This isn’t the first time Cespedes came to Taiwan as a part of Team Cuba. I think back in 2010 he played for Cuba in the XVII IBAF Intercontinental Cup. That was also his last Team Cuba outing, since he defected in 2011. It’s funny that the first time he redons the Team Cuba jersey he’s doing so in Taiwan as well.
Taiwan and Cuba were both in Pool A for the 2010 Intercontinental Cup. Taiwan lost that match-up 0 to 2. Players on that 2010 Team Cuba roster includes José Abreu and Yulieski Gurriel.
The MLB and WBC release a poster for each WBC pool. At least one player from each team is featured on thepister for their pool. However, Team Taiwan is missing on the Pool A poster.
Tseng Jen-Ho injured his back, he might have to sit out of the tournament. Wu Che-Yuan has been called back. As mentioned, we still don’t know if Teng Kai-Wei will be allowed to come back. So we might need to recall one more pitcher. At this point, we only have Lin Kai-Wei left from the 36-men roster.
It’s sad that plenty of players with at least minor league experience in the Fubon organization had sub-par performances for the last couple of seasons. Otherwise, we’d probably be able to have a couple more sluggers in the outfield and behind the plate.
Team Netherlands oughta be a pleasure to watch. Lots of stars in their lineup, but not that scary since they’re mostly over-the-hill. Jonathan Schoop got fat.
