I'll limit this to extremely early scouting report on Team Cuba, particularly on the starting pitching. It isn't that impressive but it is what it is and a good patient hitting team will give the Cuba starters a ton of problems.
The starter for Cuba today, Lazo, is typical of the strategy employed by their team (as I understand it) and if so, then the strategy isn't too hard to understand. Stay on the corners and away from challenging any hitters. Just about all Lazo's pitches are corner pitches. Inside and outside, fastball at 90 mph, with sink, lots of movement, but most of it out of the strike zone. The umpire isnt' giving him the corners and Lazo is getting very frustrated. All of Team Panama's lineup is taking a ton of pitches and making him work. He is refusing to give in and still tries to paint a corner even on a hitters count. And team Panama is staying off those pitches.
Must of had a good scouting report on how to beat these pitchers because Team Cuba has finally removed Lazo after two innings because he was throwing a ton of pitches and showing signs of losing composure on the mound with the umpires refusal to call borderline strikes (most of them aren't really strikes, just the typs of pitch these Cubans are used to having hitters swing at or called as strikes). The reliever they brought in is doing the exact same thing as Lazo, trying to paint corners and is having the same results with the umpire and the hitters on Team Panama. The Panamanians are literally standing at the plate just letting pitches go by until they get full counts. If the pitch is heading for the corner, they let it go by and take the walk.
Team Cuba has had several meetings in the mound (and this is just the second inning), seem to be a little confused and frustrated with these umpires zone. I don't think they're used to it yet and judging by stuff so far, they don't have the sort of stuff to challenge major league hitters.
