The Cuban national baseball team will play three friendly matches in February with teams of the Japanese Professional League in view of the V World Classic, according to the Havana embassy in Tokyo.

Tokyo, January 12 (PL)-- The Cuban national baseball team will play three friendly matches in February with teams of the Japanese Professional League in view of the V World Classic, according to the Havana embassy in Tokyo.

The schedule includes clashes with Chunichi Dragons (February 19), Yomiuri Giants (22), both in Okinawa prefecture, to conclude on the 23rd against SoftBank Falcons, in Miyazaki, said the text of the diplomatic mission.

The three games will be used as a warm-up for the Antillean players for the Classic, scheduled for March 8 to 21, with the attendance of teams from 20 nations.

Both Dragones and Halcones have in their ranks members of Cuba's preliminary roster, including Yariel Rodríguez, Liván Moinelo, Raidel Martínez, Pedro Pablo Revilla, Guillermo García and Frank Abel Álvarez, while Alfredo Despaigne and Yurisbel Gracial spent several seasons with the Halcones.

Meanwhile, Ariel Martínez will play next season with the Nippon-Ham wrestlers.

This preparatory base responds to the historic bilateral baseball relations between Japan and Cuba, the statement added.

In early November 2022, the vice president of the Cuban Baseball Federation, German Mesa, and the head of the Japanese counterpart body, Masatake Yamanaka, exchanged views in Tokyo on potentialities for technical cooperation and the prospects of each country in the face of the V World Classic.