Céspedes (personal reasons) out for quarterfinals of Classic
Matt Monagan
@MattMonaganTAICHUNG, Taiwan -- After a wild, five-way tie, Cuba finished first in Pool A of the World Baseball Classic over the weekend.
The team will head to Tokyo to take on Australia in the quarterfinals (Wed., 6 a.m. ET, FS2), but it will be missing one of its more notable players: Yoenis Céspedes.
Céspedes has stated that he needs to return to the United States for personal reasons. However, if Cuba does advance to Miami for the semifinal round, he hopes to return to the team.
Céspedes played in two games in Taiwan, and sat the next two. He was 0-for-2 with two walks in Cuba’s opening matchup loss to Netherlands and 0-for-4 in in his country’s loss to Italy.
The oft-injured former All-Star most recently played in the Major Leagues in 2020. He spent some time in the Dominican Winter League this past season -- looking like his old self at times -- but the injury bug bit him again while running the bases.
Roel Santos, who played well in left field for Cuba in its past two games, seems to be the likeliest option again for the club once it gets to the Tokyo Dome.