Former big-league outfielder Yoenis Céspedes will not be with Cuba's World Baseball Classic team when they battle Australia on Wednesday as part of the quarterfinal round, according to MLB.com's Matt Monagan. Céspedes said that he needs to return to the United States for personal reasons, but that he hopes to rejoin the team if they win and advance to the semifinal round.
Céspedes, 37 years old, played in Cuba's first two games of the tournament but has since been relegated to reserve duty. He went 0 for 6 with two walks in those initial contests, both Cuban losses. Manager Armando Johnson has since rolled with Roel Santos, who has five hits in 11 at-bats and two runs batted in.
Céspedes has not appeared in an MLB contest since 2020. In eight games with the New York Mets that season, he went 5 for 34 with 15 strikeouts. Given his age and distance from MLB play, it's safe to assume that his big-league career is likely over. If that proves to be the case, Céspedes batted .273/.327/.497 (125 OPS+) with 165 home runs. He accumulated 21.6 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball-Reference's estimates, and suited up for four teams: the Mets, Oakland Athletics, Detroit Tigers, and Boston Red Sox.
Cuba, by the way, recovered from that 0-2 start to finish pool play at 2-2. Because every team involved in Pool A had a 2-2 record, advancement came down to the WBC's complicated multi-team tiebreaker. Our Mike Axisa explained how, precisely, Cuba and Italy were deemed the top two teams in that pool on Sunday:
The tiebreaker rules are quite complicated for anything involving three or more teams, however, and we must dive into them to sort out of the five-team tie in Pool A. Here are the tiebreaker rules for a three or more team tie:
Lowest quotient of fewest runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games between the teams that are tied.Lowest quotient of fewest earned runs allowed divided by the number of defensive outs recorded in games between the teams that are tied.Highest batting average in games in that round between the teams tied.A drawing of lots.
If Cuba advances to the semifinals, the rest of their games will be played in the United States.
