Many experts have not hesitated to describe pitching as the fundamental weapon of a baseball team. There are gurus who even consider that a good pitching performance guarantees around 75% of a win, hence the vitality of having a good pitching staff.
Throughout our National Series there are several teams that have historically been characterized by being solid in this section, a land of powerful pitchers. Pinar del Río with a notorious highlight, Industrialists in different stages, Villa Clara the same, Santiago de Cuba; and more recently we can speak indistinctly of Ciego de Ávila, Las Tunas, Granma, Sancti Spítirus…
The beginning of the 61st season of Cuban baseball has made us look once again at this department, especially when if we review the performance of the national teams in the last contests, the home pitchers, although they have not been the side Weak in our performances compared to the offense they have lacked several issues: specialization, distribution capacity and mastery of their commands, and that extra or self-confidence on occasions to make crucial outs in clutch moments of a game, or in high tension situations .
Returning to our campaign, which is definitely the main thermometer to later form the staff of the elite teams, it should be noted that until now numbers similar to those that sealed the regular stage of the 60 Series are exhibited from the hill of martyrdom. , with a slight margin of improvement in some indicators, such as the average of cleans allowed 4.92 for 5.16 a year ago; the Whip 1.61 against 1.68; and the collective average 280 by 296.
However, the ratio of strikeouts and walks per nine innings is less flattering, compiling up to this minute respective 4.41 and 4.81, compared to 4.70 and 4.70 in the previous tournament.
To which is added the fact that the on-base percentage and slugging percentage with 377 and 397, in that order, also sign lower figures than the 385 and 416 of the previous tournament. A reading around this could mean that the offenses have not yet fully fueled, and in several ninths the definitive line-up has not yet been set, with the responsibility that each turn entails tentatively in a determined batting order, especially those called sluggers or with the weight of pushing runs on their shoulders, which are scarce in the current Antillean baseball scene, by the way.
Those who started off on the right foot
Delving a little deeper into this initial look, we find that contrary to what has happened in recent seasons, where pitching has been his Achilles’ Heel, Industriales commands the ERA department allowed for every nine innings with a respectable 2.33; and he is the one with the fewest hits per challenge with 6.99.
He is seconded in cleanup average by the pitchers from Matanzas (2.44) and the current champions from Granma (3.10). It is precisely the pitchers of the current yumurino runners-up who are least compiled together for 213. Here Pinar del Río (221) and the Leones capitalinos (222), second Armando Ferrer’s crocodiles, who also emerge as the most strikeouts (Four. Five).
The other side of the coin in this sense are the navies of Cienfuegos with 43 transfers, Las Tunas (36), Camagüey (35), and Guantánamo (34); which results in their respective locations in the incipient table of positions, in which they are placed in positions from 12 to 15.
Meanwhile, it is precisely the pitchers of the Cienfuegos Elephants who have allowed the most home runs with 11; seconded by those of Sancti Spíritus, with seven.
And since we mentioned the standings, they are no longer undefeated in this classic, after Mayabeque succumbed this afternoon by a 3-14 knockout against the Avilanian Tigers. Yorelvis Charles’ troupe climbed to the top, now with a 5-1 record, stalked precisely by the Cazadores, their rivals on duty as hosts at the Nelson Fernández in San José de las Lajas.
Completing the momentary list of eight graceful Matanzas (5-2), Santiago de Cuba (4-2), Villa Clara, Artemisa and Industriales (3-2), and the Granma monarchs (4-3).
For now he is all my friend. You continue consuming our national pastime, and accompanying us in our analysis.
