In a previous piece we addressed the outlook for Cuba's 65th National Baseball Series in its Western Zone, and now it is time to refer to the Eastern Zone.

Let us first recall that under the system to be applied in the tournament, Group C will feature the Gallos de Sancti Spíritus, Tigres de Ciego de Ávila, Toros de Camagüey, and Leñadores de Las Tunas, while Cachorros de Holguín, Alazanes de Granma, Avispas de Santiago de Cuba, and Indios de Guantánamo will compete in Group D.

In bracket C, no favorite can be named other than the Las Tunas squad, a solid group of players who have won everything at the domestic level in recent years and display the most stable results of the last decade.

This time they will not be able to count on their starting third baseman, Yordanis Alarcón, after the third baseman declared himself dissatisfied with the attention received in his territory. I recall that before the previous event, the elder of the Alarcón brothers had already made a show of retiring for this same reason, but someone promised him that his situation would be resolved (specifically, he was requesting housing), and after the player performed in the campaign, he is still waiting for the keys.

In any case, the Leñadores have enough firepower to advance to the postseason, although it is a fairly open quartet.

The Gallos have great strength, especially in their pitching staff, plus the constant contribution of the already established Frederich Cepeda and Rodolexis Moreno, but the Tigres cannot be dismissed, and the Toros added quite a few interesting elements from other provinces and in theory must battle for the lead with the Las Tunas squad.

In the easternmost conglomerate, a fierce struggle is foreseen among the Cachorros, Alazanes, and Avispas, although the Indios possess a good offense with Leonelkis Escalante, Robert Luis Delgado, Andrés de la Cruz, and Luis Ángel Sánchez, among others.

However, the Guantánamo team has not quite made that leap in quality expected of them, and this time the competition will be much tougher. The pitching contribution of Enyer Fernández will be fundamental to see what they achieve.

Holguín already showed last year what it is capable of and returns with spirits high, since it maintains practically the same personnel with which it added color a few months ago to the National Series and the Elite League.

For its part, Granma wants to recover the hegemony it displayed not so long ago, and with the bats of Guillermo Avilés, Osvaldo Abreu, Yulieski Remón, Alfredo Despaigne, Roel Santos, and Alexquemer Sánchez, plus the arms of Cesar García, Leandro Martínez, and Yoel Mojena, it could achieve it.

Finally, Santiago continues to depend on a fearsome lineup based on Yoelkis Guibert, Harold Vázquez, Eduardo García, Edilse Silva, Jeison Martínez, Euclides Pérez, Adriel Labrada, Francisco Martínez, Carlos Monier, and Yoel Yanqui, who promise to be the usual steamroller.

Its weak point continues to be pitching, with the tireless Danny Betancourt as a recognized figure, now somewhat strengthened by the return of Yosmel Garcés.

I would lean toward Camagüey and Las Tunas as qualifiers in section C, and Holguín and Santiago in D; we will see what happens.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Díaz / CubaSí Translation Staff