It is not that I underestimate the team, or that I try to “go easy on them” just in case a debacle arrives, but if I have to evaluate the Tigers’ performance after the first ten games, the first word that comes to mind is acceptable.

And I know that some will think that the journalist does not want to get into trouble, but in truth he only tries to be consistent with the assessment he has of the four-time Cuban champions.

There are those who do not want to understand that these are not the Tigers of the previous decade, that one in which true stars of our national pastime coincided in the lineup, which gave so much joy to the local fans.

But there are also many who did not value, in all its dimension, the feat of Dany Miranda’s troop in the previous campaign, not only for the title in the Elite League, but for having been included in the first division with a very weak squad, perhaps the most modest that the province has ever presented in the history of our contests.

Now, in the 64th National Baseball Series, with 18 novices, without any top figure who can, in one way or another, “pull” the collective, the journalist would be guilty of a lack of objectivity if in his analyses he left the sensation that there are sufficient reasons to forecast a possible inclusion in the vanguard of the standings table.

And if the team achieves it again? Well of course it would also be a satisfaction for the writer, who not for nothing was born, raised and grew old in this land, but never expect from me a “hasty” forecast.

Why do I say now that the work of the squad so far is “acceptable”? Well, to give just one reason, the squad averages .271 offensively and has seven teams with lower figures. And if you want another argument, I will tell you that their pitching works for 5.57 clean runs per every nine-inning game, very close to the championship average (5.48).

On the individual aspect there are players who have gone above the auguries, such as the case of the backstop Osmani Linares, who averages .429 and on defence has only committed one error.

Praise also for the cleanup hitter Jonathan Bridón with his four home runs and his ten runs batted in and for the catcher Fernando De la Paz, from whom six runners have attempted to steal and all have had to return to the bench.

From the pitching area, the two successes of the reliever Yunier Batista and the two good starts by Liomil González stand out, although he still does not have any wins or losses. The firemen Erisdel Martínez and Randy Álvarez have also worked commendably.

Now the Tigers will face this week, at the José Ramón Cepero stadium, the representation from Camagüey which appears in eighth place with a balance of six smiles and four failures. We will see how ours fare playing at home.