Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes left the national team of Cuba to attend to personal matters in the United States.This was announced on Monday by the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB).
Former New York Mets player “He left on Sunday night” and will not be available for the quarter-final match on 15 March. in which Cuba will face Australia in Tokyo.
According to the FCB, Cespedes, who played after two years of inactivity in the last season of the Dominican League.- told the team that he was ready to return to the team in Miami, the city that Cuba would go to if it qualified for the semi-finals.
In this regard, the Federation indicated that the “technical panel” will evaluate the option “in accordance with the regulations of the registration and exit process established for the tournament.”
For the first time in this tournament, Cuba brought players from the national team who play in the major leagues, which is unprecedented for a Caribbean team.
The team, known as the “acere team” or “four letter team”, finished first in Group A. after a rocky start with two losses to the Netherlands and Italy.
However, the Cuban team, playing with three active MLB players for the first time, gave the signal after beating Panama (13-4) and Taiwan (7-1). and advanced along with Italy.
Cuba started with two losing games in a row but managed to recover in a group that ended with five participating teams with a record of 2 wins and 2 losses.
The two teams advancing to the quarter-finals were to be determined by the rules of runs scored between recorded outs. with this ruleCuba took first place, and Italy – second.
Cuba, as the first team in Group A, will face Australia, who came up with a surprise and finished second in Group B.. For their part, Japan took first place in Group B and will face the Italian team at the Tokyo Dome.
The semi-final and final of the tournament will be held at Loan Depot Park in Miami, USA.
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Source: La Opinion
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