HEIMLICH OFF TO
SIZZLING START FOR
CANEROS
It's
been a long, hard
road for Luke Heimlich. In the wake of
revelations in 2017 that he had earlier pled guilty in 2012 to child
molestation charges (causing him to miss the College World Series with
his
Oregon State University teammates after leading the nation with an 0.81
ERA and
winning the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year award), he came back for his
senior
season to go 15-1 for the Beavers was named the National Pitcher of the
Year in
2018, following in the footsteps of past winners like Stephen
Strasburg, Trevor
Bauer and Aaron Nola. Heimlich later
disavowed his guilty plea, stating he wanted to spare his family from a
long
trial.
Ordinarily
a left-handed
pitcher with his bonafides is a hot property but instead, Heimlich was
passed
over in all 40 rounds of that June's draft and had to scuffle for a job. He signed with the Lamigo Monkeys of Taiwan's
Chinese Professional Baseball League that August but despite its own
scandal-ridden past, the CPBL office disallowed Heimlich's contract
three days
later because of his background. An
earlier post-draft trial with the Kansas City Royals was also aborted
after
public pressure. Although he completed
conditions of his plea deal, the Puyallup, Washington native was forced
to sit
out the rest of the 2018 season while pondering whether his chance
would ever
come.
That
chance arrived this
year via the Dos Laredos Tecolotes, who signed him to a contract with a
good
conduct clause in early March. After the
Mexican League office vetted Heimlich and subsequently allowed the deal
to go
through, he made his debut on April 9 by allowing two runs on
back-to-back solo
homers by Viosergy Rosa and Michael Crouse in the second innings during
five
innings of work against Union Laguna in Torreon. Heimlich
was initially inconsistent after
almost a year off, but he got stronger as the season went on and
flashed a 2.84
ERA over his final eight starts to finish 8-7 with a 4.58 ERA to tie
with
Saltillo's Felix Dubrount for eighth in the LMB in that category while
coming
in ninth with 109 strikeouts in 118 frames, tying Yucatan's Jose
Samayoa. All things considered, it was an
encouraging
beginning at the AAA level for the 23-year-old hurler, and Heimlich has
gotten
off to an even better start playing winterball with the Los Mochis
Caneros.
Thus
far in the young
Mexican Pacific League season, Heimlich has yet to allow a run in 12
innings
over two starts for the Caneros, allowing six hits and striking out
nine
opposing batsmen in picking up both wins.
The six-footer has struggled with his control, walking seven,
but he's
obviously adjusting to pitching south of the border and flashing signs
of why
he was college baseball's best pitcher a year ago.
After blanking visiting Guasave over six
innings in Los Mochis' 5-0 home opener win on October 12, Heimlich
tossed
three-hit scoreless ball against the Algodoneros last Friday in Guasave
(the
Caneros won, 2-0) before being pulled after plunking leadoff batter
Arturo
Rodriguez in the bottom of the seventh.
His next start will come this week at home against a stronger
Mazatlan
team but at this point, Heimlich is tied for the LMP lead in wins with
relievers Linder Castro of Jalisco and Mexicali's Edgar Gamez, has the
most
innings pitched among pitchers who have yet to allow an earned run and
is tied
with two other pitchers for fourth in strikeouts.
Heimlich
has been one of
the reasons Los Mochis is second in the Mex Pac with a 5-2 record,
trailing
only 5-1 Culiacan in the first-half standings.
The Tomateros have been winning by battering opposing pitchers
into
submission with a team .341 average (no other LMP team is above .296)
along
with a creditable 3.06 ERA, which ranks fourth in the circuit. Catcher Ali Solis' .412 average and seven
RBIs both rank among individual batting leaders, while third baseman
Ronnier
Mustelier's nine ribbies are tops in that category.
Obregon's Jose Aguilar leads the Mex Pac with
a .500 batting average, his Yaquis teammate Paulo Orlando is the home
run
leader with three roundtrippers and yet another Culiacan player, Rico
Noel, is
tops with five stolen bases. While
Heimlich has been the dominant starter in the loop thus far (his seven
walks
also lead the LMP), Hermosillo reliever Trey McNutt has the most saves
with
three in as many appearances. A
30-year-old Oakland farmhand, McNutt has eight strikeouts with one hit
allowed
over three innings of work.
MEXICAN WINTER
LEAGUE TO OPEN PLAY
TUESDAY IN MAZATLAN
After a
two-year
absence, a reconfigured and trimmed-down Mexican Winter League will
begin its
2019 season this Tuesday with a doubleheader in Mazatlan.
The LIM
was last seen on
the field in 2017, when the Mexico City Diablos Rojos led the six-team
field
during the regular season with a 29-16 record before holding off
fourth-place
Salamanca over all five games of their first-round playoff series and
topping
Oaxaca in the title set, 4-games-to-1.
Current Diablos Mexican League manager Victor Bojorquez, was
the
helmsman of the LIM champions while another ex-Mexico City star and
manager,
Jose Luis Sandoval, was the Guerreros skipper.
However, the cost of operating six teams in as many cities
proved more
than the corresponding fan support could handle and the Liga Invernal
ceased
operations after the Diablos' December 17 Game Five win at Oaxaca's
Estadio
Eduardo Vasconcelos and the LIM went on a two-year hiatus.
The
newest iteration of
the Mexican Winter League will feature four teams of mostly rookies and
prospects augmented by an occasional veteran representing Mexico City,
Oaxaca,
Puebla and Monterrey, with all contests played in Mazatlan at the
Benito Juarez
Sports Complex. This time around,
managers will include former MLB infielder Jose Macias (a Panamanian)
for the
Red Devils and yet another former Diablos stalwart, one-time outfielder
Ivan
Cervantes, leading the Guerreros. Still
one more ex-Mexico City star and manager, four-year big league catcher
Miguel
Ojeda, will oversee the circuit as an extension of his current position
as the
Diablos deputy president.
Each of
the four teams
will have 30-man rosters when play opens October 22 with Mexico City
taking on
Monterrey and Puebla squaring off with Oaxaca.
However, although two games per day will be scheduled through
the
abbreviated season, they will not be doubleheaders.
Instead, contests will be played concurrently
on adjoining fields with game times of 1PM local time.
As with the LMB and LMP, the LIM schedule
will run from Tuesdays through Sundays for six weeks for a total of 36
games
per team when the schedule concludes December 1. Since
there will be no playoff, the season
champion will be determined by the regular season standings.
OSCAR ROBLES OUT
AS MANAGER IN
TIJUANA
In most
baseball
leagues, when a manager leads his team to the best record in the league
and the
top playoff seed in his division, he usually receives a contract
extension with
an accompanying raise. However, doing that
in Tijuana only got Oscar Robles a pink slip with accompanying thanks
and
well-wishes from the Toros front office.
Such is
life for
managers in the border city and Mexican baseball in general. A Tijuana native who started 80 games at
either shortstop or third base and pinch-hitting in 21 more for the Los
Angeles
Dodgers in 2005 (batting .272) between stints in the Mexican League
before his
2017 retirement as a player, Robles took over as dugout boss for the
team in
the Fall 2018 season after Pedro Mere was fired. Mere's
unforgivable sin after taking the
Bulls to the border city's first pennant in 2017? Finishing
second to Monterrey in Spring 2018
with a 33-23 record before losing to the Sultanes in the LMB North
championship
series. Mere went on to become manager
in Monclova for the Fall 2018 schedule and led the Acereros to a
league-best
42-14 record but lost the LMB North title set (also to Monterrey), then
was let
go by owner Gerardo Benavides on July 1 with Monclova showing a 44-25
season
record. Mere is now manager in Tabasco.
Let's
get back to
Robles. In his managerial debut less
than a year after playing his last game, he led the Toros to a
second-place
finish in the LMB North during the Fall 2018 season with a 35-21 ledger
before
falling to Monterrey in the first playoff round in a heated seven-game
series. This year, TJ tied Monterrey for
first in the first half with a 40-20 record, then came in at 35-25 for
third
place in the second half for an overall 75-45 mark (tied with eventual
champ
Monclova for best in the Liga). However,
the Toros lost to the Acereros in seven games for the division title
and that
apparently sealed his fate in his hometown despite an overall 110-66
record
with the team. Sic transit
gloria.
For his
part, the
43-year-old Robles (who is a candidate for Manager of the Year) was
measured
about losing his job. "I knew that
if I didn't reach the Serie del Rey I would be dismissed, both me and
my
coaching staff" he told TVC Deportes. "I could say everything I have
to say, but I better keep quiet."
In announcing Robles' exit, the Toros press release included
the usual
platitudes whenever a Mexican team lets its manager go: "The Toros de
Tijuana club appreciates and recognizes the work of Oscar Robles both
in his
career as a player achieving the title in the 2017 season and in his
position
as manager. We wish him success in his
future projects."
Given
how managers in
Mexican baseball are recycled to a degree that would bring a smile to
the most
ardent environmentalist, it's safe to say that Oscar Robles will manage
again. And again. And
again...
