With the presence of the Minister of Sports, Ernesto Lucena, the 2020-2021 season of the Liga Profesional de Béisbol (LCBP) was officially presented in Barranquilla. The Colombian professional baseball league's next season will be played entirely in a bubble at the Edgar Renteria Stadium, leading off on 28 November.
The LCBP will have four participating teams this season: Vaqueros de Montería, Tigres de Cartagena, as well as Caimanes and Gigantes de Barranquilla. Each team will have a roster of 35 players, 10 of them foreigners. Most of these players are under contract with Major League Baseball (MLB) organisations.
The Minister of Sports himself was in charge of presenting the LCBP, and also announced baseball’s inclusion in Talentos Colombia, a talent detection programme to support the identification and development of children’s sports skills in the country.
“In January we will begin Talentos Colombia in baseball," the Minister said. "This means economic resources to go to all Caribbean region departments, to look for the next Edgar Renteria or Gio Urshela."
The season will be played under closed doors, but fans will be able to watch the games through Telecaribe’s main TV signal and HD2, where the games will be broadcast.
The top three teams in the 48-game regular season standings will move to the second round with a total of 12 contests. The top two teams after the second round will battle for the title in a best-of-seven championship series.
Vaqueros de Montería will open the season as the defending champions. They beat Gigantes de Barranquilla in five games in the best-of-seven final series.
Colombia is currently ranked 14th in the WBSC Baseball World Rankings.
