Why Cuba could impress again in the World Baseball Classic?
Why do they have a chance to advance?
My trip to Puerto Rico to cover the 2026 World Baseball Classic began in the early hours of the morning. I arrived by Uber at the Fort Lauderdale airport at 3 a.m. The World Baseball Classic is always something I’m passionate about covering because of the number of stories and the cultural and sporting differences between so many countries.
One of those differences is the way Cuba has approached analytics and scouting. Since 2016, a Cuban baseball team has not won a competitive international tournament. The last time was in Okinawa, Japan, when a group of players who were not even adults won the U-15 World Cup organized by the WBSC.
Whether because of lack of knowledge, infrastructure, or culture, Cuba has not properly embraced the new ways of managing opponent analysis. In 2023, I remember asking Cuba’s manager at the time, Armando Johnson, in Taiwan about Italy’s starting pitcher, Matt Harvey.
“We don’t really know much about him,” Johnson said at the Intercontinental Stadium in Taichung, Taiwan.
Three years later, at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in Puerto Rico, I asked the same question to Cuba’s manager, Germán Mesa. In 2023, Mesa served as bench coach and the senior voice inside the clubhouse, which is why he was named Cuba’s manager for the 2026 World Baseball Classic.
On March 6, Mesa entered the press conference saying he was cold. A moment later, I asked the same question again.
FR: For a long time, scouting has not really been Cuba’s strength. What do you know about the Panama team, and what have you studied most ahead of today’s first game?
GM: “We have all the scouting studies done on Panama,” said the star Cuban shortstop from 1985 to 2000. “Our players and pitchers have the scouting report on the Panama team.”
FR: What do you basically know about that pitcher (Logan Allen)? What does he rely on, what does he use to dominate?
GM: “Against different hitters he uses different pitches like the sweeper and the fastball depending on the situation, but he’s a pitcher with very good command of the strike zone.”
The Cuban press conference ends, and Germán Mesa walks slowly toward the exit with his head down. Cuba finished in fourth place in the World Baseball Classic, and in a perfect scenario, a quarterfinal qualification in this 2026 tournament would have met expectations, especially after they finished 3–4 in Pool A in Puerto Rico, a group that included Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Panama, and the host nation.