One of the so-called four classics of Cuban baseball with 10 national trophies in its record -only surpassed by the 12 of Industriales- has returned to the elite of this sport, after being left out of the last season.
The only Cuban team that has risen to the top of the podium in a Caribbean Series (2015) after the country’s return to those competitions in 2014, the so-called Pativerdes ¨greensocks¨ are at the top of the campaign with a balance of 23-9 with three games advantage over second place.
With a vast history, which also includes six victories in the extinct Selective Series, this team has the privilege of having had in its ranks several of the best players who have gone through the domestic championships after the revolutionary victory of 1959, among them Omar Linares and Luis Giraldo Casanova.
In this contest, their pitchers rank second in effectiveness with 4.16 earned runs allowed per nine innings of performance, in a very offensive championship where hitters collectively average 294.
All this despite the absences of Erly Casanova and Frank Luis Medina, who at the time of leaving for Italy to fulfill their professional contracts were the two most dominant pitchers in the tournament.
To this we must add that they cannot have their three best rescuers (Raidel Martínez, Liván Moinelo and Frank Abel Álvarez), who have been working in the Japanese League for several seasons.
Yet their relievers, who have won 11 games, allow only 3.65 earned runs per complete game and are first among all their contenders.
With the baton ready, those led by Alexander Urquiola average .329 (seconds), but they are the most hitters with runners on the bases (.333), in addition to driving 28.68 percent of the men they encounter to the plate. in scoring position.
The key to their power has been the trio formed by William Saavedra, former Major League Baseball player Alexei Ramírez and Yaser Julio González, who between them have driven in 109 runs with 29 home runs.
Saavedra also leads the season in the batting (.514) and OPS (1.576) departments and is second in home runs (11) behind the legendary Alfredo Despaigne (13), although he has 57 fewer appearances in the batter’s box.
Starting this Tuesday, Vegueros, who have not lost any of their six individual duels this year, will begin a series of five games as visitors in Sancti Spíritus against the Gallos of that province, in search of getting closer to the promised land of the postseason.
ef/npg/blc
