Baseball Mexico

by Bruce Baskin
Published on July 31, 2011 under Mexican League (ML)

LIGA REGULAR SEASON OVER, PLAYOFFS OPEN SATURDAY

The Mexican League's 2011 regular season is in the history books, and first round playoff matchups are set.

The Mexico City Diablos Rojos won the Northern Zone title with the best record in the LMB at 63-40, finishing 6.5 games ahead of 57-37 Reynosa. Monterrey finished with seven straight losses to end up at 54-49 while Puebla took fourth at 53-53. Laguna, Monclova and Saltillo finished out of the playoffs.

In the LMB South, Quintana Roo took first at 62-42, 4.5 games up on 55-45 Campeche. Veracruz was third at 54-49 and Oaxaca copped the fourth and final playoff berth with a 51-51 mark after losing their last five games. Tabasco, Minatitlan and Yucatan finished 5-6-7 as the Leones, a perennial playoff team, turned in the worst record in the circuit at 43-62.

In the division semifinal openers Saturday, Monterrey will open at Reynosa while Mexico City hosts Monterrey in the North; Veracruz travels to Campeche and Oaxaca visits the Tigres in Cancun for the South semis.

For individual honors, Mexico City's Luis Terrero fell short in his bid for a Triple Crown, but he did win the RBI title with 110. Oaxaca's Barbaro Canizares (the 2010 International League batting champion) was the top hitter with a .396 average while Jorge Guzman of Veracruz won the home run crown with 39, just ahead of Terrero's 38. Among pitchers, Marco Tovar of Reynosa topped the chart with a 3.11 ERA and tied with Campeche's Francisco Campos, Tabasco's Leo Gonzalez and the Diablos' Marco Duarte in wins with 12. Saltillo's Danny Rodriguez took the strikeout title with 118.

BLUE JAYS TO SIGN 16-YEAR-OLD PITCHER ROBERTO OSUNA?

After losing out to Pittsburgh in the Luis Heredia Sweepstakes last year, the Toronto Blue Jays don't want to let another young Mexican pitching prospect slip through their fingers. Even though they reportedly offered more money than the Pirates, Heredia's lifelong friendship with Pittsburgh scout Jesus "Chino" Valdez was likely a deciding in his signing with the Buccos last year...that and a $3 million signing bonus.

This time, Toronto is trying to land another well-regarded 16-year-old Sinaloa pitcher in Roberto Osuna, who said recently he was planning to ink a deal with the Jays. Unlike Heredia, who had zero professional experience before reporting to the Pirates training complex in Florida last fall, the 6'0" 200-pound Osuna (who hits the mid-90's on the radar gun) made 13 appearances in the Mexican League this season. Although he got roughed up more than once, the nephew of former MLB pitcher Antonio Osuna pitched reasonably well most of the time, going 19.2 innings for an 0-1 record and a 5.49 ERA, not a bad number for a hitter's league like the LMB. He struck out 12 and walked 10.

Osuna has reportedly chosen Toronto over four other teams and is said to have already reported to the Jays complex in Florida. He was ranked fourth on a list of this year's top international prospects by Baseball America's Ben Badler.

ORTEGA TOSSES NO-HITTER AS TIGRES CLINCH LMB SOUTH TOP BERTH

Pablo Ortega has been one of the top pitchers in Mexico for years: Not a guy who'll blow batters away with speed or filthy breaking pitches, but a pitcher who genuinely "pitches" and relies on fooling batters. Sunday, he had the potent Veracruz lineup (including sluggers Jorge Guzman and Victor Diaz) entirely fooled, save for one patient batter.

The crafty 34-year-old righty registered the first no-hitter of the season as the Quintana Roo Tigres defeated the Aguilas, 10-0, before 4,270 fans in Veracruz' Parque Universitario Beto Avila. And it was almost as efficient a no-no as you'll ever see, as Ortega retired the first 25 hitters he faced until issuing a walk to Leo Rodriguez with one out in the bottom of the ninth before setting down the last two batters he faced. With the win, the former Tampa Bay farmhand improved to 10-3 on the season and lowered his ERA to 3.29 in the hitter-friendly Mexican League. As if the Tigres needed any more reason to celebrate, the win clinched the LMB South title for the Cancun side, who lead Campeche by 4.5 games with four left to play.

Besides throwing the eighth no-hitter in the Tigres' 57-year history (and the first since 2004), Ortega's gem capped a year of vindication. After winning 36 of 49 decisions between 2007 and 2009, the Nuevo Laredo native suffered a horrible 2010 campaign, going 2-6 with an 8.24 ERA and causing some to wonder if he'd finally run out of gas after 113 wins over 14 professional seasons. Instead, it would appear that Pablo Ortega still has a Tigre in his tank.

2011 Mexican League First Round Playoff Previews

NORTHERN ZONE SEMIFINAL: Mexico City vs. Puebla

The Diablos finished the regular season with the best record in the Mexican League and as a team batted .334, hit 192 homers and averaged over seven runs per game while Puebla hit .301 with less than half as many homers (and stole a Liga-low 34 bases). Based on that, Mexico City seems the clear favorite here except for one little detail: Pitching.

Although the Diablos have one of the best pitchers in the Liga in Roberto Ramirez (10-3/3.59) while Marco Duarte (12-4/4.94) tied for the LMB lead in wins, Mexico City still showed a 5.35 ERA to Puebla's 4.89 mound mark. Further, the Parrots have a solid 1-2-3 top of the rotation in Andres Meza (11-5/3.14), Lorenzo Barcelo (10-7) and Mauricio Lara (10-5) that rank among the best starting threesome in the league. Puebla closer Luis Ramirez has had a good year 16 saves and a 3.54 ERA, but Diablos short man Jean Machi (15 saves, 2.30 ERA) hasn't given up an earned run in over a month.

Still, the idea in baseball is to outscore your opponent and few do it better than Mexico City. Manager Mako Oliveras can fill out a lineup card with eight .300 hitters, including likely MVP OF Luis Terrero (.390/38/110), 1B Japhet Amador (.376/25/84), OF Mario Valenzuela (.374/21/58) and OF Leo Heras (.342/18/60). The Diablos addressed a hole on the left side of their infield by bringing in SS Luis Alfonso Cruz (.406 in 16 games) and vet 3B Oscar Robles (.250 in 3 games).

Pitching can win for you, but Puebla's probably isn't deep enough to win this series.

NORTHERN ZONE SEMIFINAL: Reynosa vs. Monterrey

Reynosa was one of the surprise teams of the Mexican League this year, finishing second in the LMB North with a 57-47 record that was the third-best in the circuit. Broncos manager Lorenzo Bundy put together a good everyday lineup that included 2010 Liga batting champ DH Willis Otanez (.341/22/82), who came over from Puebla in the offseason. Otanez is probably the biggest star on a team that features solid but mostly unspectacular players like OF Eduardo Arredondo (.346/32 steals), 1B Jesse Gutierrez (.331/27/87), 3B Marshall McDougall (.327/15/79) and OF Yurendell de Caster (.338/6/47).

The problem with the Broncos is pitching. Bundy does have the underrated Marco Tovar (12-4/3.11) as his stopper, but this year's Liga ERA champion has little help in the rotation as no other starter had an ERA better than 5.70.

On the other hand, Monterrey's batting and pitching may be better than Reynosa's despite finishing behind the Broncos in the standings. Granted, the Sultanes lost OF Karim Garcia and 1B Luis Alfonso Garcia to Asian teams during the season, but they still have a good lineup with DH Edgar Quintero (.357/32/78), OF Chris Roberson (.337/96 runs/22 steals) and mid-season pickup 1B Sandy Madera (.325/19/70). These guys can put runs on the board.

Monterrey's pitching is decent enough, with veteran Walter Silva (10-4/3.51), Dan Serafini (7-5/4.88) and Francisley Bueno (7-5/4.15) topping a good rotation to complement closer Oscar Villareal (18 saves/2.80). Although Reynosa won the first 10 of 12 games between these two teams during the regular season, the Sultanes could surprise.

SOUTHERN ZONE SEMIFINAL: Quintana Roo vs. Oaxaca

Both the Tigres and Guerreros lost six of their last ten games to end the regular season, but Oaxaca comes into the postseason on a five-game losing streak and they'll be facing a team that pitched its way to first place in the standings.

Quintana Roo is not a team that'll pound its way to a win. Only OFs Sergio Contreras (.347/13/57) and Doug Clark (.315/21/58) hit over .300 while C Iker Franco (.276/23/74) led the team in homers and RBIs with relatively modest totals. DH Carlos Sievers (.266/16/65) is the only other power threat besides Clark and Franco, but you won't see a lot of double-digit scores with the Cancun club. What you will see with manager Matias Carrillo's Tigres is an intelligent team that doesn't beat itself and features a deep pitching staff with vets like Pablo Ortega (10-3/3.29), Francisco Cordoba (7-9) and Jose Ramirez (7-4/3.60) in the rotation along with fireman Sandy Nin (8-4/2.80/24 saves) coming out of the bullpen.

Oaxaca, on the other hand, has some players who can hit for average, including Liga batting champion 1B Barbaro Canizares (.396/20/76) and liner-hitting DH Kevin Barker (.358/12/79), but little power beyond those two. The Guerreros also have All-Stars in C Erick Rodriguez (.305/4/44) and 3B Sergio Gastelum (.288/4/41) and they're strong defensively, but Oaxaca's pitching is mediocre. Sergio Valenzuela (8-6/4.25) tops a so-so rotation and there's been no closer since the Guerreros released Francisco. The two teams split ten games this year, but it's hard not to go with the Tigres here.

SOUTHERN ZONE SEMIFINAL: Campeche vs. Veracruz

This has the potential to be the most entertaining series among the four divisional semis. Between Veracruz OFs Jorge Guzman (.290/39/97) and Victor Diaz (.253/34/89) plus Campeche OF Ruben Rivera (.322/31/90), three of the top five home run hitters in the Liga this year will be on hand.

Campeche also has good hitters like OF Luis Matos (.331/8/32 with 15 steals), 1B Jolbert Cabrera (.300/19/74) and DH Javier Robles (.296/16/73), but the PIratas have had good pitching from starters Francisco Campos (12-5/3.42), Alejandro Armenta (11-4/3.80) Carlos Elizalde (8-2/4.03) and Miguel Ruiz ((5-6/3.36) in perhaps the Liga's deepest rotation, and Hung-Weng Chen (2-1/1.82/6 saves) has solidified the bullpen after being picked up from the Chicago Cubs system. Campeche's team ERA of 4.61 was third in the LMB this year behind Veracruz and Quintana Roo.

It's easy to overlook the Aguilas pitching with Guzman and Diaz providing offensive fireworks, but Veracruz had a Liga-best ERA of 4.24 in 2011. Joel Vargas (11-7/3.60) turned in an impressive season while Juan Acevedo (9-5/3.68) was a solid number two starter, while Hector Navarro (3-3/4.25/15 saves) and Jailen Peguero (5-0/1.40/8 saves) have combined for 29 saves in leading a tremendous Aguilas bullpen. Veracruz will need the pitching because for all the home run power they have in the middle of the order, the Eagles hit a Liga-worst .273 and stuck out 718 times.

Campeche won 7 0f 10 meetings with Veracruz in the regular season and should prevail here as well.

Mexican League Stories from July 31, 2011

• Baseball Mexico - OSC Original by Bruce Baskin

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer(s), and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.