WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: SEMIFINALS

March 18, 2023

Armando Johnson

Alfredo Despaigne

Tokyo Dome

Team Cuba

Workout Day Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, everybody. Thank you to Armando and Alfredo for being here. Good to see everybody. We'll start on your right, gentlemen.

Q. You have designated Elías for tomorrow, but we don't know the opposing pitcher yet. How did you designate that pitcher for today without knowing who will be opening tomorrow?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: That's no worries at all. Elías is well prepared, Yariel is not available, and now we're going to see who is going to start.

Q. You have had a great tournament, 10 games in a row collecting hits. Maybe tomorrow the atmosphere will be different here than the one you had in Asia. Could that affect your game tomorrow, in the semifinals for tomorrow?

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: No, I believe that that shouldn't affect us. We play baseball. We are on the field. We have to be focused on the game, on the players, on the pitchers. The atmosphere is not going to affect us.

Q. Armando, Cespedes is back to the team, is there any update about Ibáñez?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: Ibáñez has a game today. His organization gave him five or six innings to see how he's doing. If he's okay, he might be tomorrow.

Q. What does it mean to a Cuban team playing in Miami? The crowd could be split, but you will have many fans supporting you.

ARMANDO JOHNSON: What that means to us is that all the teams here deserve being here. The four teams deserve respect. The players are focused on what they have to do, which is playing baseball, and they are focused on that and they are going to do their best so the crowd that is against us they will also enjoy a good game.

Q. What do you see in this team, Alfredo? You have been with Cuba all the time. How about this team without Robert, Moncada, do you think you would have made it so far? Do you think that their presence was vital? And I'm talking about Romero, and pitching, Leyva, and other professional players playing outside of Cuba. What do you think the team would be without those players?

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: It's no secret for anybody that this has been a very important injection for the team. Those who came, they did a great job. I'm very happy for the job they have done. I always congratulate them. Team Cuba, in the last years we have had a deficit of players because they made a decision, and we all respect that. They are playing in other leagues and we haven't had a powerful team as the one we have today. They helped us to come all this way.

If they weren't here, well, we would have fought, but we don't know if we would be here. But we have young players that are willing to play and they are going to go all out to win, you know. But where we would have been? Well, I don't know, maybe here, maybe in the fifth place as it happened in the latest edition of the WBC.

Q. For both of you, do you think there is a disadvantage because maybe you didn't see the pitching that we have seen in this WBC? For example, if you face Venezuela or Team USA in the next phase, maybe in Taiwan, you didn't see that high level quality.

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: Yeah, the pitching over there was not the same as here. There are more high-speed pitchers here. They use more breaking balls over there. We are now in America. We are no longer in Asia. We have to change the mindset. I will have to make some adjustments to the speed of the pitchers and we are doing that. I hope we have as good batting as we had in Asia.

ARMANDO JOHNSON: With these MLB players, together with ours, we have a very good mix, you know. I think that they have learned with each other. They have great skills and I think that we have a good engagement to face the pitching. It's difficult for the hitters, of course, but we have high-quality players, and I believe that they can make those adjustments to face the pitching here in Miami.

Q. Alfredo, you as a team, does it bother you if there are fans against Cuba or are you expecting that, knowing the feelings in the city?

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: No, it doesn't affect us. You know, events, you have fans supporting you and fans against you. That's natural in baseball. It doesn't affect us. I played for nine years in Japan and we had fans supporting our team and others supporting other teams. So everyone is free to feel and to think whatever they want. It won't affect us.

Q. Cuba was the only team in this tournament. Mr. Díaz-Canel, Cuba's president, you gave him a cap of the team and a jersey. It was tight for you, by the way, in the belly part, especially. People ask themselves and they speak about the politicization of this. What do you think of this gesture and the presence of the Cuban president to speak to the team?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: What I can say is that was just a boost of the president when we were leaving the country. The players were happy to see him there. It's a president visiting a dugout to speak with the players, and I think that was a motivating thing for the young players. It was a nice experience for the guys.

We are together with all the players that are Cubans. Even when they play in different countries, you had a different thought at some point in time and now they have come together as one team. It was awesome. On the 3rd, those players arrived and they didn't sleep enough and it's surprising. It's awesome how the engagement has taken place. They are giving everything on the field and they will continue that.

Q. Armando, you have said that the Major League players have taught the Cuban players and they have learned from them. But how about the management, the Cuban management, have you learned with these players? Because Cuba is not open to international baseball. How much have you learned with these professional players?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: Well, like I said, both groups, which is only a group now, have learned from each other. They have learned from us as well. I have learned a lot about the discipline those players have had. We thought that they would be different and, no, not at all. They have been very disciplined, and they have a great engagement with our players. It's amazing. I am really enjoying playing with them.

You don't have to say anything to them. You just tell them about the meeting and those players know what to do, when to do that, and they have done their best and that's why we are here.

Q. Alfredo, ever since you left Asia, you arrived in Miami, it's been four days off before the game tomorrow. Such an important game. Do you think that these days off without playing could be a disadvantage or an advantage for tomorrow's game?

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: That's a very good question. These days off shouldn't affect us. We've been training in Asia for over a month. But, for example, what happened to the Major League players because of the jet lag when the professional players arrived in Asia, we are trying to make some adjustments. We're trying to be awake during the day to be a hundred percent tomorrow to the game. Yes, we needed some rest.

We trained yesterday, by the way, and today as well. Yesterday, training was optional, but some players said, no, we have to make our adjustment and we went to the practice. It's been 13 hours of difference. In my experience, you need at least one week to get used to the new time. But we are warriors. We're going to go out and fight.

Q. Armando, you cried after the victory versus Australia because of the importance of this qualification of Team Cuba for the second time in the WBC. The expectations before the tournament were different. Not many people thought that Cuba would be here in Miami. When you left Cuba, what were the real expectations you had? Of course we know that the players are willing to win, etcetera, but did you think that you were able to make it to the third round of the WBC in Miami? Do you hope that you can go further and to equal the same performance of the first WBC in 2006?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: We always think big, you know. We wanted to see the players that could come to the tournament and to see the engagement between the two groups. The cohesion in the group should be solid, making some adjustments and with good discipline. A team without discipline is not able to advance, you know.

We believe we have that dream of raising the trophy. We recognize, however, the quality of the teams we have to play, but one game or two games anyone could win. We have to be focused on the job. We need the cohesion on the team. Anything could happen.

Q. A question for both of you. I was talking with Rubén, Elías, Moncada, and Luis, and they said that the key for the success of this team is that they have felt as a family. Not only talent, but also family. Are you surprised that these players of the Majors are integrated to the team without playing with you very often? Would it be frustrating for you if there was a rejection by the fans when you were playing?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: I think that at this point in time there is no rejection because these players are engaged with the team. We really have a true family. I'm not the one saying. The players have told you that as well. The players are focused and they will go all out to win, no matter the position of the crowd. This is not going to affect them. It's going to be a tough scenario, a tough atmosphere, but we are both physically and mentally prepared for this.

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: Yes, it was surprising. I've played with some of these players before. I haven't been with them for a long time. But it's been excellent. As a captain of the team, I'm grateful with them for the support they have given us, and if I have the chance to play in the next WBC, I would be very proud to play with them.

Q. Speaking of that, the experience of this WBC is going to be useful or can it help other Cuban players to play in other leagues? People that wanted to come but for some circumstances they were not able to come?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: I think that in the next WBC we'll come to play. They are just coming to play baseball. There is no other philosophy involved here.

Q. I'm sorry, but I'm speaking about those that abandoned their obligations and that's why they were not called. But publicly they said that they would like to come back and play.

ARMANDO JOHNSON: Well, that's not our job. We are playing right now, right here in the WBC.

Q. Mandy, you might have the most questionable position in Cuba. How have you carried that weight? People not only in Cuba but outside question your work.

ARMANDO JOHNSON: I am used to being close to the fire. I'm ready for that. And Cuban fans, they just want more and more and more. And that's what we try to do, to give them more and more and more. From the very beginning we said that we wanted to change the face of the Team Cuba. In Cuba, baseball is passion, you know. And so far, I thank God we are changing the face of the baseball fans.

Q. First of all, congrats for coming to this round. We have seen the game between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. 36,000 fans. Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico are part of the Caribbean baseball. Two of the teams left. Cuba is the last one. So you are representing not only Cuba, but according to many players that I have talked to, and fans, the Dominicans and the boricuas will come to support Cuba because you are the last in the Caribbean left in the tournament. How do you feel about that?

ARMANDO JOHNSON: You know how the relationships are between Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. We get along in every event we participate. We spoke a lot. They are great people, people we like to be around. Yes, we want to make the Dominican and boricua people happy. We want more and more and then we'll see the result on the field. We're going to fight until the last out.

Q. Alfredo, one week aspect of Cuba in the international baseball is the scouting. The information the players receive about their rivals. Do you believe that you have enough information to know your rival such as Venezuela or the United States that you might face tomorrow?

ALFREDO DESPAIGNE: Yes, in this WBC we have good scouting. In Asia we didn't have enough. We didn't have information about some relievers that joined later to their teams. But in Latin America, we know each other. We all know each other. We watch Venezuelan baseball, MLB baseball, you know. We have faced some pitchers in the Caribbean Series or the Pan American Games or in international championships. We talk to each other, we are going to go out and fight.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you.