The 65th National Baseball Series kicked off this Sunday with 16 teams and a shortened schedule of 44 games per team, in an edition that introduces a zonal format designed to reduce travel and fuel costs amid the energy crisis faced by Cuba.
The qualifying phase will last until December 22, with 16 teams divided into two major geographical zones —West and East— and four groups of four teams each, according to the digital newspaper JIT.
Each team will play 24 matches against rivals in their own group and another 20 against those in the neighboring group within their zone. The most striking aspect of this format is that throughout the entire regular season, there will be no matchups between western and eastern teams; those encounters are reserved exclusively for the national final.
The distribution is as follows: in the West, Group A includes Pinar del Río, Artemisa, Isla de la Juventud, and Industriales, while Group B consists of Mayabeque, Matanzas, Cienfuegos, and Villa Clara. In the East, Group C comprises Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, and Las Tunas, and Group D includes Holguín, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, and Guantánamo.
The new scheme directly addresses the logistical challenges posed by the prolonged energy crisis in Cuba, which has resulted in generation deficits of between 1,300 and 1,840 MW in recent periods and has made interprovincial transportation more expensive and complicated. The formula aims, in the words of the organizers, to "reduce travel and better manage resources, especially fuel."
The tighter schedule, however, comes with a sporting cost: "it will leave less room for recovery for teams experiencing a rough patch during a qualifying phase that is considerably shorter than in previous editions."
The postseason also arrives with new features. The zone playoffs will adopt the Page system, with series played in a best-of-three format at the home stadium of the higher-seeded team. In each zone, the first seed will face the second, while the third will compete against the fourth. The winner of the matchup between the top two will advance directly to the zone final; the loser will receive a second chance and will face the winner of the contest between the third and fourth seeds.
The champions of the West and East will then compete in a national final in a best-of-seven series.
The Crocodiles of Matanzas were crowned champions of the 64th National Series, sweeping Las Tunas 4-0 in the final held in February of this year, finishing that postseason with a record of 12-2 and a +58 run differential. As the defending champions of the 64 SNB, the Crocodiles are one of the teams to watch in the new edition, although the title of the 65 SNB will determine who will represent Cuba in the 2027 Baseball Champions League.
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