Preview: Taipei Dome says farewell to WBSC Premier12 with Cuba vs Chinese Taipei encounter

On Monday evening at 6.30pm local time at the Taipei Dome the No. 2 in the WBSC/KONAMI Men’s Baseball World Rankings, Chinese Taipei, is squaring off with No. 9 Cuba to conclude the opening round in Group B of the WBSC Premier12 2024 presented by RAXUS.

After their dominant 11-3 win over Australia on Sunday, Chinese Taipei qualified for the Super Round at the WBSC Premier12 2024 thanks to a 3-1 record and owning the tie-breaker over Korea (thanks to their 6-3 win in the first game of the event) in case both national teams would be 3-2 in the standings. Chinese Taipei also had beaten the Dominican Republic (2-1) and lost to Japan (1-3).

The record title holder in Baseball World Cups, Cuba, meanwhile got eliminated from contention on Sunday with a 6-7 loss to Japan. It was an exciting battle between two baseball powerhouses at Tienmu Stadium. Cuba dropped to 1-3 in the standings with their lone win being a 4-3 victory over Australia on Saturday. Previously they had lost 1-6 to the Dominican Republic and 4-8 to Korea.

Cuba issending 35-year-old veteran left-hander Yoennis Yera to the mound as startingpitcher. Pitching in his third WBSC Premier12 in his career he already drew thestart against the Dominican Republic, allowing just three hits in six scorelessinnings, striking out five. During the 2024 season playing for Tabasco in theMexican League he went 1-4 with an ERA of 4.82 in 15 games (12 starts). Hestruck out 60 in 61.2 innings pitched, walking 23.

Chinese
Taipei announced Tzu-Peng Huang as starting pitcher. The 30-year-oldright-hander was stellar in his start against the Dominican Republic, where heissued just one walk in six scoreless no-hit frames. A minor injury forced himout of the no-hit bid. During the 2024 season he pitched for the RakutenMonkeys in the CPBL, going 5-7 with an ERA of 3.51 in 18 games. He struck out56 in 100 innings, walking 22.

Cuba has a10-5 record over Chinese Taipei in international baseball games since 2011.
Both teams met once in previous WBSC Premier12 history. In the opening round in2015 Chinese Taipei prevailed 4-1 over Cuba. Both programs last crossed pathsinternationally in 2022, when Cuba won an opening round game at the WBSC U-15Baseball World Cup.