This 30th edition of the Haarlem Baseball Week will again feature a Cuban delegation. In the past, this baseball superpower has been represented by players who would later become superstars, such as Yuli Gurriel, Yoenis Cespedes, and 2020 American League MVP Jose Abreu, but this tournament, five-time winner Cuba (1972, ’74,’ 96, ’98, and 2012) enters Baseball Week with a selection made up of players from Cuban national champion Alazanes de Granma, supplemented by other stars from their own league.
Until 2017, the Alazanes from the southern province of Granma, whose club colors included Yoenis Cespedes, were among the sub-top of Cuban baseball, but under the hand of coach Carlos Marti, they broke their title drought that year. Since then, the Alazanes crowned themselves national champions three more times, the last of which was recently won. Marti additionally helmed the national team during the 2017 World Baseball Classic.
The team coming to Haarlem hosts a number of names familiar to Baseball Week fans. Thus, veteran Frederich Cepeda (he is now 42) returns to the tournament where he has made several appearances. That Cepeda is still one of the best baseball players on the island, he proved this season by leading the Cuban league in batting average (.410). Another familiar name is that of Ariel Pestano — but make no mistake, this is not the legendary catcher Ariel Pestano who has traveled to Haarlem several times. After all, that was his father. Ariel Pestano Rosado, now boarding the plane, succeeds his father, Ariel Pestano Valdés, as Baseball Week veteran.
Another interesting player to keep an eye on this tournament is Alazanes de Granma’s big man, Carlos Benitez. The reigning champion’s second baseman finished third in the batting standings by hitting .379 with an on-base percentage above .500! On the pitching side, Cuba sends along César Garcia, among others. Alazanes’ pitcher finished eighth in the ERA list this season and gave up the fewest home runs of all Cuban starting pitchers.
In short, Cuba looks to enter Haarlem again with a strong squad. In recent decades, the Caribbean island has seen their top talents cross over to the American Major League at an increasingly younger age. In Haarlem, the island hopes to prove that it is still a hotbed of baseball talent.
Photo: Robert Bos/ Baseball Week
Text: Sander Grasman and Jasper Roos