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Cuban National Team’s Preparations For Premier12 Tournament

Matt TallariniSep 7, 20249 MIN READ
Cuban National Team’s Preparations For Premier12 Tournament

Cuba will play in the third World Baseball Softball Confederation Premier12 tournament from November 9-24. The Premier12 games in Group B in Mexico will start in the Eastern Hemisphere on November 10.

The Premier12 event will take place after the global league championships in the Serie Del Rey in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, the Japan Series in Nippon Professional Baseball, the World Series in Major League Baseball, the Korean Series in the Korea Baseball Organization, and the Taiwan Series in the Chinese Professional Baseball League.

Cuba is ranked No. 8 in the World Baseball Rankings from the WBSC.

At the Last Premier12 tournament in 2019, Cuba was in Group C and went 1-2, not qualifying for the next round. They played against Canada, South Korea, and Australia.

Cuba Training Camp News In Havana and South Korea:

According to Francys Romero of beisbolfr.com, the Cuban national team will begin practicing in Havana on September 17 at Estadio Latinoamericano before heading to South Korea to play a series of eight exhibition games against KBO Development Teams in the middle of October. Then, the team will travel to Taiwan to play warm-up games prior to the start of the Premier12 tournament.

Romero stated on September 3 that the final announcement for each country’s roster for the Premier12 event cannot have players on the 40-man roster of MLB clubs for this November.

 

The President of the Federación Cubana de Beisbol y Softbol, Juan Reinaldo Perez, and manager Armando Johnson will have to evaluate from their committee who they will take from their 60-man selection roster out of their training camp at Estadio Latinoamericano prior to heading to Asia in mid-October.

All players on the 60-man Cuba Premier12 selection roster must register by September 10 and have a valid Cuban passport to play with the national team in November.

Cuba has had some players in the last few months say that they have refused to play for the national team for various reasons, some of which were from the minor leagues in the United States. Some Cuban-born players who did not yet have permanent residence in the United States did not decide to play with the national team.

Yusseff Diaz of Cuban Baseball Digest reported on August 17 that Alexei Ramirez, Yadir Drake, Darien Nunez, Yusniel Padron, Lazaro Armenteros, Yoan Lopez, Omar Estevez, Julio Robaina, Roberto Baldoquin, and Narbe Cruz said yes to playing for the Cuban national team in the Premier12.

One key starting pitcher who will not play with the Cuban national team for the Premier12 is right-handed pitcher Jose Rodriguez, who will commit to playing with the Caribes de Anzoátegui for the 2024-25 Liga Venezolana de Beisbol Profesional regular season.

Diaz stated on September 4 that Rodriguez opted to leave negotiations with the FCB to participate and be on the official roster for the Premier12.

Milwaukee Brewers, Double-A Biloxi Shuckers outfielder and first baseman Ernesto Martinez told Cuba Grand Slam Podcast on September 3 that he confirmed to play with Cuba for the Premier12 tournament.

 

Martinez, 25, was born in Holguin, Cuba, and has played in 104 games with Double-A Biloxi, hitting .276 with 435 plate appearances, ripping 106 hits, 27 doubles, two triples, 13 home runs, 58 RBI, swiping 18 bases, 35 walks, 76 strikeouts, and a .812 OPS.

Martinez was the youngest player to be picked by the France national team at 16 and played with his father, Ernesto Martinez Sr., at the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. Martinez and his dad became the first father-son pair to play in the same international tournament.

Martinez was listed as a pitcher on the active roster for France, and his fastball topped at 93 mph before he converted to a full-time position player.

Cuba National Team Upcoming Events Before Premier12:

Cuba will play at Andre Rodgers Stadium in Nassau, Bahamas, from October 19 to 26 for the 2024 Caribbean Cup.

The Confederación del Caribe del Beisbol has not yet announced the other participating countries for the 2024 Caribbean Cup other than the host nation, Bahamas and Cuba.

The Cocodrilos de Matanzas will participate in the 2024 Barcelona Cup from September 24-29 hosted by the Federació Catalana Beisbol i Softbol against the Algodoneros de Guasave of Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacífico, a FCBS Selection Team, and a Spain All-Star Team.

2024 Barcelona Baseball Cup Schedule

All Game Start Times Are Eastern Daylight Time

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Cocodrilos de Matanzas vs. FCBS Selection Team – 2 p.m. – Estadio Viladecans

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Algodoneros de Guasave vs. Cocodrilos de Matanzas – 2 p.m. – Estadio Viladecans

Thursday, September 26, 2024

Algodoneros de Guasave vs. FCBS Selection Team – 2 p.m. – Estadio Viladecans  

Friday, September 27, 2024

FCBS Selection Team vs. Spain All-Star Team – 10 a.m. – Estadio Barcelona

Cocodrilos de Matanzas vs. Algodoneros de Guasave – 2 p.m. – Estadio Barcelona

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Cocodrilos de Matanzas vs. Spain All-Star Team – 5 a.m. – Estadio Viladecans

FCBS Selection Team vs. Cocodrilos de Matanzas – 8:30 a.m. – Estadio Viladecans

Spain All-Star Team vs. Algodoneros de Guasave – 2 p.m – Estadio Viladecans

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Championship Game – No. 1 seed vs. No. 2 seed – noon – Estadio Viladecans

The https://www.fcbs.cat/wp/# website will have up-to-date information in the next few days on where the 2024 Barcelona Baseball Cup will be streamed on its social media channels or its website.

WBSC 2024 Premier12 Information:

Group A of the Premier12 will be played at Estadio Panamericano in Zapopan, in the greater Guadalajara metropolitan area, and at a new stadium in Santa Teresita de Tepic from Nov. 10-14. Estadio Panamericano is the home of the Charros de Jalisco in both the Liga Mexicana de Béisbol and the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico and hosted group play during the 2019 WBSC Premier12.

Group B will be played at the Nagoya Dome in Nagoya, Japan, and Taipei City, Taiwan, from Nov. 14-18 at the Taipei Dome. The Super Round, featuring the top two teams from each group, will be played at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan from Nov. 21-24.

Tianmu Baseball Stadium in Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan, and the Taipei Dome in Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan, will host Group B games during the 2024 Premier12 tournament.

Tianmu Baseball Stadium is home to the CPBL franchise, the Wei-Chuan Dragons.

The Taipei Dome opened last December for the WBSC Asia sector event of the Asia Baseball Championship. The venue also hosted exhibition games with the Yomiuri Giants of NPB and the CTBC Brothers of the CPBL during March 2-3 and a pair of preseason games before the start of the 2024 CPBL regular season.

The Wei Chuan Dragons played the Rakuten Monkeys on March 30, Opening Day of the 2024 CPBL regular season. A total of 28,618 fans attended, which is the CPBL’s all-time single-game record.

Group A will include Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the United States and the Netherlands. Group B will feature Australia, Cuba, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Chinese Taipei, and the Dominican Republic.

The Premier12 was supposed to be scheduled for 2023 but was moved to 2024 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and aligning the Tokyo Olympics to be moved from 2020 to 2021 and the World Baseball Classic from 2021 to 2023.

WBSC Premier 12 Tournament Group A & B Schedule

All Games Start Times Are Eastern Standard Time

Group A: No. 2 Mexico,  No. 3 USA, No. 6 Venezuela, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 10 Panama, & No. 12 Puerto Rico  

Saturday, November 9

2 p.m. – Panama vs. Netherlands – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

6 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. USA – Estadio Santa Teresita – Santa Teresita, Tepic, Mexico

9 p.m.  – Venezuela vs. Mexico – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Sunday, November 10

2 p.m.  – Venezuela vs. Panamá – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

6 p.m.  – Netherlands vs. USA – Estadio Santa Teresita – Santa Teresita, Tepic, Mexico

9 p.m.  – Mexico vs. Puerto Rico – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Monday, November 11

9 p.m. – USA vs. Venezuela – Estadio Santa Teresita – Santa Teresita, Tepic, Mexico

9 p.m.  – Panama vs. Mexico – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Tuesday, November 12

9 p.m. – Panama vs. USA – Estadio Santa Teresita – Santa Teresita, Tepic, Mexico

9 p.m. – Netherlands vs. Puerto Rico – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Wednesday, November 13

2 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. Venezuela – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

11 p.m. – Mexico vs. Netherlands – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Thursday, November 14

2 p.m. – Netherlands vs. Venezuela – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

9 p.m. – Puerto Rico vs. Panama – Estadio Santa Teresita – Santa Teresita, Tepic, Mexico

9 p.m.  – USA vs. Mexico – Estadio Panamericano – Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico

Group B: No. 1 Japan, No. 4 Korea, No. 5 Chinese Taipei, No. 8 Cuba, No. 9 Dominican Republic, & No. 11 Australia

Wednesday, November 13

4 a.m. – Australia vs. Japan – Vantelin Dome Nagoya – Nagoya, Japan

5:30 a.m. – Dominican Republic vs. Cuba – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

5:30 a.m.  – Korea vs. Chinese Taipei – Taipei Dome – Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan

Thursday, November 14

5 a.m. – Cuba vs. Korea – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

5:30 a.m. – Chinese Taipei vs. Dominican Republic – Taipei Dome – Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan

Friday, November 15

2 a.m. – Dominican Republic vs. Australia – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

5 a.m. – Korea vs. Japan – Taipei Dome – Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan

11:30 p.m. – Australia vs. Cuba – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

Saturday, November 16

5 a.m. – Japan vs. Chinese Taipei – Taipei Dome – Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan

5:30 a.m. – Dominican Republic vs. Korea – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

Sunday, November 17

5 a.m. – Cuba vs. Japan – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

5:30 a.m. – Chinese Taipei vs. Australia – Taipei Dome – Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan

11:00 p.m. – Australia vs. Korea – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

Monday, November 18

5 a.m. – Japan vs. Dominican Republic – Tianmu Stadium – Shilin District, Taipei, Taiwan

5:30 a.m.  – Cuba vs. Chinese Taipei – Taipei Dome – Xinyi, Taipei, Taiwan

Photo Credit: Infielder Alexander Ayala #4 of Cuba reacts after hits a single in the top of fourth inning during the WBSC Premier 12 Opening Round Group C game between South Korea and Cuba at the Gocheok Sky Dome on November 08, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

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