Liga Mexicana de Beisbol: News, Notes, and Where to Watch
Leif Skodnick | May 14th, 2024 9:43am EDT
Trevor Bauer of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico pitches against the Guerreros de Oaxaca on May 4, 2024. (Photo Courtesy of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
Trevor Bauer Still On Roster – The Diablos Rojos del Mexico (23-5) lead the LMB’s Zona Sur by six games over Puebla, and Trevor Bauer, who leads the LMB in ERA with a 1.50 mark, is a big reason why.
Bauer, who signed a five-game deal with the Diablos in mid-March, remains on the team’s active roster and will stay with the club through the end of May – at minimum.
“We are very happy to know that he is staying for another month,” said Jorge del Valle, the Sports Vice President of the Devils, in an email sent to media. Del Valle’s remarks were translated from Spanish. “As I mentioned on numerous occasions, the fans have been doing their thing, the league has been a league that has shown him a competitive face and that has made him feel at a decent level of competition, and he is very comfortable as a member of the team. With that, the negotiation happens in the background for me because the main thing for a player to want to be there is for him to feel happy, to feel comfortable and that is what is happening today with Trevor Bauer in the Red Devils.”
Bauer is 4-0 in five starts, and leads the league with a 1.50 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 30 innings of work.
He’ll get four more starts with the Diablos under the extension, and is likely to face Puebla, Leon, and Chihuahua in May.
“I think it is something mutual that is happening and that has us very happy for what is to come,” del Valle said. “Later, we will think about what’s next, now we are going to go game by game, start by start, and we will talk to him when the time is right.”
Bauer’s LMB debut came on April 15 against the Tigres de Quintana Roo at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. Still recovering from an illness that caused him to miss time near the end of spring training, Bauer went 3.2 innings, allowing four runs, all of them earned, on four hits, striking out two and walking none. He threw 68 pitches, 48 of which were strikes, earning a no-decision in his first regular-season appearance in Mexico.
He rebounded from that outing by striking out 14, including nine consecutive batters to tie an LMB record, in a 4-0 Diablos win against Leon on April 21.
The Diablos won their 10th straight game Monday, topping Puebla 17-9 in the LMB’s lone contest.
He’s a Machine – Vimael Machin, playing his second season in the LMB with the Charros de Jalisco, leads the loop with a .442 batting average through 27 games. With 46 hits in 104 at-bats, Machin, who played for the Oakland Athletics in Major League Baseball for parts of three seasons, is 27 points ahead of Wilfredo Tovar of Aguascalientes, who has 44 hits in 106 at-bats.
Machin’s triple slash line of .442/.521/.615 is complimented by an OPS of 1.136, and the Puerto Rican infielder has 10 doubles, two homers, and 18 RBI so far in the young season.
The Charros (11-16) are in eighth place in the LMB’s Zona Norte.
Home Run Derby Participants Set—Yesterday, the eight participants for the 2024 LMB Home Run Derby, scheduled for May 24 at Estadio Beto Avila in Veracruz, were announced.
Anthony Giansanti (Charros de Jalisco), Kennys Vargas (Tecos de los Dos Laredos), Chris Carter (Acereros de Monclova), and Fernando Villegas (Saraperos de Saltillo) represent the Zona Norte.
Representing the Zona Sur are Jerar Encarnación (Guerreros de Oaxaca), Art Charles (Leones de Yucatán), Yasiel Puig (El Águila de Veracruz) and Luke Voit (Olmecas de Tabasco).
New Stadium, No Tarp – The Conspiradores de Queretaro have a new franchise, a new ballpark, and apparently, no tarp for the field.
On Saturday, just as the Conspiradores were set to play against the Piratas de Campeche at Estadio Finsus, Queretaro was hit with rain and hail. According to Miguel Angel Alvarez, a reporter with Expreso Queretaro, he posted a video of the downpour on his X account, reporting in Spanish, “Hail, cars stuck in the parking lot, and the Conspiradores game canceled due to torrential rain in Huimilpan, Queretaro.”
Granizo ❄️, autos atascados 🚗🚙 en el estacionamiento y el partido de conspiradores ⚾️ cancelado por lluvia ⛈️ torrencial en Huimilpan, #Querétaro. pic.twitter.com/vFddXGiUHJ
— Miguel Angel Alvarez 🇲🇽 Reportero Mexicano (@malvarezvargas) May 12, 2024
And while rainouts are no fun for anyone, save perhaps Crash Davis and his Durham Bulls teammates, one fan criticized the league and the Conspiradores for opening the stadium when it has yet to be completed.
Lamentable las condiciones en las que @LigaMexBeis y @HoraciodelaVega permitieron la apertura del estadio de los #conspiradores de #querétaro pero el colmo es que ni siquiera tengan una lona para cubrir el terreno de juego en caso de lluvia, bolsas de basura? De verdad? #lmb pic.twitter.com/oz72tqhvtj
— Noé Ibarra (@noerenato) May 12, 2024
The fan, Noe Ibarra, posted photos of what appeared to be black plastic trash bags covering the pitcher’s mound at Queretaro’s Estadio Finsus, taking the league and LMB president Horacio de la Vega to task for the condition of the stadium and field, writing in Spanish, “The conditions in which @LigaMexBeis and @HoraciodelaVega allowed the opening of the #conspiradores and #querétaro stadium are regrettable, but the worst thing is that they do not even have a tarp to cover the playing field in case of rain, trash bags? Really?”
Saturday’s game was rained out and made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. The Conspiradores (11-15) took both games from Campeche, 5-2 in the first and 6-5 in the second.