RIELEROS PLAYERS ASK LMB FOR FINANCIAL HELP

Aguascalientes players celebrating a homer

Mexican baseball players are waiting out their summer of Wuhan virus-induced inactivity due to the canceled Mexican league season until they're able to suit up for the anticipated Mexican Pacific League season openers in mid-October. A number of them, however, are reaching the financial breaking point while trying to feed, clothe and house themselves and their families. While many, if not most, players are still waiting for promised assistance from the LMB franchises, one group has tired of empty promises and are appealing to the Liga office in Mexico City directly for help.

According to PuroBeisbol.com editor Fernando Ballesteros, players and coaches for the Aguascalientes Rieleros have written a letter to LMB president Horacio de la Vega seeking aid from the league office because the Railroaders has failed to do so. When the Liga announced on July 2 that they were cancelling their season for the first time in the loop's 95-year history, players and umpires were promised by de la Vega and the 16 LMB franchises that they would receive financial support throughout the summer. Instead, the only teams that have reportedly followed through are the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and Oaxaca Guerreros (both owned by billionaire Alfredo Harp Helu), although there may be others helping their players.

At the time of the announcement, the player assistance seemed a tall order for many of the LMB teams that typically operate on a proverbial wing and a prayer. One of the reasons the 2020 schedule was called off was the likelihood that fans would not be allowed inside ballparks to watch games, taking away the primary source of revenue in a circuit lacking large-scale sponsorships that bring in enough money to at least partially fill the monetary void that would be created by empty ballparks. While a handful of Mexican League teams like the Diablos, Monterrey, Monclova and Yucatan might have enough cash reserves to help their players, the majority of franchises like Aguascalientes simply lack the funds to do so.

When calls have been made in the past for LMB contraction, the Rieleros are usually one of the teams mentioned. Ever since Aguascalientes was first awarded a Liga franchise in 1975 (the current team marks the Railroaders' third incarnation), the city of 832,712 residents has only hoisted one pennant (1978) and more often resides near the bottom of both the standings and attendance tables.

Day game at Parque Alberto Romo Chavez

Last year was no different, as the Rieleros finished 12 games out of the playoffs, coming in sixth in the eight-team LMB North with a 54-65 record, while drawing 2,001 fans per game in 56 dates at 74-year-old Parque Alberto Romo Chavez for a total attendance of 112,077 on the season, 15th in the league (only Campeche attracted fewer patrons). Aguascalientes has averaged 3,000 or better in attendance twice since making their latest return to the Liga in 2012.

Aguascalientes does have some well-respected veterans on their roster like third baseman Michael Wing, catcher Carlos Rodriguez, 2017 LMB Pitcher of the Year Nestor Molina and future Salon de la Fama slugger Saul Soto, but the club is traditionally one of the most undercapitalized in the Mexican League and low revenues prevent bringing in top talent needed for a contending team.

While expectations the Rieleros were low even before the pandemic crossed the Pacific Ocean and scuttled the season, things are reaching critical mass with the team. Ballesteros quotes the letter, which was leaked to Puro Beisbol, as telling de la Vega "We are aware of the serious situation the world is going through, but we appeal to your support so that in some way we can be creditors of a loan or salary advance in order to be able to financially solve the needs of our families before everything returns to normality.”

The letter was signed by all the Aguascalientes players and coaches, including new manager Luis Carlos Rivera, who pitched for both Atlanta and Baltimore in 2000. Rivera managed Leon in 2018, turning in a 53-57 combined record for the LMB's two abbreviated seasons that year and reaching the playoffs in the Spring campaign.

MAYOS HOPING TO BRING BACK TAIWANESE PITCHER

Hu Chih-Wei pitching for Navojoa last year

Like every other team in the Mexican Pacific League, the Navojoa Mayos are figuring out who will comprise the three foreign players they're allowed for the upcoming 2020-21 season. Although team owner Victor Cuevas has confirmed that the Mayos will open the schedule with returnees Juan Perez (a ex-reds minor league who hit 23 homers for Saltillo in 2019) and former White Sox first base prospect Keon Barnum joining a newcomer, left-handed pitcher Mitch Lambson, who has been a starter the past four summers with Winnipeg of the independent American Association after being a reliever in the Astros system).

A fourth import listed as a reserve for Lorenzo Bundy's team will be coming the farthest to play for Navojoa if he gets the call. Taiwanese pitcher Hu Chih-Wei impressed the Mayos last winter in a short spell despite losing his only decision, turning in a 1.50 ERA with 13 strikeouts while walking only two batters over 18 innings in three starts. The 26-year-old righty is staying home for the time being after testing positive for the Wuhan virus but the team has remained in close contact with him.

Although he is a native of Taichung, home of the Chinese Professional Baseball League's Chinatrust Brothers, Hu has never pitched professionally in his homeland (although he did help Taiwan to a Silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. By then, he was already pitching in the Twins system after signing with Minnesota in August 2012 as an international free agent at age 18.

Midway through the 2015 season, Hu was dealt to Tampa Bay and he went on to represent the Rays as the only Asian product on the World roster at the 2016 All-Star Futures Game in San Diego. That year, he went on to lead the AA Southern League with a 2.59 ERA pitching for Montgomery and was named a postseason All-Star.

Hu is all smiles after 2017 MLB debut with Rays

Hu made his MLB debut with Tampa Bay on April 24, 2017 by tossing a perfect eighth inning during a 6-3 loss at Baltimore. He went on to finish with six appearances for the Rays, all in relief, and won his first big league game on the road over the Yankees on September 28, hurling a frame in the Ray's 9-6 triumph as Tampa Bay scored seven times in the fifth inning. The 6'0" 243-pounder finished 2017 with a 1-1 record and a 2.70 ERA in ten MLB innings, spending most of the year with AAA Durham.

After a 2018 campaign in which he was primarily a starter at Durham (although he did pitch five more times for the Rays, going 0-0 and 4.15 while striking out 12 over 13 innings), Hu was traded to Cleveland for second baseman Gionti Turner. His experience with Tampa Bay personified the capricious nature of baseball, as Hu was recalled to the Rays no fewer than eleven times in 2017 and 2018 while being optioned back to AAA an equal number of times before he was shipped to the Tribe.

That began another odyssey of sorts for Hu, who spent time in both the Indians and Cubs organizations last summer (going 3-7 with a 7.74 ERA for four teams at the AAA and AA levels) prior to signing a free agent contract last December with San Diego, who assigned him to AAA El Paso with a slot at the Padres' training camp as a non-roster invitee. Hu returned to Taiwan when he wasn't named to the Padres' taxi squad after training camp was halted, the minor league season suspended and MLB schedule delayed due to the virus.

PROSPECT LEAGUE OPENS SECOND SEASON

As we saw last month in a translated Proceso article, it's been a trying couple of years for Mexico's Probeis and director Edgar Gonzales. The former MLB and NPB infielder was building a successful post-playing career as a Mexican Pacific League manager and team executive before getting tabbed by Mexican president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to head the federally-funded Probeis program to build baseball from the grass-roots level up. However, as Gonzalez told Proceso's Beatriz Pereyra, much of the funding has not been made available due to Mexico's legendary bureaucracy and the San Diego native (who grew up in Tijuana) been forced to fly by the seat of his pants ever since.

Which has to make the opening of a second season for the Mexican Prospect League (or LPM) that much sweeter for Gonzalez, who's seen enough go wrong since last year to have a heightened appreciation for when things go RIGHT.

The four-team LPM kicked off its 30-day schedule last Thursday with a doubleheader at Estadio Charros in Guadalajara, where the loop will play all games in 2020. The teams are named after four contemporary Mexican baseball figures: Juan Gabriel Castro, Jorge Cantu, Oliver Perez and Joakim Soria.

The LPM is designed to attract the attention of talent-seekers from colleges, MLB and other baseball organizations, dozens of whom were on hand last week. Organizers held a Showcase last Wednesday, a day before the one-month season began. It put 120 players between the ages of 14 and 18 from across Mexico on the field displaying their physical skills through on-field testing and drills.

Play opened the next day as the Cantus topped the Castros, 8-6, in the first game behind the two hits, two RBIs and one run scored by Heber Villalobos. Tadeo Alejandro Osuna, younger brother of Houston Astros closer Roberto, had three hits for the Castros, scoring one run and driving in another. In the nightcap, the Sorias shut out the Perezes, 9-0, with starter Roque Gutierrez earning the win in the two-hitter.

LPM action last Thursday in Guadalajara

Teams will play 15-game regular season schedules through Saturday, September 12, with daily doubleheaders Thursdays through Sundays followed by instruction sessions Mondays through Wednesdays. After an All-Star Game on Sunday, September 13, the LPM will hold three days of playoff semifinal doubleheaders from Tuesday, September 15 through Thursday, September 17. A two-day Final will be held Friday, September 18 and Saturday, September 19, followed by closing ceremonies on Sunday, September 20.

All LPM games will be streamed live and archived free of charge through the World Baseball Softball Confederation's channel on the GameTime website.

According to a story on SeptimaEntrada.com, the LPM "intends to build a successful platform for young baseball players with professional prospects to represent Mexico with dignity. The aim is for this development system to be the most effective in Mexican baseball and to become a benchmark model at the national and international level.

"The mission is to produce a summer league with a professional environment, which brings together the best prospects in the country to transmit academic-sports knowledge that decisively contributes to their personal and professional development."

SULTANES WIN SIX IN ROW, TECOS FIGHT TO STAY ALIVE

Mexico City''s Japhet Amador is heating up

Defending champion Monterrey was in a fight for fourth place in the Mexican League North Division before a six-game win streak gave manager Roberto Kelly's Sultanes some breathing room over fading Dos Laredos with just three series remaining in the regular season.

Monterrey swept three-game home sets over Dos Laredos and Tijuana last week to go to 27-22 in the second half, trailing Saltillo (33-17), Monclova (31-20) and TJ (29-22) in the standings.  The Sultanes capped their broom job over the Toros Sunday with a 5-4 win as 9,136 fans braved 102 degree temperatures to watch at Estadio Monterrey. The Sultanes chased Tijuana starter Carlos Hernandez with four runs in the bottom of the second inning to go up 5-0, then had to hang on as the Bulls sent Edgar Gonzalez to the showers by scoring three in the sixth.  Juan Gamez combined with four other relievers to hold Tijuana to one more run over the final ten outs as Wirfin Obispo pitched a perfect ninth to register his 28th save.

While Monterrey, Monclova and Tijuana are virtual locks for the playoffs even if Dos Laredos passes the Sultanes in the next ten days, the Tecos need to move up in the standings to reach the postseason if Saltillo holds on to first place.  If the season ended today, the Saraperos would finish the two halves with 12 points while the Owls would only have 9 points to show for themselves. The Tecos salvaged a road series in Monclova Sunday with an 11-9 win powered by five Dos Laredos homers (including Balbino Fuenmayor's 30th longball of the season) to halt a five-game losing skid.  The Tecos are now 24-27 to trail Monterrey by four games and while they should hold off Aguascalientes (21-29), Durango (17-33) and Union Laguna (16-34), standing pat likely means being spectators when the playoffs open next month.

Things are no better defined in the LMB South, where Yucatan (33-18) leads Quintana Roo (32-18) by just half a game with Mexico City (30-21) creeping up on both teams by winning seven of their last ten games.  Should the Diablos remain in third place they would finish with 13 points and qualify for the playoffs even if Campeche (24-24) or Oaxaca (24-26) overtake them, but that's about the only certainty. Yucatan had only four points in the first half while the Tigres picked up just three while Oaxaca won the division and eight points while Puebla finished third and collected six points.

The Leones and Guerreros will probably join Mexico City in the playoffs next month, but the Pericos are plummeting after losing eight of their last ten games to fall to seventh at 19-28.  Quintana Roo will not fall below third, meaning they'll finish with at least nine points for the year. Puebla needs to overtake sixth-place Tabasco (21-28) to finish with nine points. The Pericos will host Yucatan and Tabasco this week before finishing the regular season next week with a series in Mexico City, so they've got their work cut out for them.  Puebla didn't help themselves by dropping two of three games against Tabasco in Villahermosa over the weekend, including an 8-4 Olmecas win Sunday as every Tabasco player in the lineup had at least one hit (Roel Santos had three) and eight scored a single run, with Jose Luna knocking out a solo homer in the second off Scott Harkin. Tabasco has been one of the Liga's problem franchises for years and only 1,847 were in the Parque Centenario de 27 Febrero on Sunday, but new owner Juan Carlos Manzur has reportedly brought the beleaguered franchise a sense of order and direction that was lacking when the Olmecas were owned by the Dagdug brothers.

LMB strikeouts leader Yasutomo Kubo of Leon

After batting over .400 most of the season, Leon outfielder Felix Pie's recent freefall continues as the ex-Oriole went 3-for-20 over his last six games to drop out of the LMB lead into third place in the batting derby with a .387 average, trailing new leader Francisco Peguero of Monclova (.389) and Durango's Daniel Mayora (.388).  Peguero is the defending Liga MVP after batting .368 with 13 homers and 60 RBI's over 52 games in the league's shortened Fall season. Acereros teammate Chris Carter's memorable campaign continues after the ex-Brewers slugger cracked three homers last week to bring his season total to 46, nine more than Puebla's Danny Perez and Alonzo Harris of Oaxaca.  Harris now has 43 stolen bases (second to fellow Guerrero outfielder Johnny Davis' 54) to go with his .336 average and needs three homers to become the first-ever 40/40 man in Mexican baseball history. He and Carter (who also leads with 114 RBIs) are dueling for the MVP trophy, although Mexico City's massive Japhet Amador has been heating up and shows .354/27/109 numbers despite missing ten days in June due to injury.  Amador is batting .436 with four homers and 13 ribbies over his last ten games.

The league office may as well have their Pitcher of the Year trophy engraved because there's little chance Yucatan's Cesar Valdez won't get it despite losing his second game of the season Sunday, 2-0, to Campeche despite allowing two runs and striking out five in seven innings.  The Piratas' Manuel Flores pitched his league-leading second shutout of the year, scattering three hits to go to 9-7. Valdez leads the league in wins (14-2 record), earned-run average (2.30) and WHIP (1.07) while standing fifth in strikeouts (115). Leon's Yasutomo Kubo has struck out 23 batsmen in 19 innings over his last three starts to take control in that category with a total of 144 whiffs.  Kubo also gave up 15 earned runs in that span to fall to 8-13 with a 5.97 ERA. He's allowed just 29 walks in 144.2 innings this year. Obispo's save Sunday over Tijuana put the Monterrey closer one save behind leader Roman Mendez, who has 29 for Dos Laredos. Mendez finally won a game outright Sunday in Monclova to go to 1-6 for the year.

Most series are taking on added importance these days, but few among the midweek sets are bigger than Oaxaca's trip to Cancun to face the Tigres in a series with playoff implications for both teams.  The same can be said when Yucatan visits Puebla and Saltillo travels to Tijuana. Next weekend's biggest series appears to also be in Cancun, when rival Mexico City visits Quintana Roo, although it'll matter when Tijuana hosts Monterrey in the LMB North.

FERNANDO VALENZUELA NAMED LMB COMMISSIONER

New LMB commissioner Fernando Valenzuela

No fireworks were reported from last Thursday's Mexican League owners meeting in Monterrey, but one surprising development has emerged: former Cy Young Award winner Fernando Valenzuela has been named to fill the newly-created Commissioner position.  

According to Martha Cedillo of Milenio, a national newspaper owned by Monterrey Sultanes co-owners Grupo Multimedios, says the position of LMB Commissioner will be "even above its president, Javier Salinas."  Puro Beisbol was a bit more vague describing El Toro's new job, stating simply that "Valenzuela will address sports issues independent of the presidency of the circuit."

Whatever Valenzuela's role as Commissioner will be, the announcement from Monterrey was made by Monclova Acereros owner Gerardo Benavides, a Salinas ally and head of the Liga's Board of Presidents.  Cedillo reports that the next LMB league meeting will be held in September, during which Salinas' status as president will be discussed. Salinas was not at the Monterrey gathering.

Valenzuela's two-year travails as owner of the Quintana Roo Tigres has been broached here numerous times so we'll avoid another at-length rehash of the difficulties he and wife Linda have encountered ever since they entered negotiations to buy the legacy franchise from Carlos Peralta in February 2017, but it's safe to say the couple does not feel they've received their pesos' worth since then.  There’ve been past rumors that the Valenzuelas were so fed up with their experience owning an LMB team, they were considering putting the franchise back on the market, but last month's league-wide retirement of Valenzuela's number 34 and accompanying pregame celebrations (Fernando took part in one at his home ballpark in Cancun) may have mollified them somewhat.

Valenzuela in his role as Dodgers broadcaster

As reported last week, there is a split among LMB team owners whether to retain Salinas as president and conjecture is that his opponents may break away from the league and form their own summer loop if Salinas stays on, and the one owner said to be on the fence was Valenzuela.  With divisions within the league as even as they are on this matter, it's not beyond the pale to speculate that the Commissioner position was created specifically for Valenzuela in an effort to swing his vote to the Salinas camp. It's not known whether his appointment will have any effect on his duties as a color commentator on Los Angeles Dodgers Spanish language broadcasts, a post he's held for 17 years. 

Also at last week's meeting, a new committee on league relations was formed with Valenzuela, Francisco Gonzalez (Monterrey), Erick Arellano (Yucatan) and Jose Miguel (Puebla), the latter three in the camp favoring the retention of Salinas.  The role and duties of that committee was not given in the Puro Beisbol writeup while the formation of the committee was not mentioned in Milenio.

DODGERS SIGN 18-YEAR-OLD LEFTY, TOP LMB PROSPECT

Octavio Becerra (c) signing with Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers have signed an 18-year-old lefthanded pitcher considered by many to be the Mexican League's number one prospect.  Aguascalientes hurler Octavio Becerra came to terms with the defending two-time National League champions late last month. One of the sticking points within the Liga regarding their March agreement with Major League Baseball regarding the signing of prospects controlled by LMB franchises is that the prospect is required to be on the Liga team roster for at least one year in order for the team to receive a portion of the player's signing bonus.  Since Becerra made his LMB debut on July 18, 2018, the Rieleros expect to receive 35 percent of his bonus.

A native of Tepatitlan, Jalisco, Becerra signed with Aguascalientes as a 16-year-old in February 2017 and was assigned to the LMB Academy near Monterrey.  He was brought up to the Rieleros during the Fall 2018 season and was less than overwhelming, turning in a 7.94 ERA over 11.1 innings in seven relief appearances.  Things had not gone any this season for the portsider before he signed with the Dodgers. In seven more relief outings, Becerra allowed ten earned runs, including six homers, in seven innings for an ERA of 12.86 (although he did strike out 11 batters in that span).  His last outing for Aguascalientes came on April 23 at home against Monclova, when he tossed one inning and gave up a roundtripper to 2017 LMB Rookie of the Year Ricky Rodriguez. He was subsequently sent back to the academy in El Carmen for more seasoning.

Becerra posing in his Aguascalientes uniform

Despite his lack of early success at the AAA level in a hitter's league or size (he stands 5'9" and weighs just 165 pounds), he was ranked the Academy's top prospect this year prior to signing with the Dodgers.  Rieleros team president Jose Eustacio Alvarez said at the contract ceremony, "We know that today is the first step to achieve the dream of reaching the big leagues. He is a player with discipline and a lot of work, so we are sure he will have a career full of successes."  Dodgers scout Juvenal Soto commented, "He was a pitcher who from the beginning, more than six months ago when we started to look more at him, he always caught our attention, not just because of the speed of his pitches.  He also has a very good selection of secondary pitches. All the evaluations we did were positive, so we did not hesitate to follow up until we got his signature."

Becerra is expected to be assigned to the Dodgers team in the Dominican Rookie League next month.

WING OFF TO FLYING START FOR AGUASCALIENTES

Former Los Angeles Angels minor leaguer Michael Wing was not one of the most publicized of Mexican League players during his first two seasons south of the border, but the California-bred third baseman has certainly caught the attention of Liga pitchers during that stretch.  If Wing is hoping to remain in relative anonymity toiling for the Aguascalientes Rieleros this season, he'll have to do less than bat .500 with 7 homers and 21 RBIs over his first eight games with the Railroaders in 2019, leading the LMB in both longballs and ribbies through the first three series of the campaign.

Aguascalientes 3B Michael Wing

Wing posted a trio of two-homer games for Aguascalientes last week, including a pair of longballs (one a grand slam) in a 7-RBI night during a 10-6 home win over defending champion Monterrey on Friday. A 26th round draft pick from Upland (CA) High School in 2007, the 6'1" right-handed batter spent five seasons in the Angels systems and one more in the Padres organization before embarking on a three-year independent ball sojourn in the Frontier League and American Association before it appeared his professional career was over at age 26 following the 2015 season.  He missed the 2016 campaign before receiving a phone call from the Rieleros the next year.

After debuting with Aguascalientes on June 4, 2017, Wing hit a sizzling .432 with five homers in 26 games for the Rieleros the rest of the season.  He returned to play both 2018 seasons, hitting .341 in the Spring and .403 in the Fall with a combined 18 homers and 76 RBIs in 83 contests.  Now 30, Wing has come out the gate smoking for Aguascalientes this year and while there's no way he'll be able to maintain his torrid pace for a full season, the team is hoping he can stay healthy for the whole season and head a Rieleros offense that includes veterans Saul Soto, Carlos Rodriguez, Jose Vargas and ex-Cub Tony Campana to augment a pitching staff that includes 2017 Mexican League Pitcher of the Year Nestor Molina and three-time MLB All-Star Jose Valverde. 

New manager Joe Alvarez, who has had past success (however abbreviated) in both the Liga and Mexican Pacific League, is known as an old-school disciplinarian and while his pitching staff in Aguascalientes may struggle, the Rieleros will be expected to fight towards what they hope will be a return to the playoffs this season after missing the postseason last fall.  The Rieleros are presently tied with Saltillo for fifth place in the LMB North at 4-5 apiece, trailing co-leaders Monterrey and Dos Laredos at 7-2 and two games behind Monclova and Tijuana, both at 6-3.  Durango (3-6) and Union Laguna (2-7) round out the division standings.

In the LMB South, manager Sergio Gastelum's Oaxaca Guerreros are trying to prove last Fall's appearance in the Serie del Rey was not a fluke.  So far, so good as the Warriors top the standings with a 7-2 record following an 8-5 triumph at Yucatan Sunday night as catcher Orlando Pina singled and doubled, scoring two runs and driving in two more.  Jose Medina took a shutout into the fourth inning en route to a five-inning outing in which he gave up three runs to the Leones, who fell to the cellar at 2-7.  Mexico City and Puebla won their weekend closeouts over Quintana Roo and Campeche, respectively to go into Monday's travel day tied for second at 6-3.  Leon has a 4-5 mark for fourth place, leading 3-6 Campeche, Tabasco and Quintana Roo by a game.

Michael Wing photo courtesty of Bob Broughton from CourtesyRunner.com


HEIMLICH AT 0-1, 6.75 AFTER TWO STARTS FOR TECOLOTES

Dos Laredos Tecolotes P Luke Heimlich

After an agonizing 10-month wait to start his first professional baseball game, 2018 NCAA Pitcher of the Year Luke Heimlich finally made his debut last Tuesday night in Torreon.  The former Oregon State ace tossed five innings for the Dos Laredos Tecolotes in a 5-4 loss to the hometown Union Laguna Algodoneros as 7,527 fans looked on at Estadio Revolucion.

Heimlich had a creditable outing for the Tecos, giving up two runs on five hits (including solo homers in the second by Michael Crouse and Luis Perez) with five strikeouts and two walks while facing 21 Laguna batters.  The game ended in the bottom of the tenth when Crouse grounded a bases-loaded walkoff single to Domonic Brown in right to bring in Francisco Ferreiro with the winning tally.

Heimlich had a rougher outing Sunday night in Saltillo, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and two walks before being relieved by Antonio Guzman with one out in the fifth as the Saraperos went on to win in a 15-6 rout of the Owls.  Dos Laredos spotted Heimlich a 1-0 lead with Balbino Fuenmayor's leadoff homer against Saltillo starter Jonathan Sanchez, but the Saraperos came back with three runs in the bottom of the third on Juan Perez' third homer of the season, scored again in the fourth after Josuan Rodriguez scored from third when Tecos catcher Luis Flores' throw to nail Alvaro Gonzalez on an attempted steal sailed into center field instead.  Heimlich was pulled by manager Felix Fermin after giving up a leadoff single to Christian Zazueta and a one-out walk to Perez and tagged with the loss to drop to 0-1 for the season while raising his ERA to 6.75.  He did strike out another five batsmen but it was not an epic follow-up performance.

However, Heimlich might be forgiven for being a little rusty after not tossing a pitch in anger since last June's College World Series in Omaha. He finished 15-1 for the Beavers with a 2.42 ERA while earning both national and Pac-12 POY awards (his second consecutive conference honor).  Even so, a 2017 revelation of a sexual charge involving a six-year-old niece when he was 15 made him radioactive when it came time for last year's MLB draft, slipping through the entire event without being picked.  Subsequent attempts at free agent contracts with the Kansas City Royals and a team in Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League were unsuccessful and Heimlich saw no further action in 2018.

He remained luckless this year until reaching an agreement with Dos Laredos last month.  Mexican League president Javier Salinas convened an internal investigation shortly after the signing but subsequently okayed the contract on April 6, three days before his first start for the Tecos.  Heimlich's next start is slated for Friday night in Nuevo Laredo against the struggling Yucatan Leones.  The Tecos moved their Mexican home games to the aging Parque La Junta after the club failed to draw fans to the more modern but remote Estadio Nuevo Laredo.


MEX PAC DRAWS 3.1 MILLION FANS FOR 2018-19 SEASON

The Mexican Pacific League set a season attendance record for their 2018-19 schedule by drawing 3,157,535 fans to both regular season and playoff games for the eight-team circuit.  The Mex Pac averaged 9.925 spectators during the season, including a boost of turnstile clicks to 12,912 per opening for the January postseason.

Culiacan led the LMP with a total of 507,002 admissions for the season for an average of 14,912 per game.  Both Hermosillo and Mexicali topped the 400 thousand mark, with the Naranjeros having the higher overall attendance (408,513 to 400,988) but the Aguilas showing the higher average (12,151 to 12,015 per game).  Mazatlan benefitted from a renovation of Estadio Teodoro Mariscal, pulling in 344,872 aficionados at 10,143 per game, an increase of 48.8 percent over the 2017-18 campaign, to finish third in the box office standings.

Jalisco had a strong year at the gate, bringing in 9,794 to Guadalajara's Estadio Charros for a total of 333,005 while Obregon was sixth in attendance at 271,227, an average of 8,219 per outing.  Like Mazatlan, Los Mochis benefitted from a ballpark renovation and saw a 22.3 percent hike to 242,368 fans for the season (averaging 7,128) while Navojoa brought up the rear with an average of 5,053 and a total of 171,815.  The addition of both Monterrey and returning Guasave next winter all but assures a new attendance record with the LMP becoming a ten-team loop.

According to a league press release, the Mexican Pacific League had the fourth-highest attendance in professional baseball leagues around the world over the past year, trailing only Major League Baseball, Nippon Professional Baseball and the Korea Baseball Organization.  The MexPac also easily outdistanced their competitors in the Mexican League and all minor leagues (affiliated and independent) at the gate.

BBM Summer Awards: Most Valuable Player

Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias

I've mentioned a couple times that I was facing some mighty tough choices in picking the Summer Bammys this year, but none was harder than Most Valuable Player.  There were several standout performances this season in the Mexican League, only some of which BBM has already highlighted this week, but the MVP award (to me) boiled down to three players:  Tijuana centerfielder Corey Brown, Aguascalientes first baseman Jesus "Jesse" Castillo and Mexico City shortstop Ramon Urias.  Of all the Bammys I've considered since 2010, I agonized over this one more than any of the others and even broke down offensive and defensive stats for each player AND their respective teams to try determine who contributed the most to their club's success, and it's taken me until literally minutes before I started typing this piece to decide.

There are such good arguments for all three men.  Tijuana, of course, is this year's LMB champion and Brown was perhaps the main cog in the Toros machine.  He batted .291, his 24 homers were second in Liga to Saltillo's Rainel Rosario's 26 and finished fifth with 85 RBIs.  In addition, Brown was very effective on the basepaths, stealing 19 bases in 21 attempts to just miss being the sole member of the loop's 20/20 Club in 2017.  Defensively, he was an adequate centerfielder, hauling in 214 fly balls and throwing out four baserunners for a .982 fielding percentage with a 2.10 range factor.  Brown also played in this year's LMB All-Star Game at Campeche.  While it was his first such contest in the LMB, Brown previously played four midseason classics in the International, Texas and Midwest Leagues.  Despite his relatively-low batting average, he was my pick until Wednesday night, when I began considering Jesse Castillo.

Aguascalientes was the surprise team in the Liga's regular season this summer, winning 64 of 110 games to pull away from Union Laguna and Mexico City for fourth place in the LMB North, then provided perhaps the strongest opposition Tijuana faced in the playoffs before falling in six games in the division semis.  Rieleros manager Homar Rojas had to contend with a budget-limited roster along with the vagaries any skipper will encounter over a season, but the one constant was Castillo.  The veteran first sacker hit a rock-solid .342 with 20 homers and 82 RBIs while matching Brown with 79 runs to finish in the top ten in all four categories along with on-base percentage (.435), slugging percentage (.548) and OPS (.548).  Castillo also acquitted himself well at first with a .994 fielding percentage over 773 chances, including 712 putouts, 56 assists and a 9.72 range factor.  He played in his seventh All-Star Game this summer and was named its Most Valuable Player.  While Jose Vargas combined with Castillo to form a lethal 1-2 punch, the latter was clearly the most important player in Aguascalientes' unexpected success.  A legit MVP candidate, for sure.  But then on Thursday afternoon, I turned my attention to Ramon Urias.

The Diablos' wunderkind shortstop (he turned 23 in June) was able to carry his team to a 57-54 record and coming within four games of forcing a postseason play-in game against Aguascalientes despite a pitching staff with a 5.06 ERA while injuries and Father Time took their toll on Red Devils' position players.  Despite just missing the batting derby's top ten list (he was 12th at .340), Urias met that standard in several other offensive categories, leading the LMB with 91 runs scored along with 132 hits (tied for 10th), 29 doubles (tied for 7th), 19 homers (tied for 6th), 79 RBIs (8th), 224 total bases (tied for 4th), a .433 on-base percentage (5th), a .577 slugging percentage (4th) and 1.011 OPS (2nd).  He played most of his defensive time (65 games) at short but also spent 45 contests at second base, with a combined .967 fielding average in 530 total chances, contributing 203 putouts, 309 assists and taking part in 79 double plays (two fewer than Castillo) for a combined range factor of 4.65 over the two positions.  Although the Escarlatas missed the playoffs a second year in a row (after reaching the postseason every year between 1984 and 2015), those are numbers impossible to ignore.

As you can see, there's not a lot to create much separation among those three players, so I started comparing their individual stats with their team's overall stats and while I'll spare you that breakdown, it appeared rather clearly to me that Urias meant more to the Diablos Rojos than Brown did to the Toros and even Castillo did to the Rieleros.  While Brown and Castillo had stats similar or even below their respective team's, Urias' were better (some significantly) than his teammates accrued while working behind a pitching staff demonstrably inferior to Tijuana's and Aguascalientes'.  Adding in the fact that he was only 22 when his breakout season opened (Brown is 31 while Castillo is 34) and that being on a non-contending team didn't hurt another shortstop named Ernie Banks win TWO consecutive National League MVPs in the late 1950's, I've finally determined Urias is my top LMB player for 2017.

For being such a tender age, Urias (whose 20-year-old brother Luis is the premier shortstop prospect in the Padres system) has completed his seventh year as a pro.  Ramon spent two years in the Dominican Summer League after signing with Texas as a 16-year-old free agent in November 2010 (batting .213 in 2011 and .268 in 2012) before landing with Mexico City in 2013.  After batting an even .300 in 12 sporadic appearances that year, Urias took over the Diablos' shortstop job in 2014 and hit .262 in the regular season before raking pitchers for a .393 average with a homer over nine games as the Diablos had the Liga's best regular-season record and swept their way through the playoffs for their 16th LMB pennant.  He hit .351 with 10 homers in 2015 and was at .301 in 2016 before a June 22 injury in a game against Carmen ended his season early.

As major league scouts have also likely noticed, Urias appears to have recovered nicely.

BBM MOST VALUABLE PLAYER WINNERS
Summer 2010    Willis Otanez, Puebla
Winter 2010-11   Justin Christian, Los Mochis
Summer 2011     Luis Terrero, Mexico City
Winter 2015-16   Christian Villanueva, Obregon
Summer 2016     Cesar Tapia, Puebla
Winter 2016-17   Hector Velazquez, Navojoa
Summer 2017     Ramon Urias, Mexico City

BBM 2017 Summer Awards: Playoff MVP

Tijuana OF Cyle Hankerd

Although he had a largely forgettable series in the Mexican League North Division championships against Monterrey, there were also enough big games over three postseason sets for Cyle Hankerd of newly-crowned LMB pennant winners Tijuana to earn BBM's Playoff Most Valuable Player Award.

The former USC All-Pac 12 pick and Arizona Diamondbacks minor leaguer batted .309 in 16 playoff games for the Toros, leading all LMB players in the postseason with 19 RBIs and tying teammate Corey Brown for most playoff homers with five.  Hankerd also scored 13 runs to tie another TJ teammate, Roberto Lopez, for second in that category behind Brown's 17 counters.  All this despite a five-game dry spell in the Toros' LMB North finals against Monterrey during which he suffered through an 0-for-14 stretch.  But, oh, those games when the hits were flowing!

First, there was Tijuana's opening round series against a pesky Aguascalientes team.  Hankerd went 7-for-19 (.368) in six games against Rieleros pitchers, collecting three RBIs in both Game One and Game Four while socking a solo homer in Game Three.  His performance in the August 24 opening game of the Monterrey series was rock-solid as the 32-year-old Californian belted a two-run homer off Sultanes starter Javier Solano in the fourth inning and lined a run-scoring single off reliever Isaac Jimenez during a wild seven-run seventh.  Although Hankerd's offensive well ran dry the rest of that series, it was the Serie del Rey against defending champion Puebla when he really turned up the heat.

Hankerd went 3-for-5 in Game One on September 5 with a pair of singles and a double, scoring one run and driving in another.  One night later, he lofted a two-run homer off Pericos starter Jaime Lugo in the third to break a scoreless tie in the Bulls' 5-3 win.  After the series shifted to Puebla, he was 2-for-3 with a double, a run and one ribbie on September 8 in TJ's 4-0 Game Three win to put manager Pedro Mere's team one win away from a sweep.  Hankerd went hitless on September 9 as the Pericos kept their flickering hopes alive with a 6-3 win before homering twice and driving in four runs in the Toros' pennant-clinching 15-3 rout to finish the Serie del Rey with a .444 average and three homers in five games.

Tijuana's title capped off a strong season for Hankerd, who hit .321 with 17 homers and 69 RBIs over 94 games in the regular season, which ended a little early for him when he was drilled by a pitch from Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo in the August 4 opener of a home series with the Sultanes, the 15th time Hankerd was plunked over 94 games (he was on the receiving end of eight more HBPs in the postseason).

Hankerd is no stranger to postseason heroics, having stroked a game-winning walkoff single in the bottom of the tenth for Mazatlan in the Venados' Mexican Pacific League pennant-clinching 4-3 win over Mexicali on January 25 of last year.  Playing third base for the Mexican champions, Hankerd then hit .294 with a homer and played error-free ball over six games as the Venados ran the table for the Caribbean Series title.

After signing with Arizona out of Southern Cal in 2006, Hankerd started his pro career off with a bang, winning the Class A Northwest League's Most Valuable Player award that summer by hitting .384 with four homers and 38 RBIs in 54 games for Yakima.  That began an ascent up the D-Backs chain that included a 2007 season in Visalia of the Class A California League, where he hit .285 with 8 homers and three years at AA Mobile of the Southern League, hitting in the .250-.260 range with about a half-dozen homers a year while representing the BayBears in the 2009 SL All-Star Game.  He also had a seven-game cup of coffee in AAA Reno of the Pacific Coast League during an injury-plagued 2010, hitting an even .400 with 5 ribbies over 7 games, but was released in early 2011.

Hankerd spent much of the 2011 season with Amarillo of the independent American Association, knocking AA pitchers around for a .355 average with 10 homers and 55 RBIs over 70 games before he signed with Philadelphia in August and spent the rest of the campaign with Clearwater of the Class A Florida State League and hitting .248 in 31 games.  After two relatively undistinguished years bouncing between indy ball and both the White Sox and Dodgers organizations, Hankerd made his Mexican League debut in 2014 with Yucatan, hitting .284 with four homers for the Leones.  He then moved over to Mexico City in 2015 and hit .384 with 22 homers in just 58 games for the Diablos Rojos while also spending time with Southern Maryland of the independent Atlantic League (.354/9/20 in 33 games).  Hankerd spent all of the 2016 schedule back in Mexico City and hit .322 with 16 homers for the Diablos in 104 contests before moving to Tijuana this year.  He's also played the last two winters for Mazatlan in the MexPac, turning in a .301 average for the Venados in their 2015-16 CS title season before going .280/10/32 last winter.

BBM PLAYOFF MVP AWARD WINNERS
Winter 2010-11  Iker Franco, Obregon
Summer 2011    Pablo Ortega, Quintana Roo
Winter 2015-16  Danny Rodriguez, Mexicali
Summer 2016    Mauricio Lara, Puebla
Winter 2016-17  Danny Rodriguez, Mexicali
Summer 2017   Cyle Hankerd, Tijuana

Toros eliminate Aguascalientes; division championships next

Tijuana outfielder Dustin Martin

Dustin Martin singled in Chris Valencia with the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning and closer Jason Urquidez held Aguascalientes scoreless in the ninth, striking out the final two Rieleros batsmen, as the Tijuana Toros scored a 4-3 comeback win over the Railroaders Sunday night in front of 17,608 fans in the border city.

The victory gives the Toros a 4-games-to-2 first round playoff series win over Aguascalientes and a ticket to the Mexican League North Division championship series against Monterrey.  Yucatan and defending champs Puebla will square off in the LMB South championship set.  Both series will open Thursday night.

TIJUANA 4-10-1, Aguascalientes 3-8-1
W-Sandoval (1-0).  L-Merritt (0-1).  Sv-Urquidez (3).  A-17,608.  T-3:02.

Aguascalientes took an early 2-0 lead by scoring single runs in the first and second innings against Toros starter Miguel Pena.  Richy Pedroza lined a one-out single to right field in the opening frame and came all the in from first one out later when longtime vet (and former Rieleros player-manager) Saul Soto rapped a double to left to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.  In the second, Eliezer Ortiz drew a two-out walk off Pena but, with Dave Sappelt batting, appeared to be picked off for the third out.  However, a throwing error by TJ first baseman Jorge Cantu during the ensuing pickle allowed Ortiz to take second.  Sappelt then punched a single through the left side of the infield to bring Ortiz home.

The Toros tied the game at 2-2 by posting single runs of their own in the third and fourth innings.  With Dustin Martin occupying first base, Isaac Rodriguez tapped a double-play grounder to Rieleros starter Yohan Flande, who threw to Pedroza covering second for the first out but Pedroza's relay to Jesse Castillo was off the mark and allowed Rodriguez to scamper to second.  Jose Guadalupe Chavez, who had a great series at the plate, then drove Rodriguez with a single up the middle.  Chavez went 14-of-24 (.583) at the plate over the six-game set, scoring six runs and driving in seven more.  Tijuana's second run came a bit more directly when Corey Brown lofted a solo homer to right off Flande to even the score.

Aguascalientes regained the lead in the sixth on a Carlos Rodriguez solo homer after Pena had opened the inning by whiffing Jose Vargas and Cristhian Presichi, but the contest was knotted back up at 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh when Alex Liddi lined a leadoff homer to left off Rieleros reliever Roy Merritt, a Southern University alum who'd pitched 6.1 solid innings against the Toros in a start four nights earlier.  Liddi displayed a couple of shimmy-shake moves while circling the bases that won't bring him an invite to "Dancing With the Stars" but delighted the Tijuana fans regardless.  Merritt was pulled just before Liddi's next plate appearance in the eighth, but the Texan hurler may file Liddi's trip around the bags in his memory banks for next season.

The game-winning run came in the bottom of the eighth when Cyle Hankerd led off the inning by drilling a double to center.  Valencia was brought in as a pinch-runner to replace Hankerd while Alfredo Amezaga was sent up to the plate as a pinch-hitter for former Florida Marlins teammate Cantu and laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Valencia to third.  Merritt then intentionally walked Juan Apodaca to pitch to Martin, a dangerous hitter but only going 2-for-21 in the series when he strode to the plate.  The strategy failed, as Martin lined a single to left, scoring Valencia from third to put the Toros up by a 4-3 count.  Urquidez then came on in the ninth and after allowing a single by pinch-hitter Edson Garcia, got both Sappelt and Pedroza looking to end the game and series, collecting his third save in Tijuana's four wins in the process.

Chavez finished with a 3-for-4 night at the plate while Hankerd had two hits for the winners.  Aguascalientes, who'd overachieved all season with a dollar-store roster cobbled together by manager Homar Rojas, got two hits apiece from Pedroza and Julian Castro but the Rieleros were unable to overcome the Brown and Liddi homers as well as their own defensive miscues along the way.  Pena went 5.2 innings on the mound for Tijuana, allowing three runs on seven hits, but the win went to reliever Juan Sandoval, who tossed a scoreless eighth before Martin's heroics made him the pitcher of record.  Merritt took the defeat for Aguascalientes after giving up two runs in 2.1 frames out of the bullpen.  Urquidez earned a save in all three of his appearances for the Toros, allowing only Garcia's single and one walk while striking out eight Rieleros in 3.1 innings of work.

Manager Pedro Mere's Toros will now face the Monterrey Sultanes in a rematch of last season's LMB North championship series.  That set, won by Tijuana, lit a match under Monterrey owner Jose "Pepe" Maiz over the Toros' use of Mexican-American players that became a full-blown schism in the offseason.  With Maiz now in the background after selling half the team to the Grupo Multimedios in February, the level of volatility should be ratcheted down a notch but in the Mexican League, one never knows for sure.  We'll all find out starting Thursday.

Rieleros halt TJ win streak at 16; Vargas, Soto split 4 HRs

Aguascalientes DH/1B Saul Soto

Jose Vargas and Saul Soto each swatted a pair of homers Friday night to power the Aguascalientes Rieleros to a 10-3 victory over Tijuana, stopping the Toros' Mexican League season-best winning streak at 16 games.  The borderites had swept five consecutive series (four against LMB South foes plus a huge midweek set against Monterrey) before the Railroaders ended the skein in front of 5,127 fans at Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez in Aguascalientes.

The Rieleros were trailing 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.  Soto and Vargas led off the bottom of the second with back-to-back homers off Tijuana's Manny Barreda, making his first start since a July 16 no-hitter against Tabasco. The Toros got one run back in the third when Chris Valencia singled Roberto Lopez in from third, then took the lead in the top of the fourth on RBI singles by Alex Liddi and Gabriel Gutierrez.  Aguascalientes then regained the advantage for good with four runs in the bottom of the frame as Vargas passed TJ's Corey Brown for the LMB lead with his 23rd homer on another solo blast and the hosts got consecutive run-scoring safeties from Gennaro Andrade, Dave Sappelt and Richy Pedroza to go up 6-3 and the rout was on.

Ironically, Soto (who'd go on to belt his second homer of the night in the sixth, a two-run shot) led off the fourth by grounding out and closed it by popping out to Jorge Cantu at first.  By swatting his 10th and 11th homers, the nine-time All-Star reached double figures in roundtrippers for the seventh consecutive season and the 14th time in 16 seasons.  Soto hit the 250th homer of his 20-year Liga career July 15 in Leon and surpassed 1,000 RBIs earlier this season.  A career .304 batsman, the Los Mochis native (who turns 39 on August 11) is hitting .330 this year.

Vargas and longtime veteran outfielder Cristhian Presichi, who was celebrating his 37th birthday, each had four hits for Aguascalientes while Sappelt contributed three.  A career .313 hitter, Presichi is in his 18th LMB season.  Barreda absorbed his seventh loss in eleven decisions after giving up six runs on nine hits in 3.2 innings.  Roy Merritt gave the Rieleros a decent start in allowing two earned runs in 4.1 entradas, but it was Roby Romero (5-2) who got the win after going 1.1 frames in relief.

The Toros rebounded from Friday's loss with a 6-3 win Saturday behind Horacio Ramirez' seven innings of two-run pitching before the Rieleros closed the series Sunday by holding off Tijuana 6-5 (although Brown tied Vargas by whacking HIS 23rd homer) to win two of three against manager Pedro Mere's 71-30 team.  Mere has been mentioned as a potential candidate to become the Jalisco Charros' helmsman during the upcoming Mexican Pacific League winterball season, set to start in October.  Edgar Gonzalez has stepped down as skipper in Guadalajara to take a front office position with the team.

LMB hitters are still playing catchup to former Durango outfielder Yadir Drake's set-in-stone .385 batting average but the clock is ticking with nine games left in the regular season.  Monterrey's Daniel Mayora remains closest at .375 but the Durango exile hasn't played since going 1-for-6 against Veracruz on July 20. Mayora isn't on the Sultanes' reserve list and no cause for his absence has been discovered online. Aguascalientes' Vargas tops the home run list with 23 over 73 games, one ahead of Tijuana's Corey Brown's 22 longballs.  Yucatan's Ricky Alvarez reached the century mark in RBIs with an eighth-inning single in Leon last Thursday. He now has 102.  Rainel Rosario of Saltillo drove in runs in seven consecutive games (including a four-ribbie night Saturday in Monclova) to move into second behind Alvarez with 90 RBIs. Monclova centerfielder Justin Greene stole a base in Mexico City last Tuesday to bring his season total to 46 thefts, well in front of the 27 each of the Diablos' Carlos Figueroa and Christian Zazueta of Saltillo.  He also leads the loop with 21 times caught stealing.  Greene was given permission to go home to South Carolina to attend to family issues, but is expected back in time for the playoffs.

Octavio Acosta won his LMB-leading 13th game in 14 decisions for Mexico City in Durango Friday despite letting in five runs in 6.2 innings.  The Guasave righty has allowed eight runs over 12 innings in his last two starts, putting his ERA at 3.01 for the season.  Conversely, Veracruz' Nestor Molina allowed no earned runs in seven innings against Tabasco last Thursday, yet lost the 1-0 contest on an unearned first-inning run. Despite seeing his record drop to 11-2, Molina's ERA also fell to 1.54 for the year.  Molina recorded nine strikeouts to make it 113 whiffs in 140.2 innings for 2017, trailing only the 128 of Monclova's Josh Lowey.  Last season's strikeout king punched out nine Saltillo batters in seven innings of shutout pitching Saturday.  Monclova closer Chad Gaudin leads with 27 saves.  Gaudin had a rare bad outing Saturday trying to preserve the win for Lowey, instead giving up three ninth-inning runs to blow the save AND absorb the loss in a 6-5 defeat after the Acereros led 5-0 heading into the eighth inning.

Even after losing two of three in Aguascalientes, Tijuana still has a comfortable six-and-a-half-game lead over Monterrey in the LMB North standings and sit eight games ahead of Monclova while the Rieleros are solidly in fourth place, eleven games out of first.  Yucatan won two of three in Puebla over the weekend to open their LMB South lead over the defending champion Pericos to nine-and-a-half games.  Well behind the two leaders are the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila, who sit a half-game ahead of Quintana Roo in third place while Leon is two games back of the Tigres in fifth.

The LMB's most important upcoming midweek series takes place when Monterrey hosts Aguascalientes for three games.  The Rieleros will move on to Monclova Friday for a set with the Steelers, but the bigger trio of games may be in Mexico City when the Diablos Rojos welcome Union Laguna to Estadio Fray Nano. The Diablos and Vaqueros are in a down-to-the-wire battle for fifth place in the North, earning a one-game playoff at the division's fourth-place finisher (currently the Rieleros) for an LMB semifinal berth.  Tijuana and Yucatan clinched postseason slots over the weekend.

MEXICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS as of July 31, 2017
LMB North: Tijuana 71-30, Monterrey 64-36, Monclova 62-37, Aguascalientes 60-41, Union Laguna 53-47, Mexico City 52-48, Durango 41-59, Saltillo 40-59.
LMB South: Yucatan 60-36, Puebla 53-48, Veracruz 43-54, Quintana Roo 42-54, Leon 40-56, Campeche 38-59, Oaxaca 36-63, Tabasco 35-63.

Molina having standout year in Veracruz, ERA now at 1.41

Veracruz pitcher Nestor Molina

Let's start this story with a proven fact: No matter where he's pitched, Nestor Molina has been a winner.  Throw out a 6-12 season in 2012 while pitching for the White Sox organization, and the Venezuelan right-hander has posted a winning record every year since his pro baseball debut in 2007, with a career MiLB record of 60-28 in his eleventh summer.  Along the way, Molina was a postseason All-Star in the Class A Florida State League after going 10-3 with a 2.58 ERA for the Blue Jays' Dunedin affiliate in 2011 (his first year as a starter) prior to being sent to the Pale Hose that winter in a swap of minor leaguers.  He hasn't backed into that career .682 winning percentage either, registering a 3.13 ERA over 230 appearances, 92 of them starts.

Even with an impressive background like that, the 28-year-old Molina has dialed it up at least one notch this year pitching for the Veracruz Rojos del Aguila.  Molina raised his 2017 Mexican League record to 10-1 after shutting out Tabasco over six innings last Saturday en route to a 3-2 Red Eagles victory in Villahermosa, limiting the Olmecas to four singles while striking out four batsmen.  It marked Molina's tenth straight win after losing an April 8 home game to Leon despite a decent start in which he gave up two Bravos runs in six innings.  Consistency has been a hallmark, with only one of 18 starts not being a "quality" outing when Molina let in four Durango runs on eleven hits in six frames during a May 11 no-decision.  Every time out, he gives the Rojos del Aguila a chance to win.

Last weekend's win over Tabasco lowered Molina's earned-run average to 1.41 on the season, more than a full run better than Tijuana's Carlos Hernandez at 2.44.  His ERA stood at 2.54 after that rocky start against Durango, but he has lowered it in each of his next nine starts over the past two months.  In that stretch, Molina's ERA has been a microscopic 0.42 with with 47 strikeouts and 17 walks over 66 innings.  Molina is second in the Mexican League in strikeouts with 90 whiffs in 121.1 innings, trailing only Monclova's Josh Lowey's 108 punchouts.

Although the Veracruz roster has past and present All-Stars like first baseman Balbino Fuenmayor and outfielder Luis Suarez, Molina is clearly the main reason the Red Eagles have passed the Quintana Roo Tigres into third place in the punchless LMB South with a 37-43 record.  Although being six games under .500 is nothing to write home about, Veracruz might be battling to keep out of the division cellar if manager Eddy Castro couldn't send Molina to the mound every five games.  Instead, they're positioning themselves for the playoffs after finishing sixth in the LMB South in 2016.

Veracruz is one of the Liga's oldest baseball cities.  The Rojos del Aguila predate the Mexican League by more than two decades, making their debut in 1903.  The team is the oldest in the circuit, with six LMB pennants since 1937 while such baseball greats as Hall of Famer Martin Dihigo (who led the Red Eagles to titles in 1937 and 1938), Santos Amaro, Roberto Ortiz, Al Pinkston, Pilo Gaspar, Ramon Arano and Miguel Fernandez have worn Veracruz jerseys.  Jorge Pasquel, who briefly challenged the hegemony of Major League Baseball in the 1940's, was a Veracruzano.  While it's unlikely anyone in the LMB South will challenge Yucatan in the postseason this year (although defending champion Puebla has shown some signs of life lately), Nestor Molina will likely carry the Rojos del Aguilas on his back to their first playoff berth since 2013.

Things have heated up considerably in the North, where Tijuana loosened Monterrey's season-long grip on first place by sweeping the Sultanes at Estadio Monterrey in a midweek series last week before going into Monclova for a weekend series with the red-hot Acereros.  Monclova won the first two games of the series to stretch their winning streak to ten games before the Toros took Sunday's closer, 1-0, as Monclova starter Miguel Pena combined with three relievers for a six-hit shutout.  Corey Brown's fifth-inning double off hardluck Acereros starter Mauricio Lara drove in Isaac Rodriguez with the game's lone run as Pena's record rose to 8-2 while his ERA fell to 3.12.  For their part, Monterrey dropped the first two games of their home series with Mexico City before bouncing back Sunday to blank the Diablos Rojos, 8-0.  Angel Castro tossed seven innings of three-hit ball to go to 10-3 on the season and Ramon Rios cracked a fifth-inning grand slam off Diablos Rojos starter Efren Delgado in the Sultanes win.

The result of all this activity is that Tijuana maintains a tenuous half-game lead over Monterrey while Monclova has moved to three-and-a-half games back in third.  The Aguascalientes Rieleros hold fourth place after winning their first eight games in July before dropping a 5-4 decision to Laguna at home Sunday.  Puro Beisbol editor/columnist Fernando Ballesteros calls the Railroaders "dangerous" because they have more pitching depth than most LMB teams along with solid everyday players like MVP candidate Jesse Castillo, ageless All-Star Saul Soto, outfielder Dave Sappelt and newcomer third baseman Michael Wing, who's hit .441 with five homers in his first 20 games in Rieleros togs.  Suffice to say, nobody wants to face this team in the playoffs.

With former Durango outfielder Yadir Drake and his .385 batting average gone to Japan, the Cuban (who'll barely qualify for the batting title) set the bar for the rest of the Liga's hitters to catch up to.  At this point, Drake's lead in the batting race appears safe.  His former Generales teammate, Daniel Mayora, has moved into a tie with Monterrey's Chris Roberson for second place on the table with .367 averages.  Mayora missed a couple weeks with an injury shortly after his 35-game hitting streak ended, but he's gone 6-for-14 (.429) over three games since his July 6 return.  Tijuana's Brown homered Thursday and Saturday to become the first LMB batsman to reach 20 homers for the season, two ahead of Monclova's Matt Clark and Raniel Rosario of Saltillo.  Brown has also gone 12-of-14 on stolen base attempts and while his .292 average will hamper his MVP aspirations, the former Oklahoma State star has been a linchpin in the Toros lineup this summer.  Yucatan first baseman Ricky Alvarez' 86 RBIs are 12 ahead of Monclova second sacker Manny Rodriguez' 72, while Acereros outfielder Justin Greene is running away with the stolen base title (couldn't resist) with 38 swipes, well ahead of Mexico City speedster Carlos Figueroa's 23.

As mentioned, Veracruz' Molina (10-1/1.41/90K) is on his way to a career year and should be considered the frontrunner for Pitcher of the Year honors by keeping an at-best mediocre Red Eagles team in the playoff hunt.  However, there have been a number of top pitching efforts in the 2017 LMB season.  Former Mets farmhand Octavio Acosta of Mexico City won at Monterrey, 8-1, Saturday for his Liga-leading eleventh win.  The 11-1 Acosta has an ERA of 2.71 with 82 strikeouts in 99.1 innings pitched.  Besides Molina, Monterrey's Castro, Yohan Flande of Aguascalientes and Yucatan ace Yoanner Negrin (2016's Pitcher of the Year) have all reached the 10-win threshold.  Monclova's Lowey is well out in front of Molina in the strikeout derby by a 108-90 margin and Monterrey closer Wirfin Obispo has overtaken Durango's injured Tiago da Silva in the saves department.  Obispo has preserved 22 Sultanes wins while da Silva had 20 saves for the Generales before going on the shelf following a two-inning stint at Tijuana on June 11.

Coming up in the Mexican League, it'll be a crossover week as all eight LMB North teams do battle with counterparts in the South.  The most intriguing midweek series appears to be scheduled for Puebla, where the Pericos will host Aguascalientes in a matchup of teams positioning themselves for postseason runs.  The best series next weekend is slated for Torreon, where Union Laguna welcomes Yucatan as both teams owned by the Arellano brothers clash.  It'll be the first game back at Estadio Revolucion for Yucatan's Ricky Alvarez, who was traded to the Leones late last month, touching off a firestorm of criticism among Laguna fans and lower attendance at subsequent Vaqueros home games.  The numbers may rise next weekend but a festive mood is unlikely.

Rieleros take 2 of 3 from Sultanes in weekend home series

Baseball in Aguascalientes has never been an easy sell.  The central Mexico city of about a million metropolitan area residents first fielded a Mexican League franchise in 1975 and local fans were rewarded with a pennant three years later when the Rieleros defeated Union Laguna in five games to win the LMB championship, but the game itself has always held a somewhat peripheral existence there.  The original Rieleros lasted 25 seasons before moving to Puebla after the 1999 campaign to become the current incarnation of the Pericos.  The Cordoba Cafeteros moved to Aguascalientes in 2004 and the Rieleros II put in four seasons before the team was moved to Nuevo Laredo and became the reconstituted Tecolotes following the 2007 season.

The third iteration of the Rieleros appeared in 2012 as an expansion team and are in the midst of their sixth LMB season.  That 2012 team surprised everyone by finishing second in the North Division with a 59-49 record and advancing to the title series before losing to Veracruz in seven games.  Since then, however, Aguascalientes has failed to qualify for the playoffs the past four season while annually finishing in the bottom half of the attendance tables with crowds usually in the 3,000 range.  Then you have curious decisions such as the one in which reigning Liga RBI champion Diory Hernandez was released by the team last month despite a .300 batting average after 23 games before getting hurt in late April.  Hernandez was signed Saturday by Union Laguna and had five hits (including a homer) over the weekend for the Vaqueros.  Oops!

Even so, this year's edition of the Rieleros has been more competitive than in recent seasons and if their recent home series against Monterrey (holders of the best record in the league) is any indication, Aguascalientes may host its first playoff game in five years when the postseason opens in ten weeks.  The Rieleros won their first two games against the Sultanes to briefly pass Mexico City for fifth place in the LMB North before dropping Sunday's finale, but their 30-27 record is good enough for a fifth-place tie with the Diablos, two games behind Laguna for the fourth and final playoff berth.

The set opened Friday with a 7-3 Rieleros win as Monterrey starter Javier Solano was chased after allowing six runs on eight hits over five innings.  Ags catcher Carlos Rodriguez, who's hitting .316, launched a three-run homer off Solano in the third to open a 5-1 lead and the Railroaders never looked back.  Saturday's game resulted in another 7-3 win for the Rieleros, this time off LMB wins leader Angel Castro, who was pulled with one out in the sixth after allowing six runs on seven hits and four walks after allowing a three-run bomb by third baseman Jose Vargas that broke a 3-3 tie.  Aguascalientes came back to Earth Sunday in a 10-5 loss to the Sultanes as Luis Juarez' two-run homer keyed a four-run Monterrey seventh, but the point was made that the Rieleros can't be overlooked this year.  Attendance was up at 9,000-seat Estadio Alberto Romo Chavez, too, with more than 13,000 attending the series and more than 4,000 on hand for each game.  Although the Sultanes are one of the Liga's better road draws, overall turnstile numbers are up in Aguascalientes this year.

The Rieleros have an interesting roster with veterans like Rodriguez, 1B Jesse Castillo (who's having an MVP-type season), ageless DH Carlos Soto and recent acquisition OF Dave Sappelt, batting .355 since signing as a free agent a month ago.  Pitching is not a team strength, with Merritt the top pitcher in a mediocre rotation, but the addition of Jose Valverde (who has 288 career saves in MLB) has definitely bolstered the bullpen.  Valverde (pictured) has a pair of wins and eight saves to go with a 2.43 ERA.  No other reliever in the Liga boasts his credentials.  It's a little premature to start printing playoff tickets, but to write off Aguascalientes as an also-ran for a fifth straight year would come at one's own peril.  This is not a bad team.

Even with the series loss, Monterrey still leads the MB North at 38-17, four and a half games ahead of 34-22 Tijuana in second.  The Toros are starting to feel a little heat from 33-23 Monclova and 32-25 Union Laguna, while Aguascalientes and Mexico City are on the playoff position periphery.  Among the North's eight teams, only Durango and Saltillo are below .500 and the Generales are playing well enough to make some teams ahead of them nervous.

Conversely, the LMB South is a trainwreck once you get past division leaders Yucatan.  The Leones are cruising along at 34-20, which would put them second in the North, but nobody else is even break-even.  Quintana Roo is second at 26-27, a half-game ahead of 27-29 Puebla and two games up on surprising Veracruz, who hold fourth at 25-30.  At present, five LMB South teams are in contention for three remaining playoff berths behind Yucatan, with only Tabasco and Leon out of the picture for now.  The Olmecas and Bravos have had their respective shares of off-field miseries as well, with the Bravos facing a possible in-season expulsion over their apparent failure to pay league fees this year after the franchise moved there from Reynosa (which was a basket-case franchise last year as well).  More on that later this week.

Durango's Yadir Drake (.397) has seen his batting average drop below .400, but is still leading LMB hitters, eight points ahead of Chris Roberson of Monterrey.  Drake is part of a three-way logjam for the home run lead with Tijuana teammates Alex Liddi and Corey Brown, all showing 14 roundtrippers.  Drake has hit five homers since May 26.  Ricky Alvarez productive year for Laguna continues, with the first sacker topping the circuit in RBIs (62) to augment his .339 average and 11 homers.  Saltillo outfielder Justin Greene stole three bases over the weekend to reach 30 swipes for the campaign, twelve steals ahead of Mexico City's Carlos Figueroa.  Figueroa, a Diablos outfielder, carries 220 pounds on his 5'8" frame, conjuring an image that doesn't invoke a typical speedster, but he's only been caught three times in 21 attempts.

Among pitchers, Oaxaca's Irwin Delgado held Yucatan to one run over seven innings Sunday to earn his eighth win of the year.  The 8-2 Delgado has won his last four starts to tie Monterrey's Angel Castro for most triumphs in 2017.  Delgado's 2.29 ERA is second only to Veracruz' Nestor Molina's 2.09 figure in that category while his 74 strikeouts are seven up on Monclova's Josh Lowey in the K Derby.  After a workmanlike but unheralded eight years of pitching in the LMB, Delgado (a 5'9" lefty) is in the driver's seat for Pitcher of the Year honors.

The top two upcoming midweek series are both in the North, with Monclova visiting Aguascalientes for three games while Laguna hosts Tijuana in Torreon.  Next weekend will feature defending champion Puebla traveling to Cancun for a set with the Tigres with second place in the South on the line.  Another series that might not have raised an eyebrow weeks ago will be in Tijuana starting Friday when the Toros welcome Durango.  TJ was a preseason favorite among some while Durango was a candidate to not even reach the starting gate, but the Generales have won 7 of their past 10 games and are 19-20 away from home.  In short, Toros skipper Pedro Mere has a couple of tough series ahead this week.

MEXICAN LEAGUE STANDINGS (as of 5 June 2017)

LMB NORTH: Monterrey 38-17, Tijuana 34-22, Monclova 33-23, Laguna 32-25, Aguascalientes 30-27, Mexico City 30-27, Durango 25-32, Saltillo 24-31.

LMB SOUTH: Yucatan 34-20, Quintana Roo 26-27, Puebla 27-29, Veracruz 25-30, Oaxaca 24-31, Campeche 24-32, Tabasco 20-35, Leon 19-37.

NOTE: For unknown reasons, I'm not being allowed to post anything in the comments section below articles on BBM. I'm not ignoring anyone but I can't reply either. If you've got a question or comment you'd like a response to, just contact me directly at BaseballMexico @ live.com. I really do answer. -Bruce