Gurriel SPOKE about scouts from the Cuba team: “They called me from there, you finished!”

By Miguel Guerra

Cuban Major League Baseball players, yuli gurriel Y Raisel Iglesias, are fundamental pillars in their respective MLB teams. Yuli, first baseman for the Houston Astros and always occupying positions of responsibility in the offensive lineup, while Raisel is the usual bolt for the Los Angeles Angels, used to saving games for the American League West team.

Both players coincided in one of the programs of “The Complete Swing Show” in 2021 and they talked about many topics, among them the way in which the leaders of the Cuba team did the scouting of his rivals during the III World Baseball Classic, in 2013, an event in which both players coincided as members of the group of the four letters.

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“Tell Yuli to tell them what that was like. Let him tell what they did to us in the team meetings during the 2013 World Classic and who the Cuban scouts were,” Raisel exclaimed on the program.

«The scouts were Yuli’s father (Lourdes Gurriel), Germán (Mesa) and the coaches who worked with us in the pre-selection of the Cuba team. They went to the games to watch the players, as if they were one-day scouts, “said the Angels closer.

«The next day when it was our turn to play, at the meeting they told us, for example: we have to play with Australia, the third batter is a good hitter of balls inside, we are going to throw him outside and that player came and hit for everyone the sides. We were far behind the other teams,” he added.

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“That’s how it was,” Yuli commented. “Perhaps that day the opposing player gave two hits for the right field, perhaps the only ones he had hit in his life there, but for that reason then he was a good hitter for that band. That was unbelievable,” the Astros first baseman said.

“From Cuba, other baseball players also met to watch the games and do the scouting,” added Yulieski.

Raisel explained how the procedure was with the starting pitchers of the Cuba team in their preparation to face a certain team.

«They took the pitchers from us, for example, if one of them was going to pitch against Korea, they took him to the stadium to see the nine innings of the Korea game. And now, that was the scouting, going to see the Korean hitters,” Raisel said.

“That’s how it was, the command post told him,” added Yuli.

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The star player from Sancti Spiritus of the Astros, told an anecdote in this sense, related to the pitcher Yunesky Maya, during the II World Baseball Classic.

«I remember that in 2009, they removed Maya who was throwing super well, just because they called from Cuba and told her that now… Someone who was there, some retired player from those said that they had to remove him now because the hitters…” Yulieski narrated.

“Then, that moment came when Higinio (Vélez) told Maya:” You finished! “. “But how is that going to be?” Maya replied. “What am I going to tell you? They called me from there, you finished,” Higinio replied. And I said to myself: «But this cannot be happening here! What is this? “Yuli concluded.

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There is no doubt that the issue of scouting is a pending issue in Cuban baseball, even today. Little or nothing has been done to develop useful tools to study the opponents and the few who try to make their way in this branch, often find the brake of those retrogrades who direct the ball on the Island. a bit the way, with several teams in the National Series making their first steps with sabermetrics, but still light years away from the world reality on the matter.