As of 14 October 2026. Cuba have named the 20 players who will play the U-18 Pan American Championship in the Dominican Republic from 22 to 29 October. The Cuban Baseball and Softball Federation released the list on Tuesday, 13 October. Twelve teams are playing for four places at the 2027 U-18 Baseball World Cup. Alexei Moré Rodríguez of Villa Clara manages the team, and Cuba open in Group B against Venezuela, Mexico and Nicaragua.
The headline name made it: Frederich Cepeda Jr., the 18-year-old Sancti Spíritus outfielder whose father won Olympic gold in Athens. So did two brothers from Villa Clara, who take two of the five outfield places. Seven of the 27 shortlisted players we could confirm in September did not. And one widely read Cuban site has published a list with a name the federation’s list does not have. The full team, the cuts and that discrepancy are below; none of it has been reported in English.
The 20
The team is two catchers, six infielders, five outfielders and seven pitchers. Four of the seven pitchers are left-handers.
| Player | Position | Province | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frank J. Frías | Catcher | Granma | |
| Goar Daniel Pérez | Catcher | Villa Clara | |
| Samuel Matis | Infield | Santiago de Cuba | Matos in the shortlist reports |
| Anthony I. Navarro | Infield | Matanzas | |
| Yamián González | Infield | Matanzas | |
| Dariel R. Cabrera | Infield | Granma | |
| Jorge L. Valera | Infield | Cienfuegos | |
| César A. González | Infield | Cienfuegos | |
| Frederich Cepeda Jr. | Outfield | Sancti Spíritus | Frederich Cepeda Echemendía |
| Dairon M. Suárez | Outfield | Las Tunas | Dairon Michel in the shortlist reports |
| Dairon O. Espinosa | Outfield | Granma | |
| Mario A. Rangel | Outfield | Villa Clara | Brother of Manuel A. Rangel |
| Manuel A. Rangel | Outfield | Villa Clara | Brother of Mario A. Rangel |
| Jesús A. López | Pitcher | Sancti Spíritus | |
| Luis D. Rodríguez | Pitcher | Holguín | |
| Osmar Forteza | Pitcher (L) | Pinar del Río | |
| Ronaldo Crusa | Pitcher (L) | Pinar del Río | Crusá in the shortlist reports |
| Chrystoffer Sarría | Pitcher (L) | Cienfuegos | |
| Dayron Reyes | Pitcher | Camagüey | |
| Marlon J. Rubalcaba | Pitcher (L) | Santiago de Cuba |
Who was cut
In September the Cuban press reported a 28-man shortlist training in Santiago de Cuba. We printed 27 of those names in our shortlist report, the ones confirmed in two independent lists. Comparing that list with the final 20 gives seven of the eight cuts by name: two catchers, the one Havana player, an outfielder and three pitchers.
| Player | Position | Province |
|---|---|---|
| Adriano López | Catcher | Holguín |
| Roisel Ceballos | Catcher | Mayabeque |
| Leroy Cruz | Infield / outfield | La Habana |
| José Alejandro Cordero | Outfield | Cienfuegos |
| Kevin Rodríguez | Pitcher (L) | Matanzas |
| Cristian Céspedes | Pitcher (L) | Granma |
| Luis Ángel Iznaga | Pitcher | Santiago de Cuba |
Both catchers who made it, Frank J. Frías of Granma and Goar Daniel Pérez of Villa Clara, were on the shortlist from the start, so the cuts at catcher removed the third and fourth options rather than reshaping the position. All 20 appear on the confirmed shortlist, counting the Rangel brothers under the given names the shortlist reports used (see below).
One published list differs
The federation’s list was carried word for word by the Cuban news agency ACN (republished by Escambray, 14 October) and by Radio Progreso (13 October). Radio 26 in Matanzas published its own account the same day, listing the team by province. All three put Yamián González of Matanzas in the infield and have no player from La Habana.
Béisbol en Cuba’s report of 13 October, which gives every player’s full second surname, lists Leroy Cruz Bellido of La Habana in the infield instead, and has no Yamián González. It is the only report we found with that line-up. We follow the federation’s list as carried by ACN, Radio Progreso and Radio 26, and Radio 26’s headline makes the point for us: Matanzas, it says, has two infielders on the team, Navarro and González.
Two smaller naming differences are worth knowing if you are searching for these players in Spanish. The Santiago de Cuba infielder is “Samuel Matis” in the federation list and “Samuel Matos” in the September shortlist reports and in Radio 26. The Villa Clara brothers are “Mario A.” and “Manuel A.” Rangel in the federation list, but appeared as “Anthony” and “Adrián” Rangel in the shortlist reports and again in Radio 26. We use the federation’s names and have not tried to reconcile them.
Cepeda Jr. and the Rangel brothers
Frederich Cepeda Echemendía is the son of Frederich Cepeda Cruz, who won Olympic gold with Cuba in 2004 and played for the Yomiuri Giants in 2014 and 2015. The son played at the 2025 U-18 World Cup in Okinawa, has played in the same Sancti Spíritus line-up as his father in the Serie Nacional, and is on the Gallos’ roster again for the 65th series. The background, with sources, is in our shortlist report; the Sancti Spíritus roster is in the Serie Nacional 65 rosters tracker. He is one of two Sancti Spíritus players on the team, with the right-hander Jesús A. López.
Radio Progreso and ACN both describe Mario A. and Manuel A. Rangel as brothers (“los hermanos”). Villa Clara has three players on the team, the other being the catcher Goar Daniel Pérez, and supplies the manager.
The tournament
Twelve teams play in three groups of four. The top two in each group go through to the Super Round; the third- and fourth-placed teams play a classification round, and the medal games close the tournament on 29 October (ACN; Radio Progreso; Radio 26). Four teams qualify for the 2027 U-18 World Cup. Cuba’s Group B opponents are Venezuela, Mexico and Nicaragua, as WBSC Americas announced in August.
At the 2024 edition in Panama, Cuba finished fourth and still reached the 2025 World Cup. Their record at this level, and the 2025 World Cup in which they finished seventh, are covered in the shortlist report.
Our reading: where the team comes from
This is our analysis of the federation’s list, not a claim made by any of the sources. The 20 come from ten of Cuba’s sixteen Serie Nacional provinces. Granma, Villa Clara and Cienfuegos have three players each; Santiago de Cuba, Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus and Pinar del Río two each; Las Tunas, Holguín and Camagüey one each.
Six provinces have nobody: La Habana, Artemisa, Mayabeque, Ciego de Ávila, Guantánamo and Isla de la Juventud. The absence of the capital stands out. La Habana had one player on the September shortlist, Leroy Cruz, and he is not on the federation’s final list. It is one team, and we draw no wider conclusion from it.
What to watch
- The schedule. WBSC Americas had not published the game-by-game schedule for Group B when we checked. We will add Cuba’s three group games to the national teams calendar once it does.
- The Leroy Cruz question. If the federation or a provincial paper confirms a late change, we will correct the table.
- Four places. Four of the twelve teams go to the 2027 World Cup in China; reaching the Super Round is the first step.
Sources
- Agencia Cubana de Noticias via Escambray, “Dos espirituanos en equipo Cuba a Panamericano sub-18 de béisbol”, 14 October 2026: the federation list, manager, Group B, format.
- Radio Progreso, “Cuba anuncia equipo para el Campeonato Panamericano Sub-18 de Béisbol en República Dominicana”, 13 October 2026: the same list, “los hermanos” Rangel, format.
- Radio 26 (George Carlos Roger Suárez), “Cuba juvenil define su nómina con dos matanceros en el cuadro”, 13 October 2026: the team by province, the medal games on 29 October.
- Béisbol en Cuba, “Cuba anuncia su selección Sub-18 para el Campeonato Panamericano de Béisbol”, 13 October 2026: the differing list.
- WBSC Americas, 24 August 2026: dates, twelve teams, groups, four World Cup places. Earlier sources for the shortlist and for Cepeda Jr. are listed in our 6 October report.
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