Coming into the 2026 World Baseball Classic, there’d been so much talk of Cuba not having the kind of team, or the same historically strong footprint in the baseball world that they’d had for so many years.
Still, outside of the noise, Cuba entered this year’s Classic looking to keep an impressive streak intact: Including a fourth-place finish at the 2023 tournament, the Cubans advanced from group play in all five previous Classics.
In its opening game of Pool A, Cuba took an important step towards extending that streak.
Team Cuba made an early statement in what figures to be a wide-open group stage, notching a 3-1 victory over Panama on Friday afternoon at Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan.
Yoelkis Guibert got things off to a quick start (like 103.3 mph quick) in the top of the 2nd inning. His homer gave them an early 1-0 lead, and then a string of Cuba’s top pitchers did the rest.
Livan Moinelo, the reigning NPB MVP, went 3 2/3 innings -- striking out four, while allowing just two hits and no runs. Blue Jays reliever Yariel Rodriguez gave up zero over 2 1/3 innings. Darien Nunez (1/3 IP) and Yoan Lopez (1 IP) both gave up nothing. Panama got its lone run off Emmanuel Chapman on a seventh-inning single by Johan Camargo.
Yoan Moncada, the lone MLB hitter in Cuba’s lineup, was arguably the star of the day. He crushed a two-run homer in the third to make it 3-0, and dazzled on the defensive side, making play after play with his glove and also without it.
Asked how he felt after hitting a big homer to give his team an early lead in the opening game, well, he didn’t feel bad.
"Well, you feel real good,” the Angels third baseman said. “You feel real good to start with a home run and to put the team ahead, and the most important thing is to win. Well, it happened, and I’m happy to win and to make a contribution to the team.”
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Raidel Martinez, the best closer in the NPB, finished things off with a flourish -- retiring the side in order and striking out the final batter with his high-90’s heat.
Besides exceptional pitching and timely hitting, manager German Mesa said there was an X-factor that will be helpful carrying Team Cuba forward into this pool.
“The most important thing from the team is the attitude they have and how we're in the dugout helping out and supporting each other,” Mesa said. “I think that that is the main ... thing about the game.”
Cuba is next in action against Colombia on Sunday at 12 p.m. ET (1 p.m. local time, FS2). Panama will look to avoid an 0-2 start in pool play when it takes on Puerto Rico on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET on FS1 (7 p.m. local time).