World Baseball Classic: Vinotinto Pride

On the field, only the Dominican Republic slowed them down, with that powerhouse team that seemed capable of much more, but their bats went cold against the United States, taking too many swings at bad pitches.

The Venezuelan national team relied heavily on its pitching, expertly managed from the manager's position, to get the most out of a squad that surprisingly found its main offensive spark in Maikel García.

This helped compensate for the slumps of several key players, including captain Salvador Pérez, his backup at the plate Wilmer Contreras, and infielders Gleyber Torres and Andrés Giménez, all of whom underperformed at batting.

Even so, manager Omar López managed to score the necessary runs, and with a solid defense and a superb bullpen, they ended the undefeated streaks of Japan and Italy, and defeated the United States to win their first World Baseball Classic.

The hosts reached their third consecutive final, and although they only won in 2017, they have definitely learned how to play these tournaments and maintain a core of regular players instead of treating it like an All-Star Game where everyone has to get playing time.

The knockout rounds were a different story compared to the initial stages, where hitting dominated except in Cuba's group, and pitchers were dominant in almost every elimination game.

We've already mentioned that our team lacked boldness when making substitutions, something that also affected Puerto Rico, with Nolan Arenado permanently third on the lineup, and it showed.

The Classic continues to grow, and all that remains is for Major League Baseball to increase its demands on teams releasing players. Except for Japan and the United States, practically all the other teams suffered unexpected losses, even the defending champion with José Altuve.

The issue of medical insurance needs to be resolved so that the event can truly showcase the very best in baseball.

Speaking of strikes, the new pitch claiming system was sorely missed. It was tested during this preseason, but it was too early to implement it here. Overall, the umpiring was very good on the other plays, but the base counts left more than one person dissatisfied.

In this regard, implementing time restrictions led to a notable decrease in the length of the games, which almost never exceeded three hours. Reducing the commercials between innings would be even more beneficial. One minute is enough for a couple of ads, and there are more than 20 such moments in a baseball game, including pitching changes and mound visits.

More can still be done, but right now, the important thing is to congratulate Venezuela, which made Latin America proud.