By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
Puerto Rico has announced the roster it will send to the 2023 Caribbean Cup, which will be played in Fajardo and Las Piedras, Puerto Rico next week.
The Fifth World Baseball Softball Confederation Americas-sanctioned Caribbean Cup tournament will begin on October 1, with a chance for the host nation, World Baseball Ranking No. 13 Puerto Rico, to earn ranking points towards qualifying for the Premier 12 tournament which starts on Nov. 10, 2024.
The Confederación Panamericana de Béisbol is also part of the WBSC Americas and is the governing operator for the Caribbean Cup.
The Carribean Cup will be the first international senior event that the island of Puerto Rico has hosted since Pool C of the 2013 World Baseball Classic was played in San Juan at Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
This year marks the fifth edition of the tournament. The games will be played from October 1-8 at Estadio Concepción Pérez Alberto in Fajardo and at Parque Beisbol Doble-A Emilio Huyuke Las Piedras, Puerto Rico.
The four nations participating in the Caribbean Baseball Cup are World No. 13 Puerto Rico, No. 8 Cuba, No. 27 Curacao, and the 64th-ranked U.S. Virgin Islands.
Puerto Rico is looking to defend the gold on home soil, with skipper Juan Gonzalez coming back to take the helm.
The Premier 12 will happen on Nov. 10, 2024 after the professional seasons in Major League Baseball, Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, Nippon Professional Baseball, Chinese Professional Baseball League, and the Korean Baseball Organization.
Puerto Rico’s 24-man roster will carry players that were released from Major League Baseball organizations in the low minor leagues and now play on the island with the Liga de Béisbol Superior Doble A, Triple-A League, and Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente on their roster for the 2023 Caribbean Cup.
The 2023 Liga de Béisbol Superior Doble A MVP winner, slugger Kevin Luciano, and center fielder Miguel Egea will be returning to the roster for Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Cup on Sunday.
Egea was nominated for the All-Star Team last year during the fourth Caribbean Cup in the Bahamas. In 20 at-bats in the last Caribbean Cup, he batted .350 recording seven hits, one double, four RBI, four walks, and five strikeouts.
Puerto Rico defeated Cuba 9-4 in the Championship game last December at the 2022 Caribbean Baseball Cup in Nassau, Bahamas. Cuba took the silver medal in 2021 and 2022, and Curacao captured the gold medal in 2022 in Willemstad, Curacao. The U.S. Virgin Islands has two bronze medals, finishing in 3rd place in 2018 and 2019.
Cuba will look to place first gold medal at the Caribbean Cup and also take these series of games in the tournament as preparation for the Pan American Games from October 18-28 at the Baseball and Softball Center in Cerrilos, Chile.
Cuba’s roster will be with players from Serie Nacional and the second year of the Elite League winter league season which will begin during the course of the next few weeks.
Cuba will carry on their 2023 Caribbean Cup roster catcher Andrys Pérez, outfielder Roel Santos, infielders Yadil Mujica, Luis Vicente Mateo, Erisbel Arruebarruena, Dayán García and Yurisbel Gracial along with pitchers Yeudis Reyes, José Rodríguez, Carlos Juan Viera, Yoennis Yera and Naikel Cruz that were all on the active roster of the 2023 World Baseball Classic.
Curacao will have a roster with players that were recently released from professional organizations throughout the world, active international league professionals in the Netherlands, Italy, Curacao’s professional leagues on the island at the Rookie, Single-A, and Double-A levels, and players currently active with Major League Baseball organizations at the minor league level along who aren’t on 40-man rosters.
The United States Virgin Islands will bring players that are playing in their federation professional leagues throughout multiple islands throughout their region.
The United States Virgin Islands have also gained an opportunity to play in international senior events for their players to play at the collegiate level in the United States or have an opportunity to be signed by professional organizations in other leagues globally.
There will be two games each day of the tournament until the final day of play on October 8. Every team will face off against one another twice in the regular round. The 3rd place game will be played on October 8 at 3:30 p.m. ET in Fajardo, Puerto Rico. The championship game will follow on October 8 at 7:30 p.m., also in Fajardo.
Each team will receive a day off on Wednesday, October 4.
Below is the schedule for the 2023 Caribbean Baseball Cup in Puerto Rico.
2023 Puerto Rico Caribbean Cup Roster
Pitchers
Marvin Gorgas
Jimmy Gonzalez
Andres Santiago
Freddie Cabrera
Alexander Castro
Jose Diana
Luis Leroy Cruz
Christian Torres
Ohani Chacon
Julio Torres
Miguel Martinez
Miguel Mejia
Catchers
Kervi Camacho
Jonathan Nieves
Infielders
Ozzie Martinez
Jeremy Rivera
Yadiel Rivera
Kenen Irizarry
Kevin Luciano
Nelson Molina
Outfielders
Miguel Egea
Joseph Monge
Johnuelle Ponce
Abdel Guadalupe
2023 Caribbean Cup Puerto Rico Coaching Staff
Juan Gonzalez – Manager
Jose SanMiguel – Bench Coach/Hitting Coach
Jose Calero – Pitching Coach
Jose Fargas – Bullpen Coach
Eddie Gonzalez – First Base Coach
Juan Montero – Third Base Coach
Regular Round – October 1-7
Sunday, October 1
3:30 p.m. ET – U.S. Virgin Islands vs. Cuba – Fajardo
7:30 p.m. ET – Curacao vs. Puerto Rico – Fajardo
Monday, October 2
3:30 p.m. ET – Cuba vs. Curacao – Las Piedras
7:30 p.m. ET – Puerto Rico vs. U.S. Virgin Islands – Las Piedras
Tuesday, October 3
3:30 p.m. ET – Curacao vs. U.S. Virgin Islands – Fajardo
7:30 p.m. ET – Puerto Rico vs. Cuba – Fajardo
Wednesday, October 4
No Games Scheduled
Thursday, October 5
3:30 p.m. ET – Cuba vs. U.S. Virgin Islands – Las Piedras
7:30 p.m. ET – Puerto Rico vs. Curacao – Las Piedras
Friday, October 6
3:30 p.m. ET – Curacao vs. Cuba – Fajardo
7:30 p.m. ET – U.S. Virgin Islands vs. Puerto Rico – Fajardo
Saturday, October 7
3:30 p.m. ET – U.S. Virgin Islands vs. Curacao – Las Piedras
7:30 p.m. ET – Cuba vs. Puerto Rico – Las Piedras
Sunday, October 8
3:30 p.m. ET – 4th Place vs. 3rd Place – Fajardo
7:30 p.m. ET – 2nd Place vs. 1st Place – Fajardo
Below are the final results from the four previous Caribbean Baseball Cup tournaments:
2018 – Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
Gold Medal – Dominican Republic
Silver Medal – Curacao
Bronze Medal – U.S. Virgin Islands
2019 – Dominican Republic
Gold Medal – Dominican Republic
Silver Medal – Peru
Bronze Medal – U.S. Virgin Islands
2021 – Willemstad, Curaçao
Gold Medal – Curacao
Silver Medal – Cuba
Bronze Medal – Peru
2022 – Nassau, Bahamas
Gold Medal – Puerto Rico
Silver Medal – Cuba
Bronze Medal – Curacao