Protesters rally outside Cuba-USA WBC semifinal
MIAMI — Cuban jerseys, caps and flags decorated the concourse directly outside LoanDepot Park on Sunday afternoon, moments before Team Cuba began its World Baseball Classic semifinal game against the United States.
That was within the gates. Directly outside of them, dozens of protesters gathered in front of about 15 police officers with signs speaking out against Cuba’s communist government and the political prisoners still detained on the island.
“Libertad!” one man constantly shouted.
“Freedom for Cuba!” another woman hollered from time to time.
Sunday marked the first time since at least the beginning of Fidel Castro’s reign more than 60 years ago that Cuba’s national baseball team had visited Miami, specifically Little Havana, the Cuban enclave that houses so many of the people who have fled the island dating back to the 1960s. Some have been able to separate its baseball from politics, while many others can’t, a singular dynamic that, for one night, was encapsulated within one baseball stadium.
It extended beyond the fans.
“To be quite honest with you, there’s a lot of anxious feelings,” said Team USA third baseman Nolan Arenado, the son of Cuban immigrants, adding that he had a long chat about Cuba’s presence with his family earlier in the morning.
“You know, if it wasn’t for the sacrifices my grandparents made to get here for my parents, I don’t know if I would have been the player that I am today, so there’s a lot of feelings I feel toward it. I respect them, I respect the players, but we have a job to do.”
Cheers and a faint “Cuba!” chant were heard when the Cuban flag was unfurled during pregame introductions, but Yoan Moncada and Luis Robert Jr. of the Chicago White Sox — the first two active major leaguers to play for a Cuban national team, a concession made between the Cuban and U.S. governments for this year’s World Baseball Classic — were roundly booed.
Later, while Moncada batted in the top of the fifth, the first of three fans to make their way onto the field held a banner that asked for freedom for Cubans imprisoned during the July 2021 riots.
Moncada and Robert represent two of the biggest Cuban-born stars in the major leagues, but many others were either not invited by the Cuban Baseball Federation or not interested. In many cases, both applied. The list of absentees included Jose Abreu, Yordan Alvarez, Aroldis Chapman, Yasmani Grandal, Yandy Diaz and, most notably, Randy Arozarena, who is instead starring for Mexico, the country he arrived in after fleeing Cuba in 2015.
Arozarena, who has been adamant about not representing his birthplace, said earlier Monday that he would attend the game and cheer for Cuba — but for different reasons.
“I want to face Cuba in the final,” Arozarena said in Spanish, “and hopefully, we beat them.”
Six police officers made up the warning track in foul territory moments before Adam Wainwright fired the first pitch, double the typical presence in this tournament. A heavier police presence was expected for Monday’s game. Ballpark security officials, meanwhile, were told to be diligent in identifying signs that violated the stadium’s code of conduct, which includes restrictions on language “regarding political affiliation, social and economic matters or other statements that undermine civil liberties.”
A large anti-government sign hung against the railing in left-center field for at least a couple innings, another directly behind home plate.
Apparel in support of the Cuban baseball team was prominent throughout the ballpark, but many fans also entered wearing T-shirts that read “Patria y Vida,” a homage to the famous anti-communism slogan and song associated with the Cuban protests of 2021. The expression, directly translated to “homeland and life,” is a play on the Cuban motto “Patria o Muerte” (“homeland or death”). One of its biggest supporters is Livan Hernandez, the famous Cuban pitcher who won the World Series with the Miami Marlins in 1997 and threw out Monday’s ceremonial first pitch, alongside former teammate Jeff Conine.
Hernandez said his ties to that movement stand as a reason he didn’t feel comfortable shaking hands with Cuban manager Armando Johnson, despite their long history. As Cuba’s coach, Johnson is naturally tied to Cuba’s government, given the way culture and politics are naturally entwined on the island.
“I don’t think I can extend my hand, even say “hi” because I don’t think it’d be appropriate for everybody who’s suffering or those who were imprisoned for things they shouldn’t be,” Hernandez told ESPN’s Marly Rivera. “Armando Johnson was my coach since I was a kid, but there are things in front of us that we are not in agreement on, and I’m here 150 percent with ‘Patria y Vida.'”
Hernandez, whose brother, Orlando, also fled Cuba, said he expected the reaction from the crowd to be “divided.” That was obvious as early as the second inning. A “libertad” chant broke out, but loud cheers for the Cuban team then were heard after a single by Yadir Drake. Three batters later, when Moncada came to bat again, another “Patria y Vida” chant was heard.
Hours earlier, Arenado was asked how he views the inclusion of major league players on Cuba’s national team.
“I think I’ve heard mixed reviews,” Arenado said. “I asked people about it. I asked Cuban players, former players that are Cuban what their opinion is about it. I’ll probably keep that to myself. But listen, I think people are proud to represent their country, just like I’m proud to represent USA. And I understand why they want to do it. I think over there, there’s a little bit more issues, and I think people have more issues with it. But I don’t think that’s for me to speak on.”
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Max Olson
Missouri quarterback Drew Pyne has entered the portal as a graduate transfer, sources told ESPN on Tuesday.
Pyne is looking to move to his fourth school after stints at Notre Dame, Arizona State and Missouri. He’ll be a sixth-year senior this fall.
Pyne joined Missouri last year as a backup for senior starter Brady Cook. He earned one start, leading the Tigers to a 30-23 comeback win over Oklahoma while Cook was sidelined by ankle and wrist injuries.
Missouri brought in former Penn State quarterback Beau Pribula via the transfer portal this offseason. He’ll compete with redshirt junior Sam Horn and true freshman Matt Zollers, the No. 86 overall recruit in the 2025 ESPN 300, for the opportunity to start this season.
Pyne, a former ESPN 300 recruit, began his career at Notre Dame and started 10 games for the Fighting Irish in 2022. He threw for 2,021 yards on 65% passing and scored 24 total touchdowns with six interceptions while winning eight of his starts.
After the Irish brought in grad transfer quarterback Sam Hartman, Pyne transferred to Arizona State but appeared in just two games with the Sun Devils before an injury forced him to sit out the rest of the season.
Pyne played 211 snaps over six appearances for the Tigers last season and threw for 391 yards on 60% passing with three touchdowns and three interceptions.
The NCAA’s spring transfer window opens April 16, but graduate transfers are permitted to put their name in the portal at any time. More than 160 FBS scholarship quarterbacks have already transferred this offseason.
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David Schoenfield
There are slow starts, there are slumps, and then there is whatever Rafael Devers is going through.
The 28-year-old three-time All-Star for the Boston Red Sox has been one of baseball’s best hitters since 2019, posting three 30-homer seasons, three 100-RBI seasons and a whole bunch of doubles.
His first five games of 2025 have been a nightmare. It’s the early-season equivalent of dealing Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees. Johnny Pesky holding the ball. Bucky Dent. The ball rolling through Bill Buckner’s legs. Aaron Boone. Just to name a few Red Sox references. Here’s how those games unfolded for Devers:
Game 1: 0-for-4, three strikeouts
Game 2: 0-for-4, four strikeouts
Game 3: 0-for-4, three strikeouts, walk, RBI
Game 4: 0-for-4, two strikeouts, walk
Game 5: 0-for-3, three strikeouts, two walks
Along the way, Devers became the first player to strike out 10 times in a team’s first three games of a season — and that’s not all.
He became the first player to strike out 12 times in a team’s first four games. And, yes, with 15 strikeouts through five games he shattered the old record of 13, shared by Pat Burrell in 2001 and Byron Buxton in 2017. Going back to the end of 2024, when Devers fanned 11 times over his final four games, he became the fourth player with multiple strikeouts in nine straight games — and one of those was a pitcher (the other two were a rookie named Aaron Judge in 2016 and Michael A. Taylor in 2021).
With Devers struggling, the Red Sox have likewise stumbled out of the gate, going 1-4 after some lofty preseason expectations, including an 8-5 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in the home opener Monday. To be fair, it’s not all on Devers: Jarren Duran, Devers and Alex Bregman, the top three hitters in the lineup, are a combined 11-for-62 (.177) with no home runs.
But there is one question weighing heaviest on the minds of Red Sox Nation right now: What is really going on with Devers?
It’s easy to say his head simply isn’t in the right space. Devers made headlines early in spring training after the Red Sox signed Bregman, saying he didn’t want to move to DH and that “third base is my position.” He pointed out that when he signed his $331 million extension in January of 2023, the front office promised he would be the team’s third baseman.
That, however, was when a different regime was in charge. Bregman, a Gold Glove winner in 2024, is the better defensive third baseman, so it makes sense to play him there and move Devers — except many players don’t like to DH. Some analysts even build in a “DH penalty,” assuming a player will hit worse there than when he plays the field. While Devers eventually relented and said he’d do whatever will help the team, it was a rocky situation for a few weeks.
But maybe it’s something else. While Devers avoided surgery this offseason, he spent it trying to rebuild strength in both shoulders after dealing with soreness and inflammation throughout 2024. He didn’t play the field in spring training and had just 15 plate appearances. So maybe he is still rusty — or the shoulder(s) are bothering him.
Indeed, Statcast metrics show his average bat speed has dropped from 72.5 mph in 2024 to 70.3 mph so far in 2025 (and those are down from 73.4 mph in 2023). His “fast-swing rate” has dropped from 34.2% in 2023 to 27.9% to 12.2%. Obviously, we’re talking an extremely small sample size for this season, but it’s clear Devers isn’t generating the bat speed we’re used to seeing from him.
That, however, doesn’t explain the complete inability to make contact. Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters after the series in Texas that Devers had made alterations with his foot placement — but was having trouble catching up to fastballs. Following Monday’s game, Devers told reporters (via his interpreter) that, “Obviously this is not a position that I’ve done in the past. So I need to get used to it. But I feel good, I feel good.”
Which leads to this question: Does this historic bad start mean anything? Since the DH began in 1973, three DHs began the season with a longer hitless streak than Devers’ 0-for-19 mark, so let’s dig into how the rest of their seasons played out:
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Don Baylor with the 1982 Angels (0-for-20). Baylor ended up with a pretty typical season for him: .263/.329/.424, 24 home runs.
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Evan Gattis of the 2015 Astros (0-for-23). Gattis hit .246 with 27 home runs — not as good as he hit in 2014 or 2016, but in line with his career numbers.
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Curtis Terry with the Rangers in 2021 (0-for-20). Terry was a rookie who ended up playing just 13 games in the majors.
Expanding beyond just the DH position, I searched Baseball-Reference for players in the wild-card era (since 1995) who started a season hitless in at least 20 plate appearances through five games. That gave us a list of … just seven players, including Evan Carter (0-for-22) and Anthony Rendon (0-for-20) last season. Both ended up with injury-plagued seasons. The list also includes Hall of Famer Craig Biggio, who was 0-for-24 for the Houston Astros in 1995. He was fine: He hit .302/.406/.483 that season, made the All-Star team and finished 10th in the MVP voting. J.D. Drew started 0-for-25 through five games with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2005; he hit .286/.412/.520, although an injury limited him to 72 games.
But none of those hitters struck out nearly as often as Devers has.
So let’s focus on the strikeouts and expand our search to most strikeouts through the 15 first games of a season. Given his already astronomical total, Devers is likely to rank high on such a list even if he starts making more contact. Seventeen players struck out at least 25 times through 15 games, topped by Yoan Moncada and Miguel Sano with 29, both in 2018. Not surprisingly, all these seasons have come since 2006 and 12 since 2018.
How did that group fare?
They were actually OK, averaging a .767 OPS and 20 home runs. The best of the group was Matt Olson in 2023, who struck out 25 times in 15 games, but was also hitting well with a .317/.423/.650 line. He went on to hit 53 home runs. The next best season belongs to Giancarlo Stanton in 2018, his first with the Yankees. He finished with 38 home runs and an .852 OPS — but that was a big drop from his MVP season in 2017, when he mashed 59 home runs. His strikeout rate increased from 23.6% in 2017 to 29.9% — and he’s never been as good.
Indeed, that’s the worrisome thing for Devers: Of the 16 players who played the season before (Trevor Story was a rookie in 2016 when he struck out 25 times in 15 games, albeit with eight home runs), 13 had a higher OPS the previous season, many significantly so.
As Cora argued Monday, it’s a small sample size. “You know, this happens in July or August, we’d not even be talking about it,” he said.
That doesn’t really sound quite forthright. A slump, even a five-game slump, with this many strikeouts would absolutely be a topic of discussion. Still, that’s all the Red Sox and Devers have to go on right now: It’s just a few games, nothing one big game won’t fix. They just hope it comes soon.
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