Serie Nacional: Yoelkis Guibert is a rising star in Cuba

Today, we catch up with Cuban Serie Nacional slugger Yoelkis Guibert and discuss his career and the prospects of a 2020 season in Quebec.

Yoelkis Guibert has a bright future ahead of him in the game of baseball, especially in the Serie Nacional. He’s more than likely the heir apparent to Roel Santos in centerfield for the National team.

The outfielder was a key figure in Santiago’s back-to-back titles in Cuba’s Sub 23 league. Guibert is a line-drive hitter with plenty of speed on the basepaths, he basically fits the bill of a typical leadoff hitter.

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He debuted in 2017 with the Cuban team in the World Port Tournament in Rotterdam and hit an astonishing .423 in that competition. The speedster was part of the first list of 34 prospects in the now-defunct accord between MLB and Cuba.

He was also part of the disappointing Cuban Pan-American Games team in 2019 and hit .290 in the preparation friendship series with the US collegiate team.

During the off-season, Yoelkis Guibert was signed by the Quebec Capitales of the Frontier League but it seems unlikely that he will play there because the league has decided not to play in 2020.

How have you stayed in shape during this complicated off-season?

It’s been hard and I have mostly worked on my physique. I’m looking forward to playing some form of baseball in 2020.

Santiago had a great nucleus on the Sub 23 team, how do you that translating into success with the Serie Nacional ballclub?

Although we lost Norge Carlos Vera, Ricardo Ramos, Sergio Barthelemy, Patrick Meriño, and Óscar Luis Colás, I think we still have plenty of talent on our ball club. We still have plenty of young talent like Ubert Mejías, Ulfrido García, Dasiel Sevila, Yunior Tur, and myself to take up the slack for those losses.

How did your training games in México leading up to last year’s Pan-Am games help you get in-game shape?

The rarefied air helped my cardio plenty and I was able to work on every facet of my game. This I felt was the catalyst to my good season last year.

You were on the list submitted to Major League Baseball by the Cuban Federation, how did that make you feel?

I was very motivated but I was also very sad when the deal fell through. Hopefully one day I will be able to play in the best baseball in the world.

Do you have a team that you would like to play for?

Not really, basically I favor whichever team will have me.