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The Cocodrilos de Matanzas will make their debut this Wednesday in the Champions League 2026, a tournament organized by the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC), which will take place from March 24 to 29 at the Alfredo Harp Helú Stadium in Mexico City.
According to the site JIT, the Yumurino team, led by Armando Ferrer, will face the CTBC Brothers from Chinese Taipei at 10:00 local time, with the left-handed pitcher Yoennis Yera designated as the starter.
The tournament brings together five teams: the Diablos Rojos del México, the defending champions; the Cocodrilos de Matanzas; the Dantos de Managua; the CTBC Brothers from Chinese Taipei; and the Kane County Cougars from the United States, two-time champions of the American Association. The format is a round robin in which each team plays four matches, and the top two ranked teams face off in the final on March 29.
Matanzas enters the tournament as the most dominant team in recent Cuban baseball. The Cocodrilos claimed the 64th National Series with a record of 12-2 in the postseason and a run differential of +58, finishing the final on February 14 with an 11-0 blowout against Las Tunas at the Estadio Latinoamericano in Havana.
Yoennis Yera, born on October 18, 1989 and a veteran of a thousand battles, recorded a record of 6-6 with an ERA of 2.75 in the regular season of the 64th National Series. His international experience makes him a key player for the debut against the Taiwanese.
Among the batters, the team relies on the first baseman Ariel Martínez, the best Cuban hitter in the VI World Baseball Classic, who hit a home run against Colombia and a key hit against Canada. Also central figures are the captain and center fielder Eduardo Blanco, MVP of the domestic postseason, slugger José Amaury Noroña, catcher Andrys Pérez, and the reinforcement Yassiel González, a Holguin outfielder considered MVP of the regular phase of the 64th National Series.
The stated objective is to surpass or at least match the runner-up position achieved by Las Tunas in the inaugural edition of 2025, when the Leñadores reached the finals undefeated but fell to the Diablos Rojos, managed by American manager Charles Lorenzo Bundy, with Robinson Canó as the tournament's MVP.
The participation of Matanzas is particularly significant because Cuba has been excluded from the 2026 Caribbean Series, held in Guadalajara in February, following the change of venue from Venezuela. The Cuban Baseball Federation described the decision as "disrespectful."
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