Another desertion of a Cuban athlete in the U23 baseball World Cup in Mexico

Cuba suffered another casualty before their debut in Mexico’s U-23 World Baseball Championship, when the pitcher leaves the team Uber Luis Mejias, confirmed this Friday the Federation of that sport on the island.

“We confirm that the Uber pitcher Luis Mejías Rodríguez is no longer part of the team that represents us in the # U23WorldCup. With his back to the mission that took him there, he abandoned the national team, ”the entity reported on its official Twitter account.

The escape of Mejías, a pitcher from the Santiago de Cuba province squad, joins that of Luis Dany Morales (Sancti Spíritus), who left the national team last Tuesday, just after arriving at the airport in the Mexican capital.

Both Morales (18 years old) and Mejías (20) were considered great prospects of Cuban baseball, with a shipping speed of over 148 kilometers per hour (92 miles per hour) and experience in elite tournaments in the lower categories.

Desertions have been the Achilles’ heel in Cuban baseball for years, whose players have to resort to them in order to play in the Major Leagues in the United States, due to the laws of the embargo, in force since 1962.

Despite these impediments, several Cubans shine in these US struggles such as José Abreu, Aroldis Chapman, Yulieski Gurriel, Luis Robert, Randy Arozarena, José Iglesias and José Adolis García, among others.

The most recent escapes were those of Lázaro Blanco, considered the best Cuban ball pitcher in recent years, and infielder César Prieto, who left the team in June., during the Pre-Olympic in Florida, United States.

In the U23 World Cup in Mexico, Cuba should have debuted on Thursday against the Dominican Republic, but the game was canceled due to rain, and its premiere will be this Friday against the host and current champion Mexico.

In the last days The abandonment of Cuban athletes from their delegations has increased, not only on trips abroad, but also some have requested their removal from the national teams.

The most notorious cases appear in the athletics, which suffered the loss of its three best triplists, all qualified for Tokyo-2020: Jordan Díaz – he fled before the Olympic event – Andy Díaz – after – and now from Cristian Napoles, who requested his dismissal from the Cuban Federation.

Naples’ request was confirmed by National Commissioner Yipsi Moreno, who announced that the sprinter Reynier Mena, and hurdlers Roger Valentín and Yordan Ofarril also requested his exclusion from Cuban athletics.

(With information from AFP)

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