Which country is 2026 deadline candidate Luis Robert Jr. from? He is from Cuba.
Luis Robert Jr. was born in Ciego de Ávila, Cuba, on August 3, 1997. Before reaching Major League Baseball, he played for Cuba in international youth competitions and appeared for the Cuban national team.
Robert defected from Cuba in 2016 and signed with the Chicago White Sox in 2017. He made his MLB debut in 2020, won a Gold Glove Award that season, and became an All-Star in 2023.
The common mix-up is confusing a player's birthplace or nationality with the country he represents in a particular competition. Robert's MLB career began in the United States, but his origin story and early baseball development are Cuban. In the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he also became one of the first active MLB players who had defected from Cuba to play for the Cuban national team.