Preparations for the tournament will resume this Wednesday
The roster of the Cuban national team for the baseball competition of the Pan American Games in Santiago de Chile, which will be held between October 18 and 28, will be announced between October 11 and 13, the Cuban Baseball Federation president, Juan Reinaldo Pérez, announced in a press conference with the Cuban media in Havana today.
In the 2023 edition of the Pan American Games, Cuba will field a team that is largely the same one that just won the V Caribbean Cup in Puerto Rico this Sunday.
With the confirmation in the same meeting of the non-presence in the Cuban team of the internationals Alfredo Despaigne, Ariel Martínez, Yadir Drake and Raidel Martínez, in addition to the players Yeudis Reyes, Franky Quintana and Osday Silva, who left the team behind in Puerto Rico, other players such as utility player Raúl González and pitchers Frank A. Álvarez and Erlis Casanova, have been added to the Cuban preliminary roster for the tournament, which this Wednesday will resume its preparation for the continental tournament.
There will be two groups in the baseball tournament of the 2023 Pan American Games with the following rivals in each group:
Group A:
México (#3 in the world rankings of the WBSC)
República Dominicana (#9)
Panamá (#12)
Chile (Ranking not available)
Group B
Venezuela (#6)
Cuba (#8)
Colombia (#15)
Brasil (#23)
Round Robin format will be used in each group, with the two best places advancing to the Super Round, dragging the result of their own group against the other team that advances, with whom they will not play in the Super Round.The top two places in the Super Round will compete for the Pan American title, while the other two will fight for bronze.
Taking place at the Baseball and Softball Center, Parque Bicentenario de Cerrillos in Santiago, Chile, the qualifying or group stage will take place between October 18 and 24, followed by the Super Round on October 26 and 27, and a medal discussion on October 28.
This baseball edition of the games will not feature powerhouses teams such as Canada - PanAm champion of the 2011 and 2015 editions - Puerto Rico, current champion of 2019 and multi-finalist and champion of 1967, and the United States, which did not advance to the tournament for a second consecutive time. Cuba has the unique opportunity to win the Pan American title after losing it in 2011, when it finished third for the first time.
With 12 titles in continental baseball history, Cuba is the most successful team in the area. The Caribbean nation also possesses a second place and two third places; these last two bronze awards were achieved in 2011 in Guadalajara and 2015 in Toronto.
From the Cali, Colombia edition in 1971 until the Rio de Janeiro edition in 2007, the Cubans won 10 consecutive Pan American Games baseball titles.
Cubans appeared on the podium of these tournaments in all editions except in 1955, when they did not participate. In 1959 when they finished 4th, and in 2019, when Cuba achieved its lowest position in history, 6th place, in the last edition of these tournaments.
