Las Tunas, Matanzas, Holguín and Industriales are advancing very comfortably in the top four positions

There are 12 games remaining in the regular schedule of the National Series and with this number ahead, one need not be a medium to state that we will have to wait until the rescheduled matches stage to know the eight teams qualified for the postseason party.

Following yesterday’s results, there were no significant movements in the table: Las Tunas, Matanzas, Holguín and Industriales are advancing very comfortably in the top four positions and, barring an unexpected finale for these line-ups, they should be the provinces that host the first playoff games.

In this leading pack are the current champions, the Woodcutters; two of the top favourites for the title, the Crocodiles and the Lions; and the season’s biggest surprise, the Cubs. Although mathematics has not yet certified it, these teams will enliven the postseason with the label of the teams to beat.

If you ask me, the occupants from fifth to eighth have one-and-a-half feet inside the privileged circle to compete in the playoff party. Mayabeque and Cienfuegos only need between five and six victories to reach the 40-win barrier, a figure that should not see any team eliminated.

This is also the target for Artemisa and Sancti Spíritus; to achieve this objective they will have to finish at full throttle. The Roosters are one of the three teams without pending matches. In this regard, Villa Clara must recover 13 matchups; Ciego de Ávila, 10; Granma must play six; Pinar and Las Tunas, five; and Cienfuegos, four.

Industriales, Mayabeque, Artemisa and Santiago de Cuba each have three games on their schedule. And only one each for Holguín, La Isla and Guantánamo. Only Matanzas, Sancti Spíritus and Camagüey have managed to complete their calendar.

With this panorama, the scenario becomes more complex for the national commission when scheduling these challenges, as the majority of the line-ups appearing in the privileged zone are involved. We will return to the qualification possibilities for the collectives appearing in the lower part of the table in a future commentary.