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B a s e b a l l
M e x i c o
Monday,
July 19, 2021
TEAMS
LOAD UP ON PITCHING AS LIGA HITS HOME STRETCH
With fewer than three weeks
remaining in the Mexican League's regular season, many teams looking
ahead to
the playoffs have started bringing in pitching help. One is coming from
Japan,
another from Taiwan and one more is returning to Mexico after being
buried in
the minors despite exemplary numbers at the AAA level.
The expansion Veracruz Aguilas have
purchased 28-year-old Kodai Hamaya from the Ibaraki Astro Planets of
Japan's
independent Challenge League. Hamaya was a Planets teammate of former
LMB and
LMP outfielder Dariel Alvarez. The left-handed Hamaya pitched between
2014 and
2018 in NPB for the Rakuten Golden Eagles as well as a brief stint with
Yokohama in 2019, going 3-1 with a 7.25 ERA over 40 appearances (all
but one in
relief). He also spent one winter in the MexPac, going 3-0 with a 1.44
ERA as a
starter for Mazatlan in 2019-20. Hamaya will become the second Japanese
pitcher
to appear in the LMB this season, joining Guadalajara's Masaru Nakamura.
Mexico City bolstered their mound
staff by picking up former Los Angeles Angels starter J.C. Ramirez, who
was
released earlier this month by Taiwan's Fubon Guardians. A six-year
veteran of
MLB, the 30-year-old Nicaraguan had a 3.43 ERA and 1.18 WHIP for the
CPBL club
over 57.2 innings at the time he was let go. Ramirez will be making his
Mexican
League debut with the Diablos Rojos, but he has winterball experience
in
Venezuela in with Culiacan in the LMP, for whom he went 4-2 with a 1.74
ERA in
2020-21.
Former Red Sox pitcher Hector
Velazquez has returned to Mexico by signing with Monclova after being
released
by Houston despite pitching well in relief for AAA Sugar Land, the
Astros' top
affiliate. An Obregon native, Velazquez was 1-1 with a 1.46 ERA for the
Skeeters in 14 appearances after posted an 11-7 record in 89 games for
Boston
between 2017-19.
The 32-year-old righty made his
first start for the Acereros last Friday night in Mexico City, tossing
four shutout
innings before allowing a run in his fifth and final entrada
during an
8-7 loss to the Diablos. Velazquez allowed six hits and two walks,
striking out
three in his first outing for the defending champions since 2016, when
he
pitched for Monclova after spending six summers in Campeche. With
former AL Cy
Young Award winner Bartolo Colon out of the Steelers lineup for a week
after
taking a line drive off a knee in his latest start, Velazquez'
acquisition from
the Astros' organization gained in importance even before his first
pitch.
Monclova will need both Velazquez
and Colon as they try to catch up to Guadalajara in the LMB North
standings.
The Mariachis lead with a Liga-best 34-12 record, four games ahead of
32-18
Tijuana. The Acereros and Saltillo are tied for third at 29-22 apiece
while
Aguascalientes (20-23), Dos Laredos (22-27), Union Laguna and Monterrey
(both
20-27) battle for the final two playoff slots. Durango, at 15-37, are
the only
North Division team out of contention for the postseason.
In the LMB South, Mexico City has
won six straight and nine of their last ten to take a commanding
seven-game
lead with a 22-16 mark. Yucatan has dropped seven of their past ten but
still
possess second place at 26-23. Veracruz (25-25) is third, ahead of
Puebla
(23-24) while Tabasco and Quintana Roo (24-26 each) are tied for fifth.
Campeche (21-26) dropped games Saturday and Sunday after winning seven
of their
previous eight but still hold a one-game lead for seventh over 22-29
Leon.
Oaxaca is showing their first sign of life all season by winning seven
of their
last ten games, but still bring up the rear at 18-31 overall.
Guadalajara's Niko Vasquez holds a
slim lead over Tito Polo of Durango in the batting race, .413 to .409,
as the
only two regulars in the LMB still above the .400 mark. Saltillo's
Rainel
Rosario has caught up with Leon's Xavier Batista in the home run derby
at 15
apiece, two ahead of five others at 13 (including Rosario's Saraperos
teammate
Kennys Vargas). MVP candidate Henry Urrutia, another Saltillo slugger,
is now
just one RBI behind Tijuana's Leander Castro, 53 to 52. The stolen base
lead
has been taken by a first baseman, with Quintana Roo's Reynaldo
Rodriguez
showing 18 swipes in 24 attempts, one more than Tijuana's Isaac
Rodriguez, who
will likely be in Tokyo for the Olympics for the rest of the regular
season.
Both Guadalajara starter Masaru
Nakamura (7-0) and Aguascalientes reliever Anthony Vizcaya (7-1) have
seven
wins to lead the Liga, one ahead of Bartolo Colon (6-1) of Monclova and
Tabasco's Ignacio Marrujo (6-3). Veracruz' Dylan Unsworth continues to
top LMB
starters with a 2.57 ERA but was placed on the Aguilas' reserve list
last
Thursday, two days after signing to pitch this winter with Cibao of the
Dominican League. Puebla's Jose Valdez is 5-0 and leads the circuit
with 58
strikeouts in as many innings pitched, two more than Mexico City's
Hector
Hernandez. Tijuana closer Fernando Rodney has converted 14 saves in 17
opportunities to lead Carlos Bustamante of Monclova by one in that
category.
Worth noting is that Tabasco closer Fernando Salas (1-0 with 11 saves)
has yet
to allow a single run in 20 outings for manager Pedro Mere's surprising
Olmecas.
ADRIAN
GONZALEZ ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT AT END OF SEASON
After having achieved his final
baseball goal by representing Mexico in the upcoming Summer Olympics in
Tokyo,
Adrian Gonzalez will retire from the game after finishing the current
Mexican
League season with the Guadalajara Mariachis. The 39-year-old first
baseman
made the announcement last week.
“For me, this is my last season,”
Gonzalez said. “They (the Mariachis) want to convince me to keep
playing, but I
also have to dedicate my life to my family so hopefully I can close
with a
medal and a championship.”
The first player selected in the
2000 MLB draft by the Florida Marlins (receiving a $3 million signing
bonus),
Gonzales made his big league debut in 2004 with the Texas Rangers and
went on
to play 15 seasons in the majors, appearing in five All-Star Games,
winning four
Gold Gloves and appearing in the postseason five times. He began
experiencing
back problems in 2017 while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers and
ended up
with the New York Mets in 2018 before being released in June of that
year.
Gonzalez concluded his major league career with a .287 batting average,
317
homers and 1,202 RBIs over 1,929 games.
The man nicknamed El Titan,
whose father David was a ballplayer in Obregon and spent much of his
youth
growing up in Tijuana, has also played for Mexico in all four World
Baseball
Classics between 2006 and 2017. After not playing in 2019 or 2020,
Gonzalez
signed a one-year contract with the expansion Mariachis, eyeing a
chance to
play in Tokyo this summer after Mexico qualified during the Premier12
tournament in 2019.
"Since Mexico qualified for the
Olympics, I told myself it was a great opportunity to say goodbye,”
Gonzalez
explained at a press conference held with Mexican Olympic manager Benji
Gil
(who also manages Guadalajara's LMB entry) and Mariachis team president
Rafael
Tejeda. “I wondered what I had to do to be there, and it was not to
stop
working. That motivated me. I didn't want to be selected for my career
but for
work. For me it was total dedication to the Mariachis and to show that
I
deserve to be part of the National Team. For everything I've had, I
thank my
family and the fans.”
The 6'2” 215-pounder has batted .340
for Guadalajara with six homers and 41 RBIs over 43 games. Like the
rest of his
Verdes Grande teammates, who open Olympic play July 30 against
the
Dominican Republic, Gonzalez may not return from Japan before the LMB
playoffs
get underway. The Mariachis lead the LMB North standings and while they
haven't
mathematically clinched a postseason slot, they're currently 14 games
ahead of
sixth-place Union Laguna and Monterrey with 15 games remaining in the
regular
season.
TIGRES
TO BE ROAD WARRIORS REST OF 2021 SEASON
Even though they find themselves in
the thick of a battle for a playoff berth in the Mexican League's South
Division, the Quintana Roo Tigres will have to play the rest of the
2021
regular season (and the entire postseason, if they qualify) away from
Cancun.
After playing the Tabasco Olmecas at
Estadio Beto Avila on Sunday, the Tigres are having to vacate the
ballpark for
the duration of the schedule so the State of Quintana Roo can begin
work on
renovating the 40-year-old facility. Being planned are reconfiguring
corridors,
replacing seating and otherwise making movement within the stadium
easier for
fans attending games.
Estadio Beto Avila, one of two
ballparks in the LMB named after the former Cleveland Indians star and
two-time
American League batting champion (who attended opening ceremonies in
Cancun),
was unveiled on November 23, 1980. The 4,500-seater was used by teams
in a
local league as well as the Cancun Marlins of the semipro Peninsula
League.
However,
the ballpark had been all but abandoned by the time an earlier
incarnation of
the Puebla Pericos moved to the region in 1996 and played as the
Quintana Roo
Langosteros, splitting home games between Cancun and Estadio Nachan
Ka'an in
Chetumal for two seasons. Estadio Beto Avila underwent some remodeling
at that
time, although light towers had not yet been installed for their first
home
game against Yucatan on March 14.
After Chetumal gained its own
Mexican League franchise when the Poza Rica Petroleros shifted there in
1998,
the Langosteros were renamed the Cancun Langosteros and played all home
games
at Estadio Beto Avila through the 2005 season before moving to Poza
Rica after
Hurricane Wilma wrecked the ballpark in October of that year. Estadio
Beto
Avila underwent extensive renovations in 2006, with capacity more than
doubled
to its current 9,500-seat configuration.
The Angelopolis Tigres rewarded the
effort by moving to Cancun prior to the 2007 season after six tepid
campaigns
in Puebla. The team has remained since, appearing regularly in the
playoffs and
winning LMB pennants in 2011, 2013 and 2015. Success on the field has
not
translated to success in the ticket office, with the heritage franchise
annually finishing in the bottom half of the attendance derby. Former
Dodgers
Hall of Famer Fernando Valenzuela bought the team from Carlos Peralta
in early
2017 (after Peralta had threatened to pull the team out of the LMB
altogether),
but has struggled since the ink on sales documents had even dried.
Last winter, Valenzuela explored
moving the Tigres to San Luis Rio Colorado near the Arizona border last
winter
until the State came up with subsidies (and apparently renovation of
the
ballpark they play in), so the franchise will remain in Cancun for at
least the
near future. With pandemic-inspired seating limitations in place, the
Tigres
have drawn 38,186 fans (13th in the 18-team loop) over 29
home games
for an average of 1,317 per opening.
Renovations at Estadio Beto Avila are expected to be complete in time for the beginning of the 2022 season. For now, the Tigres have to reschedule their remaining home series against Yucatan and Veracruz to those teams' home venues while trying to hold off hard-charging Campeche for the sixth and final LMB South playoff berth, starting with three games against the Piratas this week in the Walled City.
