 |
| IF Esteban Quiroz drafted first by Jalisco |
Despite
not owning the best overall record, Hermosillo is the top seed in the
Mexican Pacific League playoffs by virtue of their 19.0 playoff
points collected over both halves of the schedule. The Naranjeros
held off surging Mexicali by a half-game to win the second-half
points race, earning 10.0 points with an 18-12 record after copping
second place in the first half at 15-12. Obregon posted the LMP's
best season mark with a 37-22 ledger, but most of that was built on
their 21-8 first half before slipping to 16-14 over the second half.
Hermosillo
earned home-field advantage throughout the postseason by virtue of
their seeding, drawing Mazatlan as their first round opponent. The
Venados finished eighth in the points race at 10.0 and are the only
playoff team with a losing record (28-30) over the regular season.
Other pairings in the quarterfinals include #2 Obregon vs. #7
Jalisco, #3 Guasave vs. #6 Culiacan and #4 Monterrey vs. #5 Mexicali.
The Algodoneros and Sultanes both finished with 14.0 points but
Guasave got the nod for the fourth seed due to their superior
won-lost percentage. Drawing the defending champion Tomateros may not
seem like much reward for Cottoneers manager Oscar Robles, however.
MEXICAN
PACIFIC LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON POINTS STANDINGS
Hermosillo
33-23 (19.0), Obregon 37-22 (17.0), Guasave 31-26 (14.0), Monterrey
29-27 (14.0), Mexicali 30-28 (13.5), Culiacan 29-29 (11.5), Jalisco
30-29 (11.0), Mazatlan 28-30 (10.0), Navojoa 23-36 (8.0), Los Mochis
19-39 (7.0)
The
Mex Pac's first reinforcement draft was held shortly after the
conclusion of the regular season last Wednesday. The eight playoff
teams were each allowed to choose two players from either Navojoa or
Los Mochis, the two non-playoff teams. A similar draft will be held
at each subsequent postseason stage, with surviving teams selecting
two players from among eliminated club rosters.
Los
Mochis infielder Esteban Quiroz was taken with the first pick with
fellow Caneros infielder Isaac Rodriguez chosen second by Mexicali.
In an unusual move, Culiacan chose to pick pitchers J.C. Ramirez and
Derrick Loop off their own reserve list, moving down to the last
selection in both rounds and forfeiting the chance to take any
players from either Navojoa or Los Mochis. According to LMP rules,
first-round reinforcements are added to drafting team rosters, while
second picks will be activated only in case the first selection can't
be activated.
FIRST
POSTSEASON REINFORCEMENT DRAFT
First
Round:
1-Jalisco, IF Esteban Quiroz (Los Mochis); 2-Mexicali, IF Isaac
Rodriguez (Los Mochis); 3-Monterrey, RP Carlos Bustamante (Navojoa);
4-Hermosillo, 3B Rodolfo Amador (Los Mochis); 5-Obregon, SP Carlos
Viera (Los Mochis); 6-Guasave, IF Josuan Hernandez (Navojoa);
7-Mazatlan, IF Jorge Flores (Navojoa); 8-Culiacan, SP J.C. Ramirez
(Reserve List).
Second
Round:
1-Jalisco, OF Juan Perez (Navojoa); 2-Mexicali, RP Fabian Cota (Los
Mochis); 3-Monterrey, C Omar Renteria (Navojoa); 4-Hermosillo, RP
Esteban Haro (Navojoa); 5-Obregon, RP Daysbel Hernandez (Los
Mochis); 6-Guasave, SP John Anderson (Navojoa); 7-Mazatlan, RP
Daniel Duarte (Los Mochis); 8-Culiacan, RP Derrick Loop (Reserve
List).
 |
| Hermosillo Naranjeros OF Yadiel Hernandez |
The
Mexican Pacific League postseason opened over the weekend with first round games on both Saturday and
Sunday. The playoffs will consist of three stages (quarterfinals, semifinals and championship series), all in best-of-7 formats.
Here are the scores and highlights of all the action (home
teams in boldface):
MONTERREY
leads MEXICALI, 2 games to 0
G1:
Monterrey 3, Mexicali 2 (Alejo Lopez SF in B6 scores Ricardo
Serrano to break 2-2 tie)
G2:
Monterrey 4, Mexicali 3 (Sultanes score 3 in B7 to erase 3-1
deficit; bat 3 for-5 with RISP)
JALISCO and OBREGON tied with 1 win each
G1:
Jalisco 11, Obregon 5 (Christian Villanueva's 2-run 3B keys
8-run T1 for Charros)
G2: Obregon 6, Jalisco 2 (Yaquis RF Leandro Castro 2 RBI singles, scores twice)
CULIACAN
and GUASAVE tied with 1 win each
G1:
Culiacan 11, Guasave 6 (Jose G. Chavez, Joey Meneses hit 3-run
HRs for Tomateros)
G2:
Guasave 5, Culiacan 1 (Guasave's Jesse Castillo HR, RBI 1B; Adam
Quintana 7IP/1R/6H)
HERMOSILLO
leads MAZATLAN, 2 games to 0
G1:
Hermosillo 2, Mazatlan 1 (Yadiel Hernandez' walkoff 1B in B12
scores Alex Robles)
G2:
Hermosillo 3, Mazatlan 1 (Hernandez 3-3 w/RBI 2B, Ryan Verdugo
7IP/1R/3H for W)
PAREDES
GIVEN MEX PAC BAT TITLE; VERA AWARDED ERA CROWN
 |
| IF Isaac Paredes batted .379 for Mazatlan |
It's
been quite a year for infielder Isaac Paredes. The 21-year-old native
of Hermosillo began 2020 on the heels of his third season with the
Obregon Yaquis, for whom he hit .295 over 44 games while playing
mostly third base for the Mexican Pacific League team. Then the
highly-touted prospect reported to the Detroit Tigers training camp
in Florida to vie for a spot with the American League team. After the
season was delayed due to pandemic fears, Paredes made his MLB debut
with the Tigers and went on to bat .220 in 34 contests, belting a
grand slam in only his fourth big league outing. While he was playing
the hot corner for Detroit Obregon dealt him to Mazatlan for veteran
catcher Sebastian Valle to bring about one more change in a year full
of them.
Regarding
that latest change, Paredes has adjusted beautifully to playing for
the Venados by winning the LMP batting title for the 2021-21 season
with a .379 average. Although he missed 16 of his team's 58 games,
the LMP office ruled that Paredes' 177 plate appearances were enough
to qualify for the bat crown. While giving someone with 3.05 plate
appearances for each of his team's games (a more oft-used standard is
3.5) may seem dubious, Paredes' accomplishment itself is not. Of his
55 hits, 17 were for doubles and four went to the streets as he
scored 28 runs and drive in 26 in 42 games, with a league-leading
on-base percentage of .480.
In
similar fashion, Mexicali pitcher Eduardo Vera was awarded the LMP
title with a 2.05 ERA despite hurling 48.1 innings, less than the
one-inning-per-team-games-played formula used by most professional
leagues for decades. Vera went 3-0 in eight starts with 29 strikeouts
and ten walks. There is no mention of what qualifies a player for a
batting or ERA title on the Mex Pac website, which congratulates both
Paredes and Vera for their titles, although their own stats page
shows Hermosillo's Yadiel Hernandez with the top batting average at
.339 while another Mexicali pitcher, veteran Javier Solano, tops four
qualifying hurlers with a 2.60 ERA.
With
that in mind, here are the LMP's official individual leaders
for 2020-21:
Batting
Leaders
GAMES
PLAYED – 59, Dariel Alvarez, Jalisco
PLATE
APPEARANCES – 262, Dariel Alvarez, Jalisco
HITS –
72, Carlos Figueroa, Jalisco
DOUBLES
– 17, Isaac Paredes, Mazatlan
TRIPLES
– 4, Miguel Guzman, Guasave and Carlos Sepulveda, Obregon
HOME
RUNS – 15, Japhet Amador, Jalisco
RUNS
SCORED – 43, Carlos Figueroa, Jalisco
RUNS
BATTED IN – 52, Japhet Amador, Jalisco
STOLEN
BASES – 28, Alonzo Harris, Obregon
BASES ON
BALLS – 51, Esteban Quiroz, Los Mochis
STRIKEOUTS
– 50, Leo German, Guasave
BATTING
AVERAGE - .371, Isaac Paredes, Mazatlan
ON-BASE
PERCENTAGE - .480, Isaac Paredes, Mazatlan
SLUGGING
PERCENTAGE - .589, Japhet Amador, Jalisco
 |
| Eduardo Vera posted a 2.05 ERA for Mexicali |
Pitching
Leaders
GAMES
PITCHED – 33, Roberto Espinosa, Mazatlan
INNINGS
PITCHED – 86.0, Javier Solano, Mexicali
COMPLETE
GAMES – 1, David Reyes, Mexicali and Javier Solano, Mexicali
SHUTOUTS
– 1, David Reyes, Mexicali and Javier Solano, Mexicali
WINS –
8, Fernando Miranda, Mexicali and Juan Pablo Oramas, Hermosillo
SAVES –
17, Fernando Salas, Hermosillo
STRIKEOUTS
– 64, Manny Barreda, Hermosillo
BASES ON
BALLS – 30, Santiago Gutierrez, Los Mochis
EARNED
RUN AVERAGE – 2.05, Eduardo Vera, Mexicali
WALKS/HITS
PER IP – 0.994, Miguel Pena, Mexicali
STRIKEOUTS
PER 9 IP – 8.9, Thomas Dorminy, Guasave
STRIKEOUTS:
WALKS RATIO – 3.20, Manny Barreda, Hermosillo
AROZARENA
ELIGIBLE TO PLAY FOR MEXICO IN OLYMPICS
 |
| Randy Arozarena spent two winters in Navojoa |
The
Septima Entrada website reports that Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Randy
Arozarena, a revelation to fans in last fall's Major League Baseball
playoffs, has expressed his desire to represent Mexico in an
international tournament. The opportunity could present itself at the
Olympic Games in Tokyo, rescheduled from 2020 to this summer due to
the pandemic.
According
to the Around the Rings site, a source from the World Baseball and
Softball Confederation confirmed that if Arozarena has a Mexican
passport and more than three years since having last represented
Cuba, he'll be eligible to play for Mexico.
The
last time Arozarena played for Cuba was at the U-18 Baseball World
Cup in August 2013. After the 2018 birth in Mexico of his daughter
LÃa, he began procedures to obtain Mexican nationality, which would
give him the right to acquire a passport and represent Mexico in the
next Olympics.
Mexico
achieved qualification for the Tokyo Games during the 2019 World
Premier12, beating the United States twice. Hosts Japan, South Korea
and Israel are the other three countries who won their Premier 12
qualifiers with the final two nations yet to be defined.
Mexico
has several MLB players who could make up the team for the Olympics.
However, they must receive authorization from their teams to be able
to travel to Tokyo, since the summer event takes place during the
Major League season.
Arozarena
is a 25-year-old native of Pinar del Rio, Cuba who spent all or part
of two seasons with the Vegueros in the Cuban National Series before
defecting to Mexico in 2015. He played five games in 2016 for Tijuana
in the Mexican League before batting .266 for Navojoa of the Mexican
Pacific League in 2016-17, signing a minor league contract with St.
Louis in the process. Arozarena came back to Navojoa the following
winter and led the LMP with 14 homers and later hit .300 in 19 games
for the Cardinals in his 2019 Major League debut.
 |
| Arozarena was a Rays postseason hero |
He was
traded to Tampa Bay in early 2020 and played sparingly in the regular
season for the Rays last year, batting .281 with seven homers in just
23 games. The 5'11” right-handed batter had a standout postseason
with a .377 average and ten homers over 20 games and four playoff
stages, including the World Series, to earn American League
Championship Series honors as well as the Babe Ruth Award by New York
writers for the best postseason performance.
Arozarena
lives in Yucatan during the offseason, although his residency has not
been problem-free. Last November, he was arrested and jailed for
allegedly attempting to kidnap his 2-year-old daughter and assaulting
the toddler's maternal grandfather. He was released after two days
when the girl's mother told authorities the matter had been settled,
but both the MLB office and the Rays are looking further into the
dispute. Arozarena had reportedly married another woman from Colombia
the same month.
A movie
deal based on Arozarena's life was signed during the Rays' World
Series loss to the Dodgers, with WonderWorks co-founder Brett Saxon
depicting Arozarena's rise as an “amazing” story of “human
spirit and how it triumphs.”
