Breaking the routine

First of all, I hope this is a great week for you. I wanted to update you on what you'll be able to enjoy soon here at Inside regarding Cuban baseball coverage. As always, I have many ideas in mind, and I will do my best to surprise you.

For a few weeks now, I have been preparing for two personal projects that I hope to tell you about soon. The first of them has a lot to do with two very important people in my life: my maternal grandmother and my wife Ruth. Inspired by them, I think I have found the definitive drive for everything that is to come. I will share it with you in due course, and I am sure that the news around baseball will be to your liking.

On the other hand, I'm planning to return with my regular column of the week, an installment that you will probably start receiving every Monday morning. As you may have seen here, I have written several columns since this season of the Cuban National Baseball Series began. But as the calendar progresses, I always try to bring calmer stories.

I don't know if you read my “Rewind of the Week” column during the last 62 National Series.

Rebobinado de la semana: Sorpresas que se convierten en realidades

If you liked it, we can come back with something similar. But basically, I plan to write a solid column where you can have a retrospective of what happened throughout the week. I think that would be the best way to put in a calmer context all the madness that is happening each week of this 63rd National Series of Cuban baseball.

Get this: When the day ended last Sunday, the average of runs scored per game had once again shot above 11.0. To be exact, 11.96 runs per game were recorded, the second highest average in the history of the National Series in the first 256 games.

The current record corresponds to the 1995-1996 season, where an average of 13.15 runs scored was recorded in the first 251 games of the 35th National Series.

With so much offense, one of the first ideas that came to mind was to imagine for a few seconds what would have happened if the best hitters in the National Series in this century had been active these days. Can you imagine Osmany Urrutia, “El Señor .400”, hitting the average velocity of 82 mph on the fastball of this 63rd National Series? Or José “Pito” Abreu in the center of the Elephants' lineup crunching pitches like he used to do in the late 2000s?

Well, I think what veterans Alfredo Despaigne (37 years old) and William Saavedra (41) are doing this season in some way answers our question: Despaigne leads the league with 13 home runs in just 100 times at bat. Yes, that has been a rhythm in the style of home run hitters of the past like Romelio Martínez, Orestes Kindelán or Pedro José “Cheíto” Rodríguez, to name three of the legendary sluggers who made history in Cuban baseball.

Despaigne also leads in OBP, walks, and second in slugging and OPS, respectively.

Saavedra is hitting .514/.549/1.027/1.576 in 82 plate appearances. I know it's only 82 PA, but have you seen those numbers? I feel sorry for all those pitchers who have been beaten mercilessly. Saavedra has crushed right-handed pitchers (with a 13.7 HR rate), and left-handed pitchers (no pitcher has struck him out, and he has a 264 OPS+), everyone! He's hitting .471 with the bases empty, .550 with runners on base, and .500 with runners in scoring position!

Well, don't be alarmed if one of these days any manager decides to walk Saavedra with the bases loaded — even if the pitcher then has to face Yasser Julio González, who has hit 10 home runs and has 36 RBI.

Between 2005 and 2015, Yulieski Gurriel was one of the best Cuban hitters of this century in the National Series. Photo: Rafael Torres.

Best hitting of the 21st century

With all this offensive surge, I was thinking about taking a look at the best hitters of this century in the National Series. There are several interesting details in that sense. I mean: a season before this century began, the wooden bat was used again in the National Series. After 22 seasons, the change was significant. I would say that there was a process in which both pitchers and hitters had to adjust again to find their rhythm.

Of course, in those first seasons in the early 2000s, the pitchers seemed to get a better advantage. But then, as the hitters adapted, the seasons began to become more offensive. The bounce of the Mizuno 150 ball helped. And then countless bats that were authorized — like those controversial graphite bats.

I want to write about that entire process, which included a significant generational change in Cuban baseball. I want to share with you the times we were probably in the same ballpark, and how fun it was to see so many talented hitters hit.

The idea I have with the offensive part could begin like this: I will choose four five-year periods, starting with the 43rd National Series. From that starting point, the countdown will be perfect to divide the last two decades into periods of five seasons.

The National Series range would look like this:

Period from 43 Series (2003-2004) to 47 Series (2007-2008)

Period from 48 Series (2008-2009) to 52 Series (2012-2013)

Period from 53 Series (2013-2014) to 57 Series (2017-2018)

Period from 58 Series (2018-2019) to 62 Series (2023)

If you had the privilege of following baseball and feeling the passion that was experienced in all those periods, you are probably already thinking about the hitters who could appear in my Top-50. So of course you can make your list too. How will I choose my Top-50? I will use several statistics that define the offensive contribution of each hitter.

I will make the selections by analyzing the contribution of each hitter in my statistical system. I am going to explain in detail how the tool I created works. This is the oVAL (Offensive Value of the hitter), a statistic that I presented seven years ago as yWAR in my BaseballdeCuba.com column. I think that, despite the differences, we could function as a kind of WAR for Cuban baseball. But, essentially, the oVAL takes into account other particularities that give offensive value to the contribution of each batter.

If you like statistics, and all this crazy math and formulas, you will definitely have fun.

I don't think oVAL is the statistic that gives us the final word on hitter dominance during each five-season span, but I think it will weigh heavily on this journey.

After pitching, I hope to continue with pitching. I also have other ideas that we will alternate during the presentation of each story. As I told you before: I am thinking a lot about you, dear reader. So, if you have any ideas to share, don't hesitate to do so.

Regardless of the low level we are seeing in this 63rd Cuban National Series, as the game schedule progresses, we are beginning to see some surprises. Teams that go up, and teams that go down. And, as almost always, a surprise this week, and another extravagant news the next. This is what happened with the Tigres de Ciego de Ávila a couple of weeks ago, when they went through a streak of four consecutive losses against the Industriales team.

Last week, it was Industriales that faded, trailing seven consecutive defeats. Who will be this week's surprise? Will Pinar del Río maintain its streak of series wins? Will Industriales recover against Guantánamo? Will the Crocodiles' pitching be able to withstand the attack of their opponents? Will the return of Yoel Yanqui be able to boost the Santiago de Cuba offensive?

There are many questions to resolve. So, we will be back here very soon. And, of course, expect another edition of “Slash Line” this week, with coverage of Cuban baseball players in the Major Leagues.

Have a great week!