CULIACAN, HERMOSILLO TIED 1-1 IN LMP TITLE SET

Hermosillo LHP Ryan Verdugo

   After winning their respective semifinal series, the Culiacan Tomateros and Hermosillo Naranjeros split the first two games of the Mexican Pacific League championship series last weekend at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo. Game Four through Six are set for this week in Culiacan, beginning Monday night.

    Hermosillo opened the title series last Friday with a 2-1 knucklebiter win as Ryan Verdugo outdueled J.C. Ramirez in a battle of past and future Chinese Professional Baseball League pitchers. Verdugo pitched the CPBL's first perfect game for the Uni-President Lions in 2018 while Ramirez is slated to join Mexican hurler Manny Banuelos with the Fubon Guardians this summer.

    For his part in this matchup, Verdugo tossed seven scoreless innings and scattered five hits. His Orangemen teammates staked him all the runs he'd need with two in the bottom of the first frame. Norberto Obeso opened with a single, moved to second on a Jose Cardona sacrifice fly and scored on Yadiel Hernandez' double. Hernandez then took third on an Isaac Paredes single and plated another run on Victor Mendoza's slow-rolling infield single to second.

    Ramirez, a somewhat surprising Game One starter after struggling in the postseason, settled down to pitch five scoreless innings through the sixth but the Tomateros had no luck against either Verdugo or reliever Robinson Leyer. Culiacan put a run on the scoreboard in the top of the ninth when Joey Meneses doubled off LMP Reliever of the Year Fernando Salas and Efren Navarro singled him, but Salas held the fort the rest of the way for the save. Obeso finished the night with two of Hermosillo's eight hits while seven different batsmen had one hit apiece for the visitors.

    Culiacan came back Saturday night by pulling away with a 6-1 win over the Naranjeros to tie the series at a game apiece. Game Two started out as another pitching duel, this time between the Tomateros' Anthony Vasquez and Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas, the Mex Pac's Pitcher of the Year. The Orangemen opened the scoring in the bottom of the third when Obeso bounced into a groundout to second, plating Jasson Atondo from third, but Culiacan knotted the contest up at 1-1 in the top of the fifth when Navarro launched a high fly off Oramas that cleared the right field fence. That would be the only run Oramas allowed and he left the game after six innings having given up two hits and striking out eight.

Culiacan LHP Anthony Vasquez

    Vasquez held up his end by letting in the single run in the third before exiting with one out in the seventh. By then, however, the Tomateros had given him a 3-1 lead in the top of the inning when MVP Sebastian Elizalde homered to right center off reliever Marcelo Martinez, who also gave up a run-scoring single to Alexis Wilson. Then, Yoelkis Guibert's two-run bomb against another reliever (Heriberto Ruelas) keyed a three-run eighth to give the defending champs a 6-1 advantage that stayed firm when Sasagi Sanchez and Alberto Baldonado held the Naranjeros scoreless the rest of the way to close out the win. Elizalde added an RBI single in the eighth to finish the night with two hits and two ribbies for Culiacan. Veteran Luis Alfonso Cruz, an ex-MLB and NPB infielder who turns 37 next month, went 3-for-4 with a double and triple for the Naranjeros but produced no runs.

    Game Three is slated for Monday night in Culiacan's Estadio Tomateros at 7:00PM local time. Cesar Vargas will be on the mound for Hermosillo while Edgar Arredondo gets the start for the Tomateros.

    Culiacan reached the finals by defeating Obregon, 4 games to 2, in one of the semifinals. That series ended last Tuesday with a 3-0 shutout at Estadio Yaquis in Obregon as Arredondo tossed six innings of scoreless ball, allowing five hits and striking out four Yaquis batters. Arredondo had finalized a minor league contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks one day earlier.

    Hermosillo punched their ticket to the championship series by topping Monterrey, 6-3, also last Tuesday. The Naranjeros' Vargas and Monterrey's Edgar Gonzalez were locked in a 1-1 game through five innings, after which both were pulled by their respective managers. Hermosillo responded to Gonzalez' absence by posting five runs in the sixth inning, thanks in part to Julian Leon's two-run single and a Jasson Atondo RBI double. The Orangemen won the series, 4 games to 2, as every playoff series this winter has been decided in six games.

LMP AWARDS: ELIZALDE NAMED MVP, ROBLES TOP MANAGER

Culiacan OF Sebastian Elizalde

   The Mexican Pacific League has announced the final two winners of its individual awards for the 2020-21 regular season. Culiacan outfielder Sebastian Elizalde topped the closest balloting of the five categories in being named Most Valuable Player while Guasave's Oscar Robles led the balloting for Manager of the Year.

    A product of former LMP franchise site Guaymas, Sonora, Elizalde had a solid year at the plate for the defending champions, batting .282 on 48 hits over 46 games, including 13 doubles and 11 homers, and driving in 45 runs while stealing 12 bases in 18 attempts. He appeared among league leaders in a number of categories, finishing third in RBIs, tying for third in roundtrippers and tying for fourth in steals.

    Elizalde, who broke into winterball with Hermosillo in 2010-11 and spent five seasons with the Naranjeros before being traded to the Tomateros prior to the 2016-17 season, is wrapping up his tenth LMP season playing against his former team in the championship series. He has lifetime marks of .294 with 39 homers and 205 RBIs in 414 Mex Pac games, swiping 62 bases in the process. He's also hit .267 over nine games for Culiacan in the 2018 and 2020 Caribbean Series.

    During the summer, Elizalde has put in six Mexican League seasons (five for Monterrey before being sent to Mexico City in 2019) sandwiched around five years in the Cincinnati system between 2014 and 2018. The 29-year-old was a Reds organizational All-Star pick in 2014 and represented Daytona in the Florida State League All-Star Game one year later. Elizalde was a .277 hitter with 41 homers as a Reds minor leaguer, topping out at AAA Louisville, while his LMB career numbers are .299/58/248 in 679 games.

    Elizalde garnered 30 percent of votes for Mex Pac MVP, beating out Obregon's Sebastian Valle (21%), Japhet Amador of Jalisco (17%), Mazatlan's Isaac Paredes (12%), Yadir Drake of Guasave (11%) and Jalisco's Dariel Alvarez (9%). He becomes the tenth Culiacan player to win the Hector Espino Trophy, the first since Luis Alfonso Cruz did it in 2011-12.

Guasave manager Oscar Robles

    A former Dodgers and Padres infielder, Robles won the Benjamin “Cananea” Reyes Trophy as top manager after leading Guasave to a winning record (31-26) and a third seed in the postseason with 14.0 playoff points, a remarkable achievement with the second-year Algodoneros (who finished 26-37 and out of the playoffs in 2019-20 while finishing last in the loop with a .234 team batting average and 4.44 ERA).

    This winter, the Cottoneers saw their collective BA rise to .286, second in the LMP, while their team ERA of 3.43 was also second and a full run better than in 2019-20. Robles, who was the Mex Pac's Rookie of the Year in 1995-96 as a shortstop with the original Guasave Algodoneros, led his team into the playoffs but fell in six games to Culiacan in the first round.

    A 44-year-old Tijuana native, Robles obtained 36% of the total votes, more than double than Bronswell Patrick (Mexicali), Juan Navarrete (Hermosillo) and Sergio Gastelum (Obregón), who finished with 17% each. Jalisco helmsman Roberto Vizcarra and Gerardo Álvarez of Monterrey obtained 8% and 5% percent, respectively.

    All winners of Mex Pac awards were selected by a nebulously-titled specialized press after the league had told fans that they would be making the picks in online voting. No definition of “specialized press” has been given nor whether fan ballots were even considered in the tabulations.

JAPANESE GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDS OLYMPICS CANCELLATION    

Yokohama Baseball Stadium

    After last summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed until this year due to the ongoing pandemic, the London Times reports that the Japanese government held a closed-door meeting with top sports officials from that country to recommend outright cancellation of the worldwide event. The Mexican National Baseball Team is slated to take part in the Olympics after qualifying during the WBSC Premier12 tournament last winter.

    However, the International Olympic Committee refuted the Times report in a statement issued last Friday. "Some news reports circulating today are claiming that the government of Japan has privately concluded that the Tokyo Olympics will hae to be canceled because of the coronavirus,” said the IOC. “This is categorically untrue...All parties involved are working together to prepare for a successful Games this summer."

    According to organizers in Tokyo, Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga has told them that he's determined to hold the Olympics this July and August as rescheduled and that meetings are ongoing to ensure the Games move forward with strict protocols in place to prevent further outbreaks of the Wuhan virus, which has caused the postponement or outright cancellation of major sporting events across the globe since last spring.

    "All our delivery partners including the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, the IOC and the IPC are fully focused on hosting the Games this summer," the organizers said. "We hope that daily life can return to normal as soon as possible, and we will continue to make every effort to prepare for a safe and secure Games."

    The pandemic is said to have infected nearly 100 million people worldwide (including nearly 26 million active cases), with over two million deaths, according to Worldometers. Japan is 39th on the site's nation-by-nation list with 356,074 total cases (65,617 active) and 45th with 4,934 deaths. Mexico ranks 13th on the same list with over 1.75 million total cases (297,125 active) and 4th overall with 149,084 deaths.

Mexico manager Juan Gabriel Castro

   Olympics baseball is scheduled to open Wednesday, July 28 in Fukushima's Azuma Stadium and conclude with Bronze and Gold Medal games on Saturday, August 7 at Yokohama Baseball Stadium. Mexico is one of four nations to have already qualified for the six-team field along with South Korea, Israel and host Japan. The remaining two participants will be determined at Americas and Final Qualifiers sometime this year, although dates and venues have yet to be released.

    Should the Olympics proceed as hoped, former MLB infielder Juan Gabriel Castro will manage the Mexican entry. Whether or not baseball is played in Tokyo this summer, Castro has already got his regular job lined up since the Philadelphia Phillies announced he'll be back in 2021 as a member of manager Joe Girardi's coaching staff. A native of Los Mochis, Castro spent 17 years as a player for five teams in the majors before retiring during the 2011 season. He spent time coaching in the Dodgers organization (including two years under Dave Roberts in Los Angeles) and was a coach on Mexico's 2013 World Baseball Classic team for manager Rick Renteria.

    Castro has managed in the Mexican Pacific League for Mexicali and was hired away from the Dodgers to work as sports director for the Mexican League's Tijuana Toros in 2018, but left the team after first being fired, then brought back as a coach but not paid during the month of February and never having his new role (if any) defined by the front office before leaving the team in frustration. Castro was named manager of the Grandes Verde in August 2019 prior the Premier12 tournament and caught on with Philadelphia for 2020. the Phils have given him permission to take a month off for the first time Mexico takes part in Olympics baseball, a sport scheduled to be discontinued in 2024.

HERMOSILLO, CULIACAN WIN AWAY FROM LMP FINALS

Hermosillo CF Jose Cardona

     Hermosillo has been able to overcome the loss of seven players due to positive tests for the Wuhan virus to come to within a win of reaching the LMP championship series. The Naranjeros topped Monterrey, 8-6, Sunday night by overcoming a 2-0 deficit in the first inning to build a 6-3 lead in the top of the sixth before holding on over the final three frames for the win to go up 3 games to 2 in the semifinal series. Julian Leon and Yadiel Hernandez each poked their first playoff homers (Leon's was a two-run blast) to help key the Orangemen triumph while Isaac Paredes, Niko Vasquez and Alex Robles combined for six singles, three runs and two RBIs. Game Six is scheduled for Tuesday at Estadio Sonora in Hermosillo.

     The Naranjeros suffered a blow with the loss of both Pitcher of the Year Juan Pablo Oramas and Reliever of the Year Fernando Salas when the team was leading the Sultanes, 2 games to 0, in the series. Also taken off the roster were pitchers Kenneth Sigman, Wilmer Rios and Alan Rangel, catcher Cesar Salazar and shortstop Walter Ibarra. All are expected to be lost to manager Juan Navarrete for at least the rest of the series. Neither Rangel nor Ibarra had appeared in the postseason prior to the time of testing.

     Centerfielder Jose Cardona has been solid in the playoffs for Hermosillo, leading the team with a .357 average and seven RBIs over both stages while Paredes is hitting .368 in five games since being picked up as a reinforcement from Mazatlan. Ryan Verdugo lost a game to Monterrey after winning twice in the first round but his 2.70 ERA tops all Naranjeros starters.

     Among the Sultanes batters, shortstop Roberto Valenzuela leads starters with a .368 average while third baseman Ricardo Serrano's three homers and seven ribbies are tops to augment his .310 BA. Serrano, Culiacan's Jesse Castillo and Victor Mendoza of Obregon are tied for the most playoff homers while Castillo and Mendoza are knotted up for the RBI leadership with eleven apiece. The Sultanes bullpen has carried the day in the postseason, with relievers Francisco Moreno and Norman Elenes combining for five of Monterrey's first six playoff victories. Moreno and Elenes have each won a game in the Sultanes semi set with Hermosillo and the only starter to break through for a win in their first round series with Mexicali was Edgar Gonzalez.

     In the other Final Four matchup, Obregon stayed alive in their series with Culiacan with help from a seemingly unlikely source Sunday. Pitcher Hector Velazquez, a mainstay with the Navojoa Mayos for several winters, tossed 5.1 good innings against the Tomateros and allowed just one run on three hits while striking out four in the Yaquis' 6-2 win in Culiacan. The Tomateros still lead the series, 3 games to 2, and are a win away from the championship series, but they'll have to win on the road Tuesday or Wednesday at Estadio Yaquis for a chance to defend their title. Carlos Sepulveda had four hits in the Obregon win, scoring once, while Dariel Alvarez added another four safeties, including an RBI double that plated Sepulveda in a Yaquis' three-run fifth inning that gave them a 5-0 lead that they never relinquished.

Culiacan reinforcement Jesse Castillo

     Jesse Castillo was red-hot for Culiacan over their first four games against Obregon after being picked up from Guasave as a reinforcement, going 9-for-14 (.638) with four doubles and a pair of roundtrippers while driving in eight runs to give notice that his physical miseries of the past two years may be behind him. Five other Tomateros regulars were batting over .300 for the playoffs, with Efren Navarro (.368), Sebastian Elizalde (.359) and Michael Wing (.343) combining with Castillo to form the most-feared offense left in the LMP playoffs since Jalisco's first-round ouster. Culiacan's pitching has come through for skipper Benji Gil as well, with nine relievers combining for a remarkable 0.00 ERA through the first ten games. The starters haven't done badly either, as Edgar Arredondo (1.42) and Manny Barreda (2.29) are among seven pitchers with one win apiece through the weekend.

     Not that Obregon have been slouches at the plate. Four Yaquis regulars are hitting north of .300 in the postseason, with Leandro Castro (.378) and Alonzo Harris (.316) leading the way. After missing a stretch of the second half, apparently due to an unspecified suspension, Harris has made up for his absence in the playoffs. The 2019 Mexican League MVP has gone 12-for-38 in batting with a double and two homers, staling four bases, scoring nine runs with five RBIs while playing a flawless leftfield. Dallas Martinez has been one of the better postseason starting pitchers, going 2-0 with 13 strikeouts and a 2.40 ERA (although his seven walks over 15 innings are a bit worrisome). A concern for Yaquis manager Sergio Gastelum has been Brazilian Andre Rienzo, who's lost all three of his playoff decisions while seeing his ERA balloon to 14.00 after nine innings of work. Rienzo was 3-0 in the regular season with a 3.15 ERA over six starts and Gastelum would love to see him return to that form ASAP.

     A pair of the Mex Pac's most notable hitters have taken their talents elsewhere for playoff ball. Outfielder Yadir Drake, who was among the LMP batting leaders during the regular season with a .321 average for Guasave (his eight homers and 40 RBIs also ranked in the top ten) begged out of the second reinforcement draft after his Algodoneros were knocked out in the first round so he could return home and play for Matanzas in the Cuban National Series, although he hadn't played for the Cocodrilos through six games as of Sunday night.

     Another LMP veteran, Mexicali first baseman Luis Juarez, signed on with Cibaenas of the Domincan League after he wasn't chosen as a reinforcement despite batting .333 with a homer and a MexPac-leading nine RBIs in the first round. Juarez was picked up by the Aguilas as a reinforcement heading into their LiDom championship series against the Cibao Gigantes but (like Drake) hadn't appeared for his new team as of Sunday.

ORAMAS CHOSEN AS LMP PITCHER OF THE YEAR

Hermosillo lefty Juan Pablo Oramas

     The Mexican Pacific League announced last week that Hermosillo left-hander Juan Pablo Oramas was chosen by the specialized press (any definition of “specialized” welcome) as the LMP's 2020-21 Pitcher of the Year, winning the Vicente “Huevo” Romo Trophy.

     Oramas finished with an 8-2 record and a 2.80 ERA in 12 starts, throwing 70.2 innings in his rotation role. The native of Villahermosa, Tabasco ended up sharing the lead of victories with Luis Miranda of Guasave, who took the Rookie of the Year award. Oramas was also the second-best in strikeouts with 57, trailing only the 64 whiffs of Culiacan's Manny Barreda.

     The 30-year-old portsider was signed in 2007 as a free agent by San Diego and went 2-3 with a 3.81 ERA for the Padres' Dominican Summer League rookie team that year. He returned to the Santo Domingo-based outfit in 2009 and was 3-2 with a microscopic 1.02 ERA in 19 games (including five starts), but he spent most of that season with the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and was named the Mexican League's Rookie of the Year after going 9-1 and posting a 2.31 earned-run average over 89.2 innings, appearing in the LMB All-Star Game. Oramas had a rocky winterball season for Mex Pac champion Hermosillo (2-3, 4.59) but made a couple of relief appearances for the Naranjeros at the Caribbean Series.

Oramas as a Padres MiLBer

     Oramas went on to spend five more summers in the Padres system, earning California League Pitcher of the Week honors once with Lake Elsinore in 2010 and pitching in a game for AAA Tucson one year later, before San Diego waived him in December 2014. Toronto signed him five days later but he was cut in the Jays' 2015 training camp. Since then, he's been one of the more solid pitchers in Mexican baseball, pitching in both the 2015 and 2018 All-Star Games along the way. Through seven Liga seasons, Oramas has a 39-30 with a 4.17 ERA. Over 12 Mex Pac campaigns, he's gone 44-28 and registered 3.55 on the ERA meter.

     Oramas, who becomes the first Hermosillo hurler to be named Pitcher of the Year since Edgar Gonzalez did it in 2002-03, garnered 57 percent of the votes to easily beat out Jalisco's Luis Ivan Rodriguez (17%), Javier Solano of Mexicali (12%), Solano's Aguilas moundmate Miguel Pena (6%), Guasave's Luis Miranda (5%) and Dallas Martinez of Oaxaca (3%).

Winners of Mexican Pacific League awards thus far:
Rookie of the Year (Baldomero “Melo” Almada Trophy): Luis Miranda, Guasave.
Reliever of the Year (Isidro Márquez Trophy): Fernando Salas, Hermosillo.
Pitcher of the Year (Vicente “Huevo” Romo Trophy): Juan Pablo Oramas, Hermosillo.

16 MEXICANS AMONG TOP PROSPECTS IN 30 MLB SYSTEMS

2B Nick Gonzalez

     A total of 16 Mexican players were placed in the lists of the top 30 best prospects in each of the 30 different Major League organizations, according to the most recent listing on MLB.com.

     Nick González, born in the United States to Mexican parents, was chosen seventh overall by Pittsburgh in the 2020 Draft out of New Mexico State University and is regarded as the top prospect of the Pirates and the # 32 prospect of all the Major Leagues, being the only Mexican in the MLB top 100. Called the “best all-around hitter in college baseball” by the Fansided website, Gonzalez hit .399 with 37 homers and 152 RBIs in 128 games over three seasons for the Aggies (including .448/12/36 numbers in 16 games last spring before the schedule was canceled due to the pandemic) while playing second base, shortstop and centerfield.

     Other players such as Luis González (Chicago White Sox), Gerardo Carrillo (Los Angeles Dodgers), Tirso Ornelas (San Padres de San Diego) and Chihuahua pitcher Efraín Contreras (San Diego Padres) rose in their respective team rankings while the newcomers on the list are Milan Tolentino (Cleveland Indians), Mateo Gil (San Luis Cardinals) and Omar Cruz (San Diego Padres). Second baseman Nick Madrigal is rated #3 in the White Sox system, catcher Alejandro Kirk is Toronto's sixth-ranked prospect, as is Detroit infielder Isaac Paredes, while pitcher Seth Romero rates seventh among Washington's youngsters and first baseman Drew Mendoza (a fellow Nats hopeful) is ninth in that organization.

Jays C prospect Alejandro Kirk

     Both Kirk and Paredes remain in the same positions in their organizational rankings and continue to be considered as “prospects” although, like Luis González, they already debuted in the Major Leagues in 2020. Kirk hit .375 with a homer in nine games for the Jays, Paredes hit .220 with a grand slam over 33 games for the Tigers and started 30 games at third base last season (most among Detroit players) while Hermosillo product Gonzalez appeared in three games for the White Sox in 2020. Three of the top 30 Chisox prospects hail from south of the border, as do three players in the Padres and Nationals organizations.

     Among the remaining prospects, Padres #10 prospect Ornelas hit .273 in 18 Mexican Pacific League games for Obregon and Navojoa this winter before being shelved with an arm injury in November while the Cardinals' #22 prospect Gil, the son of Culiacan manager Benji Gil, batted .186 for the Tomateros in 16 regular season games and has gone 0-for-1 in his lone playoff appearance thus far.

THE 16 MEXICANS IN THE TOP 30 OF THEIR ORGANIZATIONS
CHICAGO WHITE SOX: 2B Nick Madrigal (#3), OF Luis González (#11), P Bernardo Flores (#16).
CLEVELAND INDIANS: SS Milan Tolentino (#23).
DETROIT TIGERS: 3B Isaac Paredes (#6).
LOS ANGELES DODGERS: P Gerardo Carrillo (#16).
PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES : P JoJo Romero (#14).
PITTSBURGH PIRATES: 2B Nick Gonzáles (#1).
SAN DIEGO PADRES: OF Tirso Ornelas (#10), P Omar Cruz (#17), P Efraín Contreras (#29).
ST. LOUIS CARDINALS: IF Mateo Gil (#22).
TORONTO BLUE JAYS: C Alejandro Kirk (#6).
WASHINGTON NATIONALS: P Seth Romero (#7), 1B Drew Mendoza (#9), C Tres Barrera (#17).

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     Back when BBM debuted in 2005 under the name Pelotero, we offered readers free direct email subscriptions in which they received newsletters for every column concerning Mexican baseball the day it posted on the internet. It was quite popular 16 years ago, so why not do it again?

     This time, if you contact us at BaseballMexico@live.com and let us know you'd like BBM sent to your inbox, you'll get a free newsletter every Monday BEFORE the text is posted on this blog. We'll be notifying past subscribers to ask if they'd like to be added to the new mailing list but if you're one of those folks, it makes sense to remove all doubt and sign up as though you're a newbie.

     On a related note, BBM will cease posting notifications with headlines of our weekly posts on Facebook and Twitter. Neither platform has led to an increase of traffic on the BBM site and that's the reason for posting on those sites. Facebook in particular has restricted our posts from news feeds without answering repeated requests for an explanation as to why.  

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     As always, thanks for reading. We definitely don't do this for the money (if anything, Baseball America still owes us $75 for a past entry to one of their Almanacs), it's for the love of both baseball and Mexico. It's amazing that Baseball Mexico is still the only English-language source of news on baseball south of the border, but that only adds importance to the need for accuracy in what you read here. You'll still get an occasional opinion tossed in, but this has always primarily been a news site and that role is taken seriously.

Yours in Beisbol,
Bruce Baskin

ALL LMP QFS OVER IN SIX GAMES, SEMIS OPEN TUESDAY

Hermosillo pitcher Ryan Verdugo

     The opening round of the Mexican Pacific League playoffs is in the history books, with all four quarterfinal series being decided in their respective Game Sixes last Saturday. The winners all move on to the semifinals, which open Tuesday night.

    Ryan Verdugo pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just three hits to pace top seed Hermosillo to a 1-0 home whitewashing of Mazatlan Saturday to punch the Naranjeros' ticket to the LMP Final Four. The lone run of the game came in the bottom of the second when Luis Alfonso Cruz and Jose Cardona both singled and advanced one base on Alex Flores' sacrifice fly before Julian Leon's slow roller to first allowed Cruz to come in from third for the tally. The Venados had the bases full with two out in the top of the eighth, but reliever Robinson Leyer (who pitched six games for Boston last summer) struck out Anthony Giansanti to end the last threat Mazatlan would pose, then pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save of the series.

    Second seed Obregon send Jalisco packing Saturday with a convincing 8-1 win. The Yaquis took a 2-0 lead in the second and gradually built a 6-0 advantage before the Charros scored their only run of the night in the seventh when Dariel Alvarez came in from third on a passed ball by Sebastian Valle. Jonathan Aranda belted a two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh for insurance runs as Obregon pitchers combined to silence to potent Jalisco attack. Yaquis starter Dallas Martinez tossed 4.2 shutout innings while allowing one hit as the Obregon mound staff combined to hold the visitors from Guadalajara to three hits in the tilt.

    Number four seed Monterrey closed out their set with Mexicali by topping the Aguilas, 7-2, at home Saturday. The Sultanes took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third when Brazilian Paulo Orlando pounded a two-run homer to right. Luis Juarez' RBI single in the fifth brought Mexicali to within a run before a four-run Monterrey explosion in the sixth essentially put the game in their hip pockets as Roberto Valenzuela slashed a two-run single while Antonio Lamas and Gilberto Galaviz added run-scoring singles. Sultanes starter Luis Gamez had a nice outing, going 4.1 innings and allowing one run on four hits while six relievers held the Aguilas to one more run (on another Juarez single) the rest of the way.

    Defending champion Culiacan was the only lower seed to get past the first round as the sixth-ranked Tomateros eliminated third seed Guasave, 4-3, on the road at Estadio Francisco Carranza Limon. The Tomateros were trailing, 1-0, before posting a three-run fifth inning keyed by Yoelkis Guibert's two-run single to go up by two runs. Alejandro Ortiz tied the game up for the Algodoneros with a two-run double to right in the bottom of the seventh, but the visitors regained the lead for good in the top of the eighth. Ramiro Pena singled, moved to third on another safety by Sebastian Elizalde and then came in on an infield single by Michael Wing. Culiacan reliever Sasagi Sanchez got one out in the bottom of the eighth before closer Alberto Baldonado came in and retired the final five Cottoneer batters (two on strikeouts) for the save. Tomateros starter Manny Barreda gave up one run on one hit over six innings for the winners.

Mexicali shortstop Daniel Castro

    Mexicali shortstop Daniel Castro's .500 average (11-of-22) led all Mex Pac batsmen in the opening round. Monterrey's Paulino Orlando, Joey Meneses of Culiacan and Obregon's Alonzo Harris each had two homers in the quarterfinals while Luis Juarez easily led in RBIs with nine. Harris and Mazatlan's Jorge Flores each stole four bases. Flores' performance was somewhat remarkable in that he only had one hit and drew four walks during the Venados' entire series with Hermosillo. Surprisingly, neither Castro nor Juarez were picked in Sunday's reinforcement draft.

    Among pitchers, two starters (Jalisco's Orlando Lara and Ryan Verdugo of Hermosillo) and two relievers (Monterrey's Francisco Moreno and Obregon's Miguel Aguilar) each had two wins, with Lara earning both Charros' quarterfinal triumphs. Among eleven hurlers with ten innings pitched or more, Verdugo's was the lowest at 0.64. Two Culiacan starters, Manny Barreda and J.C. Ramirez, each had 12 strikeouts. Monterrey's Jeff Johnson led all closers with three saves.

    Sunday's reinforcement draft was held among the four survivors had each team picking one player from the rosters of eliminated squads. After a draw, Monterrey got the first choice and added Mazatlan first baseman Carlos Munoz. With the second pick, Hermosillo added LMP batting champion Isaac Paredes, also from the Venados. Obregon selected Jalisco outfielder Dariel Alvarez with the third pick while Culiacan closed out the draft by taking Guasave's veteran third baseman Jesse Castillo.

    The selection of Munoz with the top pick by Monterrey was somewhat surprising. While the 26-year-old former Pirates farmhand has become a fixture in the Venados lineup over seven winters, he's not generally regarded as one the Mex Pac's top players and lacks the kind of power usually associated with first basemen. On the other hand, Munoz (who hit .286 in Mazatlan's loss to Hermosillo) drew ten walks in six games for a standout on-base percentage and figures to replace struggling DH Jose Amador (.154) or RF Courtney Hawkins (.143) in the Sultanes batting order.

    The semifinals open with a pair of games on Tuesday night. Culiacan will visit Obregon for Game One at 6:00PM while Hermosillo hosts Monterrey at 7:00PM. All LMP playoff series use a best-of-7 format.

MIRANDA LMP ROOKIE OF THE YEAR, SALAS TOP RELIEVER

Guasave starter Luis Miranda

    Guasave pitcher Luis Miranda has been named the Mexican Pacific League's Rookie of the Year for 2020-21 after tying Hermosillo's Juan Pablo Oramas for the league lead with eight wins. Former MLB hurler Fernando Salas, now with the Naranjeros, was chosen Reliever of the Year as the LMP's postseason awards have begun trickling out.

    The 26-year-old Miranda, an Hermosillo native, finished the regular season with an 8-2 record over 11 starts. He fanned 36 batters and walked 21 over 49 innings of work on the mound. A 5'11” righty, Miranda had a decent outing in his lone postseason start for the Algodoneros in their six-game quarterfinal loss to Culiacan, tossing 4.2 innings of one-run, three-hit ball and striking out eight in a 6-1 loss to the defending champions in the series opener last Tuesday in a game that was tied at one run apiece when Miranda was pulled by manager Ramon Orates in the fifth frame.

    While this was Miranda's first full season in the Mex Pac, he is a veteran of six minor league seasons, including three as a reliever in the Atlanta system between 2013 and 2015. He was 7-7 with a 4.87 ERA in 22 games (17 of them starts) for Quintana Roo of the Mexican League in 2016 but has seen limited action since. Miranda received 58 percent of votes by what the LMP calls a “specialized press,” far outdistancing the four other ROY nominees.

Hermosillo reliever Fernando Salas

    Salas was also a landslide winner as Reliever of the Year after leading the Mex Pac with 17 saves in 19 opportunities and was an important part of a Hermosillo team that is the top seed for the postseason. He had a 2-1 record and turned in a microscopic 0.74 ERA in 25 appearances, striking out 22 batters in 24.1 innings. Salas pitched in two opening round contests in the Naranjeros' six-game win over Mazatlan, tossing three scoreless entradas and striking out five but recording no saves.

    The 25-year-old righthander from Huatabampo debuted with Saltillo of the Mexican League in 2005 and spent parts of three seasons with the Saraperos before signing with St. Louis in 2007. Salas worked his way through the Cardinals organization before reaching the majors in 2010. He served as closer during the regular season for St. Louis' 2011 world champions, saving 24 games and turning in a 2.28 ERA over 68 trips from the bullpen before pitching in four World Series contests against Texas. Salas went on to pitch all or part of ten MLB seasons for four teams between 2010 and 2019, mostly as a middleman, and had a career 25-28 record with 30 saves and a 3.91 ERA.

    Salas came away with 74 percent of the “specialized press” vote while runner-up Jeff Ibarra of Guasave was far behind with 11 percent. The league had announced that fans would determine postseason award winners for 2020-21, but neither mentioned fans nor defined what a “specialized press” in either of last week's announcements.

PEREYRA: RACE WALKING, BOXING FUNDS DIVERTED TO PROBEIS

    Funding has been a major concern for the organization created to foster growth of baseball in Mexico ever since its foundation in 2019. According to Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra, however, future allocations to Probeis will come in part by being diverted from the country's race walking and boxing commissions. Here is a cleaned-up Google translation of Pereyra's report for Proceso:

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador

    MEXICO CITY - On the instructions of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the 264 million pesos that the Chamber of Deputies allocated for the operation of the race walking, boxing and baseball commissions will be used only in the Office of the Presidency to the Promotion and Development of Baseball in Mexico (Probeis).

    In this way, the race walking commission headed by Olympic medalist Bernardo Segura disappears. Segura resigned last October after accusing officials of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) as "bureaucrats" because they did not assign a budget to him during 2020. Segura had not finished verifying the money they gave him to operate in 2019.

    Meanwhile, the boxing commission led by Miguel Torruco will continue in force, but without a federal budget. During 2019 and 2020, for this project in the Federation Expenditure Budget (PEF), 15% of the federal resources for the item called Physical Education of Excellence that operates within the SEP was allocated.

    According to López Obrador's request, the 264 million pesos from the aforementioned items will be used to finish building the baseball schools that are the governing axis of the Probeis. According to the project, which has already been modified countless times, five schools of the so-called T1, that is, those with dormitories, will be located in Campeche, Texcoco, Veracruz, Hermosillo and Obregón. For the last two mentioned, the federal government paid more than one billion pesos to the government of Sonora to acquire the old stadiums, Héctor Espino and Tomás Oroz Gaytán, respectively. The plan indicates that these five will begin operating in August 2021.

    Likewise, another four located in Guanajuato, Mexicali, Lagos de Moreno and Cancun that do not have bedrooms (known as T3) will start between next February and April.

Proceso writer Beatriz Pereyra

    Beyond the allocation of resources, there is still no clear outline of how these schools will operate. The federal government has not determined who will hire and pay both the instructors who will teach classes at the high school and the baseball coaches. The sports equipment that they will use has not been acquired either.

    It remains uncertain what will happen to the 69 boxing schools (12 of which are operated by the Ministry of National Defense) that the commission launched during 2019 and 2020, where more than 2,000 children train for free with 257 receiving monthly scholarships of 3,500 pesos. The salary earned by the trainers who in different states of the country serve the boxers who are part of this program come from the money allocated to the Physical Education of Excellence item.

    In 2019 and 2020, the boxing commission received, per year, 75 million pesos, but in neither of the two fiscal years were those amounts spent. In 2020, Miguel Torruco's commission spent around 40 million pesos. So far there is no certainty of how much Probeis spent that same year, since the SEP transferred money to two states during the month of December but in both cases it was returned because there was no longer time to spend it.

HERMOSILLO TOP PLAYOFF SEED, FIRST ROUND OPENS

IF Esteban Quiroz drafted first by Jalisco

    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).

Hermosillo Naranjeros OF Yadiel Hernandez

    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) 

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

IF Isaac Paredes batted .379 for Mazatlan

   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

Eduardo Vera posted a 2.05 ERA for Mexicali

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

Randy Arozarena spent two winters in Navojoa

    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 site, 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.

Arozarena was a Rays postseason hero

    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.”