Yesterday, the 16th of the 20 players who made up the team that finished second in the last U-15 World Cup, held in 2022, left Cuba. His name is Mailon Batista, the talented pitcher arrived in the Dominican Republic in the yesterday afternoon and will seek to sign a contract with an MLB organization.
In Cuba, a lot of talent continues to emerge, but with the economic situation that the country is going through, the parents themselves areange the departures for their children, they cannot afford to wait and waste their talent, which is why they try to sign as quickly and efficiently as possible. In that U-15 World Cup he tossed 6 scoreless innings, posted a 1-0 record, struck out 6 and walked four.
Three years earlier, in 2019, he participated in the U-12 World Cup in Taiwan. There Cuba obtained 3rd place finish. Batista played the dual-role of outfielder and pitcher during that tournament. Of that 2019 U-12 team, a total of 15 out of 20 players who were on the roster have already left Cuba and some even have agreements for January 2024 international signing period, according as per the colleague Francys Romero.
☑️🇨🇺 Mailon Batista, lanzador del último Cuba Sub-15, salió de la isla en las últimas horas y ya se encuentra en Dominicana con el objetivo de buscar una firma profesional.
🔹Es el pelotero #16 de los 20 que integraron aquel conjunto Sub-Campeón en 2022 que sale de Cuba. pic.twitter.com/3GQjuOagzI
— Miguel Rodríguez Hernández (@MiguelRH98) October 28, 2023
Batista has great potential, before his departure he played the National Under-18 Championship with his province of Granma , before the tournament was stopped due to lack of fuel . He pitched in six games and in 17.1 innings of work he allowed six runs (ERA: .242), he hit .237 (59 AB; 14 H) and struck out 12 opponents.
Other players that have defected from the team also include Ronald Elías Terrero, Yan Carlos Valle, Alejandro Prieto, Segian Pérez, Ernest Machado, Dulieski Ferrán, Alex Acosta, Jonathan Valle, Yosniel Menéndez, Danel Reyes, Roberto Peña Torres, Pedro Danguillecourt, Jaider Suárez, Yunior Villavicencio and Alejandro Cruz.
This list will probably continue to increase in the near future; at the moment, 80% of that team is no longer in Cuba. Only Robier Hernández, Yordan Rodríguez, Yaidel Ruíz and Maikol Rodríguez still remain on the island from the aforementioned Sub-15 squad.