare, making him, in my estimation, the most valuable player in the league.
Cuban baseball will be on a brief hiatus until November, when the Cuban Elite League starts again. The tournament format changed drastically in 2023; rather than having all the teams from the Cuban League compete in the Elite League, the Elite League only accepted the top six teams from the Cuban National Series regular season. Last season, the Cocodrilos de Matanzas entered the Elite League as the sixth seed and went on to win the tournament. The Elite League does a terrific job keeping fans engaged during the offseason. Additionally, the league motivates players to stay in shape and train.
