The Cuban team participating in the VI Caribbean Baseball Cup won its first game of the tournament this Wednesday 9-0 against St. Maarten, but an incident occurred with Jean Lucas Baldoquín, specifically with his bat. Game video shows the player using a Victus Sports brand bat, the same one used by major league players such as Yordan Álvarez or Andy Pagés. In his first at-bat, Jean Lucas swatted a hit and the rival catcher protested the bat, claiming that it was illegal.
The event organized by the Caribbean Baseball Confederation (COCABE) is governed by the list of bats allowed internationally by the World Baseball and Softball Federation (WBSC). The last update that COCABE had on the list of timber that could be used dated July 31, 2024, which was outdated.
Said Confederation had not realized that there was a new update to the WBSC bat list of October 7, 2024, where the Victus Sports brand does appear at number 34 of the 38 bats. Finally, the most affected was the player, COCABE issued a statement admitting its mistake and apologizing for what happened:
“We have received the October update for bats allowed by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) for international events. We apologize that this update was not delivered on time. This is an error by our staff, which we are aware of. Starting with the third game of this opening day, between the Bahamas and the Virgin Islands, this new update will be used,” said the statement before the third game of the first day.
Jean Lucas Baldoquín, brother of Roberto Sullivan Baldoquín (a member of the Cuba team in the Premier 12), hit seventh on the day and went 1 for 4 with a double and scored despite having a hit taken away from him, due to the negligence of the tournament’s governing body.