Four Cuban trainers recently traveled to Japan to complete a training period there, according to the Cuban Baseball Federation (FCB).
The releasepublished by the sports portal Hitindicates that the group is made up of Armando Jhonson, Germán Mesa, Pedro Luis Lazo and Ricardo Eizméndiz, who were with the Cuban team that finished in tenth place in the recently concluded U-23 World Cup, held in Taiwan.
“The intention is that they add experiences and carry out improvement actions as part of the preparation camps in which the athletes Pedro Pablo Revilla, Frank Abel Álvarez, Guillermo García, Marlon Vega and Pedro Álvarez will be enrolled, contracted there through the FCB” , add the disclosed note.
Cuban head coaches are already in #Japan for a stage of overcoming during the talent camps.
Here images of what happened in the field of the Dragons of Chunichi. Present Armando Johnson, Germán Mesa, Pedro Luis Lazo and Ricardo Eizmendis. #Baseball pic.twitter.com/h6C6fcmfH0— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) October 25, 2022
According to the note, the four Cuban coaches will remain in Japan for two weeks, and once the process is completed “they will return to their duties on the island.”
Specialists and fans welcome this possibility, especially since they are the main people responsible for the preparation of the Cuban team that will participate in the next World Baseball Classicscheduled to be held in March 2023.
Pinero Armando Jhonson was appointed at the beginning of September as the manager of that cast, taking into account that “he has accumulated a long and fruitful career as a mentor in the National Series and with the Cuba team in minor categories”, as stated by the FCB at the time of announcing the decision.
Armando Johnson appointed director of the Cuba team for the next World Baseball Classic
On that occasion, it was established that Jhonson would be in charge of the main baseball team on the Island until the end of the 2024 international season, and that “new evaluations would be carried out with the purpose of ratifying him or not in the position to cover the four-year period that It would run until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”
Shortly afterwards, the president of the FCB, Juan Reynaldo Pérez Pardo, announced through his Twitter account that Germán Mesa would also be part of the team leading the Cuban team for the World Classic as technical head of preparation. In addition, Lazo was appointed as one of his pitching coaches and Eizmendiz to lead the sports intelligence group (scouting).
They report on management staff to the World Baseball Classic #Baseball
Germán Mesa will be the technical head of the preparation. #baseball #Cuba https://t.co/z3bTjAy5Wm pic.twitter.com/AUhNQ6bSbS— JIT Cuban Sport (@jit_digital) September 13, 2022
It also transpired that Armando Ferrer, head of the Centrales team in the I Cuban Baseball Elite League that is currently being held, would occupy a coaching position, although without defining whether it would be on the bench, or would work at first or third base.
The names of two other coaches remained to be announced, as well as that of the second pitching coach.
Baseball is not going through its best moment in Cuba, due to the constant departure of its main talents and technical and logistical difficulties that hinder its development from the base. These and other factors have cut short the possibility of good performances by Cuban teams in the international arena in recent years.
Along with the questionable sporting quality of domestic tournaments and attracting figures who perform on their own abroad, experts also point to the need to update game concepts, something for which the stay of coaches from the national team in Japan.
