WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL A - COLOMBIA VS CUBA

March 8, 2026

German Mesa

Yoelkis Guibert

Yiddi Cappa

Hiram Bithorn Stadium

Team Cuba

Pregame Press Conference

Q. Yoelkis, you had a big hit in an important at-bat against Australia in the last Classic. It was your bat that gave the first run to Cuba in 2026 with a home run against Logan Allen. Do you focus in more in key moments?

YOELKIS GUIBERT: I just focus game after game on trying to have good at-bats. It was not the exception. I was able to get ahead in the count. I tried to take advantage of it because I knew that I had to be in the zone for the next pitch, and that's how it was.

Made good contact, so thank God everything contributed to the victory.

Q. For you all as players, the injury for Puerto Rico, did you have the chance to see the game and the crowd as the tenth man for Puerto Rico? How do you prepare not only to face Puerto Rico in the future, but a Colombian team that played a competitive game against Puerto Rico?

GERMAN MESA: Well, we have a plan. We have a game plan to accomplish with what we have in mind. We're not looking at who's our opponent, rather what do we have to do? If we follow our plan, I don't think we're going to have any problem.

But we are not looking at who's our opponent and how they're coming in. We're just thinking about ourselves with the knowledge that we do have of our opponent.

Q. Yiddi, you left Cuba when you were very young. And you haven't been with Cuba until the Classic. Did you think you would be playing for them in a World Baseball Classic?

YIDDI CAPPA: Yes. First of all, I left Cuba very young. The dream of every player is to play for Cuba in the World Baseball Classic. I thought I was too far away to do it.

Thank God I am here for the Classic. I was watching it from the bleachers, and now I'm living it now.

Q. I think that the schedule, the way that the games have been scheduled have benefited Cuba. You played the first game against Panama, executed, and you rested yesterday. It has given you a chance to look at the games of each of your opponents. Do you have anything to say about that?

GERMAN MESA: Well, yes. Not everything has to be bad. Sometimes we get -- I mean, we had a chance to play in the first game and resting for the second one and get to watch the opponents. That helps us quite a bit, yeah.

Q. German, a quick question. After yesterday's practice, people want to know what do the guys, after a game like yesterday watching the games, what do you do after practice yesterday with the rest of the day off?

GERMAN MESA: After yesterday's practice, the guys have their routines. Their relaxation routine. Not everything has to be on the playing field. They have their own routine of what they do every day. Then we go on to focus on the game.

So everybody, we're all focused on this tournament, and we are concentrating on the game with Panama. If you did a check of where the players were, they were all in their rooms watching the game. We're really focused on what we came to do, and that's why we're getting the results we're getting.

Q. All of your games in this, I would imagine, are important. But I know like the saying goes, Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of the same bird. When you play Puerto Rico, do you feel something different?

YIDDI CAPPA: Well, I as a ballplayer have never had a chance to play against Puerto Rico. It's my first chance playing them, but yes, it's going to be something that's close. It's going to be a close game, Cuba and Puerto Rico.

GERMAN MESA: Well, yes, I have had the possibility of playing against Puerto Rico. As they say, we are two wings of the same bird, but in the playing field, we are rivals. We're not enemies, we're just rivals on the ballfield, and may the best player win. That's our feeling, and I believe that's theirs also.

YOELKIS GUIBERT: I believe that playing against the host team gives you a little bit of more energy and that adrenaline of knowing that you're going to have most of the crowd against you, and that's kind of good, at least on my part, because it means that I have to focus in a bit more and just work the count a bit more.

Q. We've been talking that preparation was not so good, and then you get here, and you respond. You batted well. Tell us about the confidence the manager gave you, the coaching staff, the coaches, and how has that helped you?

YOELKIS GUIBERT: Yes, the coaches have put all their trust in me, and I believe also because, when I was playing against Nicaragua, of course, and did not have a good moment with Nicaragua. But before that, I was fine with Venezuela and other events.

I believe that they have put their trust in me, and I have not let them down yet. Things are coming out fine, and I hope they continue like that.