If you are one of those who like to do accounts, rehearse possible lineups and play to be the director of a baseball team, you will surely be rubbing your hands with the announced return of Rubén Paz to the Las Tunas team. 

Las Tunas, Cuba.- The arrival from Mexico of the player who should have won the Rookie of the Year prize in 2016, raises several questions about the nine regular baseball men who will play on September 12, when the Leñadores (Lumberjacks) debut against the Huracanes (Hurricanes) from Mayabeque at the beginning of the 60th National Baseball Series.

What will be the three regulars in the outfields, the most competitive area within the team? Who will take the first turn at bat? What are the real options for a future bet like Osmani Urrutia Jr.?

Since Paz dazzled the entire country with his exceptional debut season in the 55 Series, things have changed a lot in the outfields in Las Tunas. Now, an already international player like Yuniesky Larduet is ready and fully able to defend his triple status as the undisputed owner of center field and leadoff hitter for one of the most offensive teams in the championship.

Along with him, a pair that mixes experience and youth: Andrés Quiala, who has proven his worth and versatility many times, particularly in decisive games; and Dailier Peña, a protagonist of excellent campaigns in the last two years, and included in the list of prospects for Cuban baseball.

There are two players who without being starters contribute many things. One of them is Héctor Castillo, the fastest legs of the Lumberjacks and probably from all over the country. Already the year before, he was instrumental in qualifying for the second phase of the season, with an offensive underpinned by his ability on bases well above average and with a defense in which the speed of displacement and his certain arm stand out. And the other is Leonis Figueredo, a left-handed hitter who is still waiting for a final stretch, but who in any case is a good option as a pinch hitter.

That is the panorama that Rubén Paz finds now, after five years in which he accumulated playing time in the competitive Mexican semi-professional circuits and had a brief foray with the Sultans of Monterrey in the Pacific League, AAA category.

The player born in Bayamo, but from Las Tunas by conviction left a very pleasant impression with the Lumberjacks of the 2015-2016 baseball season when he established the still-current record of offensive average (361) for a rookie in national series.

Now 25, he returns to a very different team. If in 2015 Paz thanked Ermidelio Urrutia for the opportunity to play as regular, he will now find Pablo Alberto Civil and a completely renewed management team in the command post. In addition, he will try to open a gap in the only team that has risen to the podium for the last three years, which he has two finals and a national title. The competition will be very strong: a blessed problem.

TRIALING ANSWERS

Any attempt to offer answers to the questions raised above is a mere exercise of journalistic opinion, since the actual decisions will be dictated by the sports performance that the players show once the training is over, along with the authorized criteria of those who will have the last word: the experts.

However, it never hurts to "warm your arm" and try to answer questions. Here we go, then.

Regular players? The first of them is Yuniesky Larduet, who in our opinion should remain the owner of the center field and the first turn of the lineup. He already knows what it is to be part of a National Team and the last season he averaged 310, with 19 extra-bases, the same number of stolen bases and 55 scored runs.

The second candidate would be Rubén Paz. Assuming that he will arrive in time to meet the enlistment stage and that we will see an improved version of the one he showed in 2015, the boy would be the best option to defend any of the corners in the outfield and to occupy the second shift in the lineup, integrating a promising duo with Larduet, who would open the way for hitters of the caliber of Dánel, Yosvani, Yordanis, Viñales, Denis Peña or Andrés de la Cruz.

To close the trio in the outfield there are two main candidates: Dailier Peña and Andrés Quiala, who could share the position according to the characteristics of the opposing pitcher and the needs of the team. Héctor Castillo and Leonis Figueredo could also aspire to more and to convince the technicians they will have six weeks of preparation.

THE VARIABLES OF THE EQUATION

If you are wondering from the beginning, I answer you at once: I have not forgotten Jorge Yhonson. He is one of the best left-handed hitters in the country in the last decade, the Most Valuable Player of the 2019 postseason, in which Las Tunas was crowned, and for these reasons, he will always have a privileged position when considering the options of each one.

He simply deserves it, not only for his numbers and for the seriousness and intelligence with which he assumes the game, but for the enormous effort he is making right now to recover from a delicate injury to his throwing arm.

In full form, Yhonson should be the undisputed owner of left field, only that the surgical operation he underwent nine months ago will keep him still away from the playing fields and he will not be able to start training on a par with his teammates. In any case, starting with the team's leadership, everyone is confident that he will recover, although it cannot be ruled out that at the end of his career he will be an initial hitter or designated hitter.

Finally, you should not lose sight of the players who represent the future of that area. David Fernández and Odellán Tineis appear on the list of 10 shortlisted outfielders, although without a doubt Osmani Urrutia Jr. arouses an inevitable nostalgia for all the glory associated with his last name. At the same time, beyond his lineage, he creates high expectations for his conditions as a player. The son of the “Lord of the 400” must receive a special follow-up since he is one of those included in the group of the best prospects in the country.

The list of 34 players to be announced on August 18, in which a third will be pitchers, greatly hinders the options of younger outfielders when it comes to joining the team. That is why training will be essential, not only to surprise everyone and earn a position but to take over tools and polish technical skills that allow them to continue growing.

The outfield area then has up to six or seven players fully capable of integrating the final roster, so the Lumberjacks, more than a pleasant headache, have tremendous potential there to establish themselves as one of the strong candidates to fight for the Champion Trophy.