Although its opening date has been modified, the Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League already has almost its entire slate lined up for the next edition. The tournament, which will once again feature the usual five teams, will begin on November 1 instead of October 25, but there will be no variations in terms of the number of matches and competition system.
According to the official communication from the LBPN, the change of date is due to the fact that more time has been given for the arrival of foreign players, who will be the basis of the teams. On this occasion, there is no limit to the presence of foreign players on the 30-player roster and a minimum of ten has even been imposed for each participating club.
However, the big news is that there will be no reinforcements after the regular stage has concluded and a seventh game will not be played in Managua if necessary during the Final of the tournament. Reinforcements are a common practice in all Caribbean circuits, but given the large presence of foreigners, it has been ruled out for this occasion.
The thing about reinforcements has always had its defenders and its critics. Those who support them talk about how important they are to the show. Four and eventually two well-armed teams face off in the most crucial stage of the event. Critics point out that reinforcements distort the nature of the teams by drastically transforming them.
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It was reported that teams have until October 20 to present their rosters. Likewise, it is indicated that so far, the team that has the most imports is the Chinandega Tigers with 14, while the Lions have 13 confirmed, compared to 12 from the Rivas Gigantes and seven from the Boer. The Tren del Norte only has two so far.
On the opening day, on November 1, the Gigantes de Rivas will be visited by the Tren del Norte at the Yamil Ríos de Rivas, while the Lions will receive the Tigres de Chinandega at the new Rigoberto López Pérez stadium in León. The Boer does not go into action that day, and then they will do so outside of Managua because the National Stadium will be busy.
During the regular phase, each team will play a total of 32 games, 16 at home and 16 away. The best four move on to the next stage, which is all against all, and there they will compete in 12 challenges per team. Same, six at home and another six as visitors. Then the Final with seven games with the 2-3-2 format, as used in the Major Leagues.
That is, the Final starts with two games at the home of the team that finishes first in the round robin. Then three matches will be played at the venue of the team that advanced as runner-up to the Final and if necessary, two more matches will be returned to the stadium where it began, with the variant that now the seventh match will not be played in Managua, as was already an option. habit.