After 75 games, a review of the work of the Ciego de Ávila players reveals more than one satisfaction and the weaknesses that will need to be eradicated
What for some was a chimera became a tangible reality last Wednesday: the Ciego de Ávila team won the right to attend the playoffs of the 63rd National Baseball Series.
These Tigres, led by Olympian Dany Miranda for the first time, have had a lot to talk about, especially because of that start of 15 victories and only two defeats with which they began the fight.
It has already been said, almost ad nauseam, that the team has gaps in almost all facets of the game, but the specialists were met with surprises, among them, that the pitching department, the weakest in the pre-competition analysis, was the protagonist of the homage of sneaking into the top eight of the championship.
Keep in mind that the pitching staff appears fourth in terms of Earned Run Average with 4.79 and that the evil of other seasons, the lack of control, did not prevail, to the point that it is now ranked as one of the four that gave away less than four tickets per game (3.78).
The veteran Dachel Duquesne, with nine successes, and the rookie Ediel Ponce with eight, were the great boxing figures of the three-time Cuban champions, while Kevin Soto contributed six and Luis Alberto Marrero five.
It is true that the offense was not impressive since it was only, in terms of average, above five teams, but it must be recognized that hitters like Héctor Labrada (366), Fernando de La Paz (335), Ronaldo Castillo (332), Rubén Valdés (327) and Liosvany Pérez (305) contributed a lot to the cause in different segments of the season.
Congratulations to Valdés, who managed to bring 60 teammates to the plate, and had to assume the task of driving in the absence of fourth hitter Osvaldo Vázquez for almost half of the schedule.
In the case of the chambero, due to the need of the team, he had to play in all the positions of the team and ended up as a regular shortstop. As they say in sports slang, “he threw the team on himself.”
This time—contrary to its history—Ciego de Ávila faced great difficulties with its defense, to the point that it averaged 965, only better than four other squads.
The departure of Raúl González from the regular formation to fulfill his contract in the Canadian Inter-County League, and the illness of shortstop Michel Arteaga greatly influenced the mistakes. Improvisations had to be made to alleviate the problems.
It is clear that, for future campaigns, this front of the game must receive special attention from the coaching staff.
STATEMENTS BY DANY MIRANDA
Once the game that gave the Tigers the ticket was over, this reporter spoke briefly with the Avilanian mentor. The first question was whether he was happy with the results of his managerial debut. His response prevented me from asking him another question about the playoffs: “But if the championship has not concluded…”
Such precision is like clearing up doubts that the Tigres will go to the quarterfinals without any pretensions of winning, since of course almost all Cuban sports commentators do not give them a chance, but they will do so regardless of the rival.
Regarding individual performances that advanced to the next round, Dany emphasized that the collective spirit of his troop was perhaps the best weapon, but he did not hide, for example, that the Fernando de La Paz mask was a very important element .
He also praised Ronaldo Castillo, who won the job the first opportunity he was given, and center fielder Liosvany Pérez, who was very helpful both with the ball and in defense.
He made an aside about Rubén Valdés. In his opinion, he was the soul of the team because he dedicated himself to the cause throughout the fight.
Likewise, he mentioned Dachel Duquesne and Ediel Ponce, of the latter he said that he can already be considered a shooter to respect in Cuban baseball, and added that the work of Luis Alberto Marrero is plausible, due to the willingness he always had to go out to work. even unwell.
Before the final point of these lines, an anecdote. A few days before announcing who would be the manager of the Tigres, I told Dany that it was daring to take on the task of directing this team because of the obvious weakness it would have compared to the local ninth teams of the first years of this century. . Here he left his response from then:
“Everything would be easier if one rejected difficult assignments. Now I would say, give me a group of players similar to the one in which I was a player to bring another title. If in the end it is decided to entrust the Tigers to me, then this will be the one I get and with this one I will have to fight. But I tell you something: I don’t agree with you that the possible team is that bad. I hope I can prove it to you.”
Taken from Invader
