Pitching has always been a mainstay of Yucatan baseball and it remains a team hallmark this year at Merida's Estadio Kukulcan. The Leones are third in the Liga with a team ERA of 3.67 and tied with Tijuana for second with a 1.34 WHIP (Monterrey leads in both categories at 3.19 and 1.22, respectively) behind the starting pitching of 2016 Pitcher of the Year Yoanner Negrin (5-1 and 2.64) and two-time All-Star Juan Delgadillo (4-1 and 3.41), but it's really the bullpen that's carried the mound staff. Five relievers have ERAs of 3.00 or less, with former MLBer Jairo Asencio thriving in the closer's role with a 1-0 record, 12 saves and a 2.12 ERA. Asencio has allowed 13 hits and two walks in 17 innings for an 0.88 WHIP while striking out 19 batsmen.
The Leones offense has been steady if unspectacular, with very few holes in the batting order. While Yucatan's team batting average of .280 is in the bottom half of that league table, they've benefitted from opportunistic hitting from the likes of LF Jesus "Cacao" Valdez (.360 with 2 homers and 15 RBIs), RF Leo Heras (.345/2/14), 2B Jordany Valdespin (.298/2/18) and SS Esteban Quiroz (.281/3/16). Former Mariners IF Yuniesky Betancourt (.325/1/9) signed with the Leones in the offseason but wasn't activated until April 26. After starting off 1-for-15 over his first four games, Betancourt has since gone 12-for-25 (.480) while building up a seven-game hitting streak through last weekend's series with Veracruz. The Leones will never bludgeon opponents offensively like Laguna has been doing as long as they play in pitching-friendly Estadio Kukulcan, but this year's batting order looks to be a death-by-a-thousand-cuts proposition for the pitchers facing them.
Where Yucatan has been able to create some breathing room between themselves and the rest of the division, the Leon Bravos faded badly following a decent start after playing the first two weeks of the season on the road, and that cost manager Francisco "Paquin" Estrada his job. Estrada had already survived a spring of uncertainty due to his reported virtual kidnapping episode during training camp, which drew international attention, and living out of a suitcase for the first five series of the regular season before Leon hosted its first home game on April 19 (a day after the scheduled opener was postponed due to a power outage at Estadio Domingo Santana). Although the Bravos blanked Mexico City, 8-0, in their Leon debut, the team then won just two of their next 14 games, marked by three four-game losing streaks before Estrada got the axe prior to last weekend's series at home against Tabasco with the team at 10-20. Estrada was replaced at the helm by Luis Carlos Rivera (pictured), who then steered the Bravos to a three-game sweep of the Olmecas to bring them up to 13-20 on the season. Rivera, a former pitcher who had cups of MLB coffee with Atlanta and Baltimore in 2000, spent 11 years in pro ball before retiring in 2010 at age 32.
Meanwhile, in the Northern Division, Tijuana continued to ride the hot bats of OFs Cyle Hankerd (.351/8/32), Dustin Martin (.307/6/30) and Corey Brown (.291/12/41) to cobble together a six-game winning streak for an LMB-best record of 23-9, but Monterrey sits a half-step behind at 22-9. As mentioned, the Sultanes have received some very good pitching this spring, particularly from starters Angel Castro (4-0 and 2.33) and Ken Sigman (3-0, 3.41), closer Wirfin Obispo (3-1, 1.11 with 4 saves) and now Alfredo Aceves (3.12 in two starts). However, you have to go to the top of the Monterrey batting order to put a finger on the catalyst.
Leadoff hitter Chris Roberson, an Oakland native who married a Mexican woman and has achieved dual citizenship, has topped the .300 mark all six years he's patrolled center field for the Sultanes, averaging 19 stolen bases and 12 homers per season along the way. This year, Robo is outdoing himself early by leading the LMB with a .435 average, 19 points ahead of Saltillo 2B Luis Borges, while his 10 homers are second in the loop. As befits his leadoff status, Roberson's 31 runs scored are tied for third in the Liga with Laguna 1B Ricky Alvarez, trailing only two other Vaqueros, RF Jonathan Jones (34) and 2B Anderson Hernandez (32). Tijuana's Brown launched a pair of homers in Aguascalientes last Thursday to bring his roundtripper total to 12 for the season, two ahead of Roberson. Alvarez' 45 RBIs are tops in the circuit, four more than Brown and Monclova 1B Matt Clark. Saltillo OF Justin Greene continues to lead in stolen bases with 11 swipes, but has just one steal since April 25. Tijuana's Martin and Laguna LF Ethan Martin are tied for second with nine steals each.
Among pitchers, nobody broke the six-win barrier but Yucatan's Negrin joined Frankie de la Cruz of Saltillo and Laguna's Edgar Osuna and Dustin Crenshaw in the five-win circle. Negrin, whose April 13 loss to Mexico City was his first in the regular season since May 1 of last year, is 5-1 thus far in 2017 with a 2.64 ERA that ranks tenth in the LMB. That category is led by Saltillo's Raul Carrillo, who shows a 1.27 figure after four starts and three relief appearances to go with a 1-1 record. Leon's Walter Silva is second at 1.72 to go with his 3-2 mark. Irwin Delgado of Oaxaca has passed Monclova's Josh Lowey in the strikeout derby, 43 to 41. Delgado has one more start and seven more innings than Lowey, whose 1.11 whiffs per inning tops Delgado's .98 rate. In the saves department, Yucatan's Asencio (12) has overtaken Durango's Brazilian closer Tiago da Silva (11) after converting his last six save opportunities. Da Silva continues to pitch well for the Generales, with a 1.88 ERA, but the LMB's 2014 Reliever of the Year hasn't had a lead to preserve with Durango in the throes of a 12-game losing streak through last weekend.
On the schedule this week, the top midweek series will be in Monterrey, when the Laguna Vaqueros visit for a meeting of the Liga's top offense versus the league's best pitching staff. The Vaqueros are third behind Tijuana and Monterrey in the LMB North at 21-12. Campeche hosts Yucatan for three games between Tuesday and Thursday in an important trio of LMB South games.
Next weekend's biggest series appears to be the Monclova-Laguna set in Torreon. The Acereros were predicted to challenge for a pennant in 2017 after most of last year's key players on Puebla's title team were moved north by Gerardo Benavides (who owns both teams) to augment an already-solid Monclova roster, but the team has not performed to expectations thus far, starting this week with an 18-15 record. The club did win four straight games last week, including a sweep of reeling Durango, but Benavides (whose grandfather founded the team in 1974) is in "win now" mode and while it's no secret that manager Wally Backman would leave Mexico in a heartbeat if a better offer came along, his team needs to do better or his exit may not be in concert with another gig north of the border. As the saying goes, "Wherever you go, there you are" and, Wally, right now you're in Monclova with a very talented team and one of the Liga's most loyal fan bases. Make the most of it.
I started following LMB from this year. Now I realized that there is a huge disparity among teams. In the States, I think the draft system is working well so a team with the worst record in previous season has a chance to take the best player in the draft. 10 years ago, the Washington Nationals were the worst team in MLB, but they are now among the best.
ReplyDeleteIn Mexico, do you know if any measure has been taken so league-wide parity is achieved?
Nothing quite like MLB has. There's no amateur draft in Mexico. The system is similar to other Latin countries, where teams (and, in one case, the league) operate academies for teen prospects. The difference is that LMB teams will typically try to sign the better prospects to contracts while they're in the academy. That's very important because LMB teams will hold those rights for years, and MLB teams will have to pay their LMB counterparts for the rights to a player. That's one reason you haven't seen as many Mexican players in MiLB or MLB...it's cheaper to sign players out of academies in the Dominican and Venezuela because there's no middleman demanding a fee. Note that even when a player does sign with an MLB organization, his rights in Mexico still belong to the team who he was signed from. Think early Cardinals farm systems under under Branch Rickey and you'll see similarities.
DeleteAlso, it's not unusual to see one LMB team "loan" a player to another LMB teams (while retaining his rights). An example was when Monclova's Jose Amador quit the team after winning the All-Star Game MVP award last summer. The Acereros ended up loaning Amador to Campeche in exchange for OF Eliseo Aldazaba (whose rights were kept by the Piratas). Both are back with their original teams this year.
Maybe the larger answer to your original question is there have always been Haves and Have-nots in Mexican baseball, and the battle over Mexican-American players last winter was largely drawn on those lines. The Have-nots (or "New Breed") won that one with the full backing of MiLB president Pat O'Connor and it appears they may have won the power struggle with the Haves (or "Old Guard"), something I personally have mixed emotions about...I can see both points of view.
Thank you. It's a bit complicating to me because the so-called "Have-nots (New Breed)" teams like Tijuana and Yucatan are doing very well on the field maybe because of imported players.
DeleteI think "New Breed" is a better description for those two teams than "Have Nots" (both TJ and Yucatan get good support at home), although your basic premise is spot-on. In fact, it was Pepe Maiz' reaction to Tijuana eliminating Monterrey in the playoffs that set off the schism between the two factions over the winter. Like so much to do with Mexican baseball, it's complicated...but that's what helps make it as interesting as it can be exasperating.
DeleteIt's taken me 12 years to get this far along in understanding what little I understand, so don't get frustrated if things don't make sense at first blush. Just as Mexico is unique, so is the baseball there.
Thanks again. It's amazing to me that Los Sultanes de Monterrey is doing so well on the field without the foreign or Mexican-American players while other "Old Guard" teams like Durango are in such a bad state. Could you please tell me what the difference is between the good "Old Guard" teams and bad ones in terms of on-field results!? Does the Sultanes own a very good baseball academy so they can bring in very talented players?
DeleteOh boy, there are no easy answers to that. Among the Old Guard teams, Monterrey and Mexico City historically have been able to pay higher salaries than most other LMB teams. Both have also benefitted from being able to sign and develop domestic talent in the academies (an approach I wholeheartedly agree with, BTW). The money just isn't there in places like Campeche, Oaxaca or Tabasco, so those teams rely heavily on government largesse to operate, a philosophy generally embraced by the Old Guard but rejected by the New Breed. I should note that while Durango and Tabasco are struggling on the field, Oaxaca (owned by billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu, who also owns the Diablos) has been competitive with an All-Mexican lineup.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing might be to check the archives on the right-hand column of this blog and click on the writeup from January 14 of this year about whether a "two-state solution" might be best for the Liga. It's far from complete but gives an overview of what separates the groups of teams philosophically.
Thank you. I hope some measures to achieve more parity will be taken for the prosperity of LMB. Durango team lost again today and now they are in 13-game losing streak, I believe. I just don't think the team will be able to maintain the fan base in Durango if they just keep on losing...
ReplyDeleteI am a Houston Astros fan. Just a few years ago, they were the worst team in majors, but I was actually very optimistic for the future and I was right, fortunately. I hope teams like Durango and Leon will soon become contenders!!