A former Twins farmhand, Paulino had a 2-for-2 game for Oaxaca, who started Patrick Johnson on the mound after team owner Alfredo Harp Helu decided in the offseason to drop his "Mexicans-only" player policy after both his Guerreros and Mexico City Diablos Rojos failed to make the playoffs in 2017 while finishing near the bottom of the league attendance tables. Johnson tossed three scoreless innings, walking one Cocodrilos batter and striking out three before he gave way to relievers Luis Payan, Rodolfo Aguilar and Axel Rios. The Matanzas roster features longtime veteran Yoandy Garlobo, who finished second to the USA's Ken Griffey, Junior among batters in the 2006 World Baseball Classic with a .480 average en route to being named to the All-WBC Team that year.
After an off-day Monday, the Guerreros will meet Occidental again Tuesday in Matanzas as starting pitcher Salvador Valdez makes his debut in a Oaxaca uniform. The Guerreros will open the Mexican League's 2018 first season on March 23 at Leon.
Toros meet KBO, CPBL clubs in Tucson
Manager Pedro Mere's champions first met the CPBL's Chinatrust Brothers, a Taichung-based squad managed by former major leaguer Cory Snyder, last Wednesday afternoon. The game was a reunion of sorts between Mere and Snyder, who last managed on the same field during the 2016 LMB title series between Tijuana and Snyder's Puebla Pericos, who won the series and pennant. Snyder has been joined in Taiwan by two other ex-MLBers, pitching coach Rick Waits and batting coach Tommy Cruz, brother of Jose and Hector. The Brothers are in their 29th season, winning seven CPBL titles.
The Toros came from way back Thursday to top Chinatrust, 7-6, thanks to Pedro Arenas' tiebreaking single in the eighth. The win went to reliever Fabian Williamson while the save was credited to Jesus Pirela. The contest was notable for a remarkable Tijuana comeback after the Toros were behind, 6-1, in the fifth inning. Things culminated in the eighth when Gabriel Gutierrez singled Juan Kirk in with the tying run and Gutierrez scored the game-winner on Arenas' safety.
One day later, Tijuana met the Nexen Heroes of the Korea Baseball Organization, making it two wins in a row by beating the Heroes, 6-1, at Kino Stadium as the Toros plated four runs in the bottom of the second and scored two more in the fifth in what turned out to be an easy win. Ageless reliever Rafael Diaz, entering his 21st season at age 47 as the only hurler in LMB history with more than 100 wins and 100 saves, earned the win by tossing a scoreless fifth.
The Toros and Nexen, whose roster includes 2-time KBO MVP and former Twins first baseman Byung-Ho Park plus 2017 KBO Rookie of the Year Jung-Hoo Lee (who hit .324 last year at age 19) met again last Thursday. This time, the Heroes were victorious, 10-5, to earn the split. Joe Munoz swatted a two-run homer for Tijuana, but not before Nexen had already built a commanding 6-1 lead by the time Munoz clobbered his panoramic shot to left in the seventh frame. Alex Sanabia absorbed the loss for the Toros, but he was hardly the only pitcher touched up by the Koreans.
The Toros then played the Quintana Roo Tigres, also training in Tucson, in a three-game series at Kino Stadium over the weekend starting with a 7-1 win over manager Tim Johnson's Cancun nine on Saturday. The two teams then played to a scoreless draw Sunday before the third and final game Monday before the Toros start playing MLB teams this week. Rumor has Angels prodigy Shohei Ohtani pitching against Tijuana on Friday.
Fernandez out in Mazatlan; Gil fined 100K pesos
Let's begin with Fernandez, one of the all-time great batters of Mexican baseball (representing the Mexico City Diablos Rojos in 15 All-Star Games) and the LMB's Manager of the Year with Veracruz in 2008. Fernandez also excelled for Mazatlan as a player, and he was brought back to the Pearl of the Pacific in 2016 to replace Juan Jose Pacho at the Venados' helm. Although the Deer appeared in the postseason both seasons under Fernandez, they were first-round casualties each time. Mazatlan improved eight games last winter to a composite regular-season record of 37-31, but owner Jose Toledo and GM Jesus "Chino" Valdez will be looking for a manager with a "smallball" philosophy of creating runs from scratch instead of one swing.
Now we move on to Gil, already known as a combustible sort during his first stint in Culiacan, where he won a title in 2014-15 but also nearly came to blows in the dugout with outfielder Rico Noel during a game and essentially wore out his welcome with the Tomateros and the Ley family, who has owned the franchise since its 1966 inception. The former Angels shortstop was brought back this winter and rewarded the Leys and Culiacan with a second pennant, but made a gesture (think PeeWee Herman in an adult theater) during a celebration after the Tomateros won the LMP Championship Series deciding game in Navojoa in January. Gil's rewards were a verbal rebuke from league president Omar Canizales and a fine of 100,000 pesos (about $5,300 in US dollars). A statement signed by Canizales states that Gil violated Article 36 of Mexico's federal labor laws "based on maintaining respect and discipline." Gil faces suspension or outright expulsion from the LMP if he commits any further transgressions.
Finally, there's Diaz, who managed Obregon to three consecutive LMP titles in 2011, 2012 and 2013 (the only skipper in MexPac history with a three-peat), winning the Caribbean Series in 2011 and 2013. Things have gone south with the Yaquis after promised player bonuses tied to that 2013 CS title were never given, resulting in a lawsuit from former MLB pitcher Luis Ayala, a five-year suspension handed to then-GM Francisco Minjarez by the LMP and Diaz' eventual exit from the franchise. The Yaquis missed the playoffs last winter while attendance at 15,000-seat Nuevo Estadio Yaquis was noticeably down. Diaz has visited Obregon in recent weeks, leading to speculation that he may replace manager Juan Navarrete (who will not return next winter) or even move into the front office as GM. Then again, Minjarez' suspension has been completed and the current Diablos Rojos general manager, embroiled in the "Rookiegate" scandal at present, may return to his old post in the Sonora city.
Hi.
ReplyDeleteDo you know if a complete list of LMB teams' spring training locations is available?
As far as I know, the Acereros are training in Puebla and the Bravos are in Zapopan (Estadio Charros de Jalisco).
It looks like LMB teams do not have spring training at each team's home stadium, but I may be wrong.
Sorry, I don't know where you can find one. I know that the Toros are training in Tucson, Union Laguna had not even opened their camp (last I'd heard) but that would take place in Torreon, supposedly the Olmecas HAVE opened theirs in Villahermosa, etc. LMB training camps can be kind of a floating craps game and I've been admittedly a little preoccupied with non-baseball stuff since the end of the CS to track the camp locations down. The LMB website is probably the best place to start looking for creating a list.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteIn Japan, Japhet Amador hit a home run off Daisuke Matsuzaka in a spring training game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ2Q8eXfa2c
Thanks for posting that link. I was impressed with Amador when I saw him play for Navojoa in 2009-10, not just by his sheer size (he's big enough to have his own area code) but by how well he swung a bat...he seemed to really have an idea when he stepped up to the plate.
ReplyDeleteI can't/won't predict a monster season for him with Rakuten because he's facing much better pitching than he does back home, but it wouldn't really shock me because he appears to be someone who can make that adjustment. Amador was 0-for-1 on stolen base attempts last year, however, which leads to this question: What third base coach gives the steal sign to a player who weighs well over 300 pounds?