Last Monday, Yadir Drake revealed some interesting details of what happened in the tournament in the Premier 12 on the Pelota Cubana Show that is broadcast on the YouTube and Facebook platforms from Monday to Friday starting at 01:00 PM. Cuba finished in eleventh place, tied with the Puerto Rican team after only winning one game against its counterpart from Australia (4-3). The native of Matanzas,Cuba mentioned that other players could have helped Cuba in the tournament and mentioned the current Cañeros de Los Mochis slugger, Yasmany Tomás.
«The truth is, the team for this type of tournament was the best we could have fielded under the rules, although a few players decided not participate at the last moment, mainly pitching, I feel that we could counted on others that were left out, too. Yasmany Tomás (‘El Tanque’) could have helped us, too. Tomás is my brother, I don’t talk much with my friends, but when we see each other we hangout together, we have always talked and he has always been willing to participate with team Cuba.
“In the case of Yasmany Tomás, many analyses of the team were carried out, it was understood that for the position that he can play and the role he would play in the team, bringing a player of this magnitude would be redundant based on the other players we had similar to him on the roster,” Pérez Pardo confessed in statements to Cuban journalist Evyan Guerra.
Yasmany Tomás is one of the five former MLB players who have subsequently returned to the National Series with a homer in their first game. Erisbel Arruebarrena, Rusney Castillo, Alexei Ramírez and Tomás himself have completed this feat. Only Dariel Álvarez was did not go yard in his first game, during his return with Matanzas in the last Elite League.
“It was understood that the players who are being put in that position and who can play in that role, in this case Yasmany Tomás, were not necessary, especially because of his conditioning or lack of, during the last Serie Nacional. Also because of his attributes (play 1B or DH) and with the players who were in the player pool it was not necessary to call him,” added Pérez Pardo.