A rough patch and poor performance invite reflection from the coaching staff led by Cárdenas, as they look to turn the situation around.
The Matanzas Crocodiles have strung together seven consecutive losses and have lost two particular sub-series in the same manner.
After a promising start with several comeback wins against the Mayabeque representative, the reptiles have fallen into a dynamic that seems to have no end in sight.
In a short championship like the Elite League, which has a qualifying phase of only 40 games, a slow start greatly increases the chances of being left out of the top spots.
And although there is still room to recover the ground lost in the early stages of the tournament, alarms about the team’s performance are beginning to go off.
One of the main difficulties seen in the team led by Eduardo Cárdenas is the effectiveness of the pitchers, especially the starters.
In a large portion of the games, those designated as starting pitchers have been punished with more than ten hits in the first third of the game.
This means that games are opened up very early, and the offense has to make a much greater effort to match its production with what their pitchers allow.
Along with this is the issue that, with so much punishment, the starter explodes earlier than planned, and the bullpen has to come in earlier, breaking the pitching strategy set for the game.
Collectively, the Matanzas pitching staff has an ERA of 8.26 in a tournament where teams are fighting for six runs per game.
As for extra-base hits allowed, they have totaled 40: 20 doubles and 20 home runs; only Las Tunas surpasses them in this category, with 47 extra-base hits allowed.
The average number of hits allowed per nine innings pitched by Matanzas is 14.37, the result of 148 hits in 92.2 innings.
To that metric, it must be added that the Yumurino pitchers have struck out 46 opposing batters and walked 56.
Another negative point for the national champions is seen in their defense, which has committed 18 errors in 421 chances for a very low fielding percentage of .957.
The Crocodiles’ defense has committed more errors than other tournament participants in fewer innings played, which translates into many offensive opportunities for opponents.
On the positive side for the Crocodiles, José Amauri Noroña leads in stolen bases with three, and Hanyelo Videt leads batters with a .483 average.
There are countless questions and concerns surrounding the red-and-yellow team. Is it just a rough patch, or has Matanzas’ hegemony in Cuban baseball ended? Lack of motivation in the athletes or shortcomings in training?
High expectations rest on the western representative every time talk turns to the favorites to qualify or compete for the title in any baseball tournament in the country.
A rough patch and poor performance invite reflection from the coaching staff led by Cárdenas, as they look to turn the situation around.
Written y George Carlos Roger Suárez