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).

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.