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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
January 4, 2021
HERMOSILLO
TOP LMP PLAYOFF SEED, FIRST ROUND
OPENS
Despite not owning the best overall
record, Hermosillo is the top seed in the Mexican Pacific League
playoffs by
virtue of their 19.0 playoff points collected over both halves of the
schedule.
The Naranjeros held off surging Mexicali by a half-game to win the
second-half
points race, earning 10.0 points with an 18-12 record after copping
second
place in the first half at 15-12. Obregon posted the LMP's best season
mark
with a 37-22 ledger, but most of that was built on their 21-8 first
half before
slipping to 16-14 over the second half.
Hermosillo earned home-field
advantage throughout the postseason by virtue of their seeding, drawing
Mazatlan as their first round opponent. The Venados finished eighth in
the
points race at 10.0 and are the only playoff team with a losing record
(28-30)
over the regular season. Other pairings in the quarterfinals include #2
Obregon
vs. #7 Jalisco, #3 Guasave vs. #6 Culiacan and #4 Monterrey vs. #5
Mexicali.
The Algodoneros and Sultanes both finished with 14.0 points but Guasave
got the
nod for the fourth seed due to their superior won-lost percentage.
Drawing the
defending champion Tomateros may not seem like much reward for
Cottoneers
manager Oscar Robles, however.
MEXICAN
PACIFIC LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON POINTS STANDINGS
Hermosillo
33-23 (19.0), Obregon 37-22 (17.0), Guasave 31-26 (14.0), Monterrey
29-27
(14.0), Mexicali 30-28 (13.5), Culiacan 29-29 (11.5), Jalisco 30-29
(11.0),
Mazatlan 28-30 (10.0), Navojoa 23-36 (8.0), Los Mochis 19-39 (7.0)
The Mex Pac's first reinforcement
draft was held shortly after the conclusion of the regular season last
Wednesday. The eight playoff teams were each allowed to choose two
players from
either Navojoa or Los Mochis, the two non-playoff teams. A similar
draft will
be held at each subsequent postseason stage, with surviving teams
selecting two
players from among eliminated club rosters.
Los Mochis infielder Esteban Quiroz
was taken with the first pick with fellow Caneros infielder Isaac
Rodriguez
chosen second by Mexicali. In an unusual move, Culiacan chose to pick
pitchers
J.C. Ramirez and Derrick Loop off their own reserve list, moving down
to the
last selection in both rounds and forfeiting the chance to take any
players
from either Navojoa or Los Mochis. According to LMP rules, first-round
reinforcements are added to drafting team rosters, while second picks
will be
activated only in case the first selection can't be activated.
FIRST
POSTSEASON REINFORCEMENT DRAFT
First
Round: 1-Jalisco, IF Esteban Quiroz (Los
Mochis); 2-Mexicali, IF Isaac Rodriguez
(Los Mochis); 3-Monterrey, RP Carlos
Bustamante (Navojoa); 4-Hermosillo, 3B
Rodolfo Amador (Los Mochis); 5-Obregon,
SP Carlos Viera (Los Mochis); 6-Guasave,
IF Josuan Hernandez (Navojoa);
7-Mazatlan, IF Jorge Flores (Navojoa);
8-Culiacan, SP J.C. Ramirez (Reserve List).
Second
Round: 1-Jalisco, OF Juan Perez (Navojoa); 2-Mexicali, RP Fabian Cota (Los Mochis); 3-Monterrey, C Omar Renteria
(Navojoa); 4-Hermosillo, RP Esteban
Haro (Navojoa); 5-Obregon, RP Daysbel
Hernandez (Los
Mochis); 6-Guasave, SP John Anderson
(Navojoa); 7-Mazatlan, RP Daniel Duarte
(Los Mochis); 8-Culiacan, RP Derrick
Loop (Reserve
List).
The Mexican Pacific League
postseason opened over the weekend with first round games on both
Saturday and
Sunday. The playoffs will consist of three stages (quarterfinals,
semifinals
and championship series), all in best-of-7 formats.
Here are the scores and highlights
of all the action (home teams in boldface):
MONTERREY
leads MEXICALI, 2 games to 0
G1:
Monterrey 3, Mexicali 2 (Alejo Lopez SF in B6 scores Ricardo
Serrano to
break 2-2 tie)
G2:
Monterrey 4, Mexicali 3 (Sultanes score 3 in B7 to erase 3-1
deficit;
bat 3 for-5 with RISP)
JALISCO
and OBREGON tied with 1 win each
G1:
Jalisco 11, Obregon 5 (Christian Villanueva's 2-run 3B keys
8-run T1 for
Charros)
G2:
Obregon 6, Jalisco 2 (Yaquis RF Leandro Castro 2 RBI singles,
scores
twice for Yaquis)
CULIACAN
and GUASAVE tied with 1 win each
G1:
Culiacan 11, Guasave 6 (Jose G. Chavez, Joey Meneses hit 3-run
HRs for
Tomateros)
G2:
Guasave 5, Culiacan 1 (Guasave's Jesse Castillo HR, RBI 1B; Adam
Quintana
7IP/1R/6H)
HERMOSILLO
leads MAZATLAN, 2 games to 0
G1:
Hermosillo 2, Mazatlan 1 (Yadiel Hernandez' walkoff 1B in B12
scores
Alex Robles)
G2:
Hermosillo 3, Mazatlan 1 (Hernandez 3-3 w/RBI 2B, Ryan Verdugo
7IP/1R/3H
for W)
PAREDES
GIVEN MEX PAC BAT TITLE; VERA AWARDED ERA CROWN
It's been quite a year for infielder
Isaac Paredes. The 21-year-old native of Hermosillo began 2020 on the
heels of
his third season with the Obregon Yaquis, for whom he hit .295 over 44
games
while playing mostly third base for the Mexican Pacific League team.
Then the
highly-touted prospect reported to the Detroit Tigers training camp in
Florida
to vie for a spot with the American League team. After the season was
delayed
due to pandemic fears, Paredes made his MLB debut with the Tigers and
went on
to bat .220 in 34 contests, belting a grand slam in only his fourth big
league
outing. While he was playing the hot corner for Detroit Obregon dealt
him to
Mazatlan for veteran catcher Sebastian Valle to bring about one more
change in
a year full of them.
Regarding that latest change,
Paredes has adjusted beautifully to playing for the Venados by winning
the LMP
batting title for the 2021-21 season with a .379 average. Although he
missed 16
of his team's 58 games, the LMP office ruled that Paredes' 177 plate
appearances were enough to qualify for the bat crown. While giving
someone with
3.05 plate appearances for each of his team's games (a more oft-used
standard
is 3.5) may seem dubious, Paredes' accomplishment itself is not. Of his
55
hits, 17 were for doubles and four went to the streets as he scored 28
runs and
drive in 26 in 42 games, with a league-leading on-base percentage of
.480.
In similar fashion, Mexicali pitcher
Eduardo Vera was awarded the LMP title with a 2.05 ERA despite hurling
48.1
innings, less than the one-inning-per-team-games-played formula used by
most
professional leagues for decades. Vera went 3-0 in eight starts with 29
strikeouts and ten walks. There is no mention of what qualifies a
player for a
batting or ERA title on the Mex Pac website, which congratulates both
Paredes
and Vera for their titles, although their own stats page shows
Hermosillo's
Yadiel Hernandez with the top batting average at .339 while another
Mexicali
pitcher, veteran Javier Solano, tops four qualifying hurlers with a
2.60 ERA.
With that in mind, here are the LMP's
official individual leaders for 2020-21:
Batting
Leaders
GAMES
PLAYED
– 59, Dariel Alvarez, Jalisco
PLATE
APPEARANCES – 262, Dariel Alvarez, Jalisco
HITS
– 72,
Carlos Figueroa, Jalisco
DOUBLES
– 17,
Isaac Paredes, Mazatlan
TRIPLES
– 4,
Miguel Guzman, Guasave and Carlos Sepulveda, Obregon
HOME
RUNS –
15, Japhet Amador, Jalisco
RUNS
SCORED –
43, Carlos Figueroa, Jalisco
RUNS
BATTED
IN – 52, Japhet Amador, Jalisco
STOLEN
BASES
– 28, Alonzo Harris, Obregon
BASES
ON
BALLS – 51, Esteban Quiroz, Los Mochis
STRIKEOUTS
–
50, Leo German, Guasave
BATTING
AVERAGE - .371, Isaac Paredes, Mazatlan
ON-BASE
PERCENTAGE - .480, Isaac Paredes, Mazatlan
SLUGGING
PERCENTAGE - .589, Japhet Amador, Jalisco
Pitching
Leaders
GAMES
PITCHED
– 33, Roberto Espinosa, Mazatlan
INNINGS
PITCHED – 86.0, Javier Solano, Mexicali
COMPLETE
GAMES – 1, David Reyes, Mexicali and Javier Solano, Mexicali
SHUTOUTS
– 1,
David Reyes, Mexicali and Javier Solano, Mexicali
WINS
– 8,
Fernando Miranda, Mexicali and Juan Pablo Oramas, Hermosillo
SAVES
– 17,
Fernando Salas, Hermosillo
STRIKEOUTS
–
64, Manny Barreda, Hermosillo
BASES
ON
BALLS – 30, Santiago Gutierrez, Los Mochis
EARNED
RUN
AVERAGE – 2.05, Eduardo Vera, Mexicali
WALKS/HITS
PER IP – 0.994, Miguel Pena, Mexicali
STRIKEOUTS
PER 9 IP – 8.9, Thomas Dorminy, Guasave
STRIKEOUTS:
WALKS RATIO – 3.20, Manny Barreda, Hermosillo
AROZARENA
ELIGIBLE TO PLAY FOR MEXICO IN OLYMPICS
The Septima Entrada website reports
that Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena, a revelation to fans in
last
fall's Major League Baseball playoffs, has expressed his desire to
represent
Mexico in an international tournament. The opportunity could present
itself at
the Olympic Games in Tokyo, rescheduled from 2020 to this summer due to
the
pandemic.
According to the Around the Rings
website, a source from the World Baseball and Softball Confederation
confirmed
that if Arozarena has a Mexican passport and more than three years
since having
last represented Cuba, he'll be eligible to play for Mexico.
The last time Arozarena played for
Cuba was at the U-18 Baseball World Cup in August 2013. After the 2018
birth in
Mexico of his daughter Lía, he began procedures to obtain Mexican
nationality,
which would give him the right to acquire a passport and represent
Mexico in
the next Olympics.
Mexico achieved qualification for
the Tokyo Games during the 2019 World Premier12, beating the United
States
twice. Hosts Japan, South Korea and Israel are the other three
countries who
won their Premier 12 qualifiers with the final two nations yet to be
defined.
Mexico has several MLB players who
could make up the team for the Olympics. However, they must receive
authorization from their teams to be able to travel to Tokyo, since the
summer
event takes place during the Major League season.
Arozarena is a 25-year-old native of
Pinar del Rio, Cuba who spent all or part of two seasons with the
Vegueros in
the Cuban National Series before defecting to Mexico in 2015. He played
five
games in 2016 for Tijuana in the Mexican League before batting .266 for
Navojoa
of the Mexican Pacific League in 2016-17, signing a minor league
contract with
St. Louis in the process. Arozarena came back to Navojoa the following
winter
and led the LMP with 14 homers and later hit .300 in 19 games for the
Cardinals
in his 2019 Major League debut.
He was traded to Tampa Bay in early
2020 and played sparingly in the regular season for the Rays last year,
batting
.281 with seven homers in just 23 games. The 5'11” right-handed batter
had a
standout postseason with a .377 average and ten homers over 20 games
and four
playoff stages, including the World Series, to earn American League
Championship Series honors as well as the Babe Ruth Award by New York
writers
for the best postseason performance.
Arozarena lives in Yucatan during
the offseason, although his residency has not been problem-free. Last
November,
he was arrested and jailed for allegedly attempting to kidnap his
2-year-old
daughter and assaulting the toddler's maternal grandfather. He was
released
after two days when the girl's mother told authorities the matter had
been
settled, but both the MLB office and the Rays are looking further into
the
dispute. Arozarena had reportedly married another woman from Colombia
the same
month.
A movie deal based on Arozarena's life was signed during the Rays' World Series loss to the Dodgers, with WonderWorks co-founder Brett Saxon depicting Arozarena's rise as an “amazing” story of “human spirit and how it triumphs.”
