Team Cuba catcher Ivan Prieto defected to the United States during the World Baseball Classic.
Prieto reportedly did not return home to Cuba on Monday following the team’s 14-2 loss to Team USA in the baseball tournament’s semifinal game in Miami on Sunday, making the bullpen catcher the first baseball player to defect from Cuba during a World Baseball Classic tournament.
Per @YordiMLB, Ivan Prieto (Cuba’s bullpen catcher) left the Cuban National Team last night prior to the team returning home from Miami this morning.
He is now the first ever player to leave Team Cuba during a World Baseball Classic. pic.twitter.com/a5xpsy8VFL
— Shawn Spradling (@Shawn_Spradling) March 20, 2023
CUBAN EXPATRIATES PROTEST CASTRO AND COMMUNISM AT WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC SEMIFINAL
While Team Cuba flew from Miami to Cuba via a chartered flight Monday, Prieto was not on board.
Cuban exile sources noted they received confirmation from Prieto’s home province of Holguin that he did not return back to Cuba, a report noted.
On Sunday, while the game was underway, Cuban expatriates gathered outside Miami’s loanDepot Park to protest the Castro regime and communism plaguing the nation they struggled to escape.
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When asked about the protests, Cuba team manager Armando Johnson said, “We’re just here for baseball, for the sport.”
“Everyone has his or her way of thinking,” Johnson added. “We are on the field, and we come here just to play baseball and the sport. That’s what we wanted to do here.”
