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Monday, February 12, 2018

Cuban baseball star says focus should be at the base

Por LOR

Renowned Cuban baseball player, Frederich Cepeda, never reached Major League Baseball. Should he make it when he had those brilliant performances at the two first World Baseball Classics, he would undoubtedly have left his mark at MLB. Upon his arrival from the Caribbean Series, he gave his opinion about the event, his team and Cuban baseball in general.

The history of Cuban baseball in the present century has Frederich Cepeda Cruz in a place of honor. The player born in Sancti Spiritus, central Cuba, and one of the greatest hitters to remember, has shown year after year that he can perform to the highest level in the toughest scenarios, just as he did recently in the Caribbean Series of Jalisco. "It's a short tournament, in which you need a strong mental preparation so that you do not get affected by a bad start and you can recover quickly. It is the classic event in which adjustments must be made from one at-bat to another", explained Cepeda to a local newspaper, only a few minutes after arriving in Cuba with Alazanes de Granma, third in the recent Caribbean tournament.

The team, led by Carlos Martí, succumbed for the second consecutive year in the semifinals, an instance in which only some men responded in accordance with expectations. One of them was Cepeda, who came into circulation in almost half of his at-bats (474 OBP) and culminated as the leader of the team in average (400), extra-base (four), slugging (867) and RBIs (four).

Such individual success, however, does not satisfy the ambidextrous batter. "It was a good event, but we did not achieve the goal we were looking for and it hurts us to return to our country with a defeat because the Cuban people are very demanding with the national baseball team and always want the first place”, said Cepeda. The outstanding player also thinks that reaching the best form in scenarios like the Caribbean Series is not a chimera. "We faced well-prepared opponents, some with experience in the Major Leagues and other prospects, but in a general sense, we played loose, hit solidly, had a good defense ... We need to play this kind of baseball every day and the competitiveness of the players will increase”.

Finally, in what seemed his most serious criticism, he said that the qualitative growth of Cuban baseball requires serious work at all levels. "If we want to improve, according to my humble opinion, we must strengthen the national series and give a good show, but we must focus on the same impetus at the base of each province, thinking about the youngest, the new generations of players that will have the challenge of sustaining the prestige of Cuban baseball in the future ».