Arolis Chapman (35, Kansas City Royals), a left-handed finisher who throws a fast ball that exceeds 160 km per hour in the American Professional Baseball Major League (MLB), is a British baseball player instead of his home country, Cuba. The surprise news came that he was chosen as the representative.
Reporter Giordano Carmona of Perolta Cubana, a media specializing in Cuban baseball, told Social Network Service (SNS) on the 26th (Korean time), “According to Chapman, Chapman will play for the British team in the 5th World Baseball Classic (WBC) 50 in March. “It is unclear whether he will actually play for England,” he wrote.
Chapman, born in Holguin, Cuba, is a typical Cubano (Cuban) called ‘Cuban Missile’.
The 50 players of interest is a list requested by the WBC Organizing Committee from 20 participating countries in the finals to determine the qualifications of players. Usually, the players on this list make it to the final entry (30 players).
Although it seems to have nothing to do with Britain, local media reported that Chapman could be a candidate for the ‘Union Jack’ because he is of Jamaican descent, which gained independence from the British colony in 1962.
In the WBC, players can participate in the tournament by choosing one of the lineages of their parents or grandparents. 토토사이트
‘Football Closing’ Britain beat Spain in last year’s WBC qualifiers and won their first ticket to the finals.
Great Britain will play the first round of the finals in Group C with the United States, Canada, Mexico and Colombia.
Chapman played in the Cuban League and represented Cuba at the WBC in 2009.
After one failed asylum attempt, he finally escaped Cuba in 2009 to the United States and made his big league debut in 2010 in a Cincinnati Reds uniform.
He has a career record of 44 wins, 35 losses, 315 saves, and an average ERA of 2.48 from three teams until last year: Cincinnati, New York Yankees (2016, 2017-2022), and Chicago Cubs (2016).
He plays for the Kansas City Royals this year on a one-year, $3.75 million contract.