Baseball Latin America – Baseball Brazil

Photo credit: cleveland.com

I know I always say there is a lot of stuff going on in Brazilian baseball these days, but there REALLY is a lot going on these days, including the breakout performance this season by Yan Gomes for the Cleveland Indians, and some recent drama surrounding the Brazil Olympic President with quotes attributed to him about baseball and softball in the 2020 Olympics.

First, with the good news: Yan Gomes. The Yanimal had the game of his life yesterday against the Seattle Mariners, hitting 2 home runs, including a walk-off 3 run homer, and throwing out two runners.  Gomes is now hitting .302 this season in 53 at bats, with 2 doubles, 2 triples, 4 home runs, 10 runs scored, 9 RBIs, a .951 OPS, a 1.2 WAR and he’s thrown out 7 of 11 base runners.

Gomes has done all of this while essentially being the backup catcher to Carlos Santana, who is also doing well with the bat this season, but doesn’t seem to have the chemistry with the pitching staff that Gomes has been able to develop. Nevertheless, expect Gomes and Santana to alternate behind the plate and in the DH spot. Gomes can also play first base, third base and the outfield though Cleveland’s bench is deep, so it’ll probably be less likely to see him in one of those spots unless the injury bug hits the Indians.

Gomes’ success comes at a great time for Cleveland, who is currently leading Detroit at the top of the AL Central by 2.5 games. Some would argue that Gomes is a big reason why they’re winning. The Indians are 14-3 when Gomes plays. The Indians start a home series against the Tigers tonight, by the way.

Now, on to the controversial news of today:

Yesterday it was announced by the newly formed World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) that Brazil Olympic Committee and Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman had written a letter to the Brazilian Baseball and Softball Federation (CBBS) offering his support for a bid to re-include baseball and softball for the 2020 Olympics. The announcement was originally posted on the aroundtherings.com website, but has since been removed.

The WBSC is the newly merged entity of the International Baseball Federation (IBAF) and International Softball Federation (ISF), and apparently they got their wires crossed, because today Nuzman denied offering his support to the CBBS. In fact, he reiterated his support for wrestling and badminton instead.

Nuzman is not a popular figure in Brazil, as he’s been accused of squandering away a lot of money on Brazil’s Olympic bid, so in some respects it may be good for Brazilian baseball to not be associated with him.

In more heartwarming news, two more Brazilian players were signed by MLB teams earlier this month. Nippon Blue Jay and Brazil WBC team pitcher Daniel Missaki, who had gone to Arizona during spring training to try out for a number of teams including Texas and Arizona, ended up signing with the Mariners. Missaki’s fastball has been clocked in the high 80’s, and he’ll be starting his pro career this season in the Venezuelan Summer League with the Mariners VSL squad.

Catcher Luis Gustavo Paz, out of Marilia, was signed by the Brazilian first-time shoppers Los Angeles Dodgers, which is not surprising considering that Bob Engle, the Mariners long time international director who now works for the Dodgers in the same capacity, has long since been developing a pipeline of talent from Brazil, including Luiz Gohara, Thyago Vieira, Felipe Talos, Felipe Burin and Pedro Okuda (who technically signed out of high school in Japan).

Back in Brazil, the CBBS-sanctioned 8th Brazil Cup Inter-Club U-15 Tournament was held last weekend in Londrina, and the home team won the tournament over Paraná state rival Maringá. Be on the look out for Londrina’s Gabriel Maciel, because he once again dominated a tourney by posting the best batting average and taking the most valuable pitcher and most valuable player awards. Lucas Fornelli, also of Londrina, had the most home runs in the tournament with 3.

Speaking of Daniel Missaki, here’s a piece done by the Brazilian magazine/website VEJA from the 7th Seattle Mariners Cup, held at the end of April, which includes footage of Missaki pitching in the tournament. Ibiúna won the U-15 category and Marília won the U-17 category of the tournament.

Meanwhile in the independent adult Liga São Paulo de Beisebol, the Red Foxes are at the top of the standings with a 9-1 record, followed by the Giants at 8-2, Bats at 7-3 and Underdogs at 6-4. Updates can be found on their Facebook page.

Over in the Liga Paulista de Beisebol, Piracicaba is on top at 6-0, followed by FARMIME A at 3-2 and Underdogs B at 2-1. Unfortunately, the LPB has had a number of rain outs to begin the season. More information is available on their Facebook page.

I’ve also been following a new (to me, anyway) adult independent league this season, called the Liga Curitibana de Beisebol, which as the name suggests is based in and around the city of Curitiba, in Paraná and features 8 teams. Thus far, Nikkei Juvenil is at the top of the standings with a 3-0 record, followed by Sushiyama at 2-0 and the Curitiba Tigers at 2-1. They also have a Facebook page where you can follow all their latest news.

image credit - LSPB

Baseball is on fire in Brazil! Lot’s of going on both in Brazil and with Brazilians playing in the pros:

Let’s start with super utility man Yan Gomes, who was brought up from Triple A Columbus by the Cleveland Indians a couple weeks ago to replace the injured catcher Lou Marson.  Marson has since returned to the lineup and Gomes was optioned back to Columbus, but not before showing some flashes of slugging with the bat by hitting a couple of homers and a triple in 19 at bats. Gomes also did well behind the plate and earned some high praise from manager Terry Francona and Indians management, who want to keep seeing him get everyday playing time in Triple A. I’m sure we’ll see Yan back in Cleveland soon.

Things haven’t been as easy for starting pitcher Andre Rienzo, who started the season at Triple A Charlotte (Chi. White Sox), and has been roughed up in 3 out of his first 4 starts this season (1-1 7.52 ERA 1.62 WHIP, .310 Opp BA).  Interestingly, all three of those forgettable starts came against the Gwinnett Braves. To Rienzo’s credit, his strikeout ratio has been decent, 16 K’s to only 7 walks.  Hopefully Andre can shake the slow start and fall into his 2012 form.

Another slow starter has been outfielder Paulo Orlando, who has only has 8 hits in 41 at bats (.195 BA) for Double NW Arkansas (KC Royals). Orlando also has 14 strikeouts this season to 6 walks, thus his big swing approach hasn’t earned him any extra base hits which is pretty unusual considering he’s always good for some doubles and triples.

Orlando’s top of the lineup teammate on the Brazil national team, infielder Leonardo Reginatto, moved up to full season Single A Bowling Green (TB Rays) this year. Reginatto’s bat has also yet to wake up (.191 BA in 47 AB’s) But at least his walk to strikeout ratio is manageable (8 walks to 7 k’s).

Another national team member, pitcher Murilo Gouvea (HOU Single A), started the season on the disabled list, so has yet to log any innings this year.

Back in Brazil, the CBBS 13th Annual Inter-Club U21 Brazilian Championship finals took place in Londrina the weekend of April 13.  The tournament featured a number of players who are already signed with pro teams but will be playing short season Rookie and Single A ball later this summer. Players included infielder Lucas Rojo (SEA) who played for São Paulo and pitcher Rafael Moreno (Baltimore) who also played for São Paulo. In fact, Rojo took home some hardware as the second best hitter in the tournament (.475 BA) and most RBI’s (10). There were other noteworthy performances by Lucas Dos Santos (GECEBS) as best hitter with .500 BA, Daniel Oguro (GECEBS) as best pitcher, and tournament MVP Felipe Koshi (GECEBS). As you can probably tell, GECEBS won the tournament by beating São Paulo in the final. More info and photos of the championship can be found on the CBBS website.

Over in the independent leagues, The Liga São Paulo de Beisebol (LSPB) season is well underway. They also have a cool new league logo (see above). After 4 rounds, ACEVGP BF Red Foxs are at the top of the table with a 7-1 record, followed by the New Giants at 6-2. Bats and Underdogs follow them with 5-3 records. More info can be found on the LSPB Facebook page.

In the Liga Paulista de Beisebol (LPBP), Piracicaba is on top with a 4-0 record. The LPB Underdogs teams A and B follow up with a 2-0 and 1-0 record, respectively. Unfortunately, both leagues have been beset with rain postponements, hence the unbalanced games played. More info on the LPB can be found on their Facebook page.

photo credit - LPB

Baseball is now in full throttle in Brazil on many different levels, here’s a quick update on what’s going on…

The Liga Paulista de Beisebol (LPB) played its first round of games the weekend of March 17. So far I’ve only seen one round of results from that weekend, with Piracicaba winning both of its game in the round robin against São Francisco and Farmime A. Farmime A beat São Francisco in the other game. The next round of games will be played the weekend of April 7. More info can be found on the LPB’s facebook page.

Over in the Liga São Paulo de Beisebol (LSPB), the second round of games were concluded this past weekend, with results posted on the LSPB facebook page. The LSPB has also rolled out a new website. In addition, the LSPB has announced that it has gone into a partnership with STI Esporte to televise one game per week. A schedule of announced games will be made soon.

In CBBS tournament news, Northern Paraná won the 25th Annual U-13 Inter Selection Championship. This tournament is basically all stars made up from the various regional clubs. Northern Paraná  beat ABC to win the championship, held in Maringá, Paraná. Gabriel Maciel was by far the star of the tournament, earning MVP, best pitcher and Home Run King (2) awards. More info on the championship results can be found on this web page. The CBBS 33rd Annual U-15 Inter-Selection Championship will be held this weekend in Presidente Prudente.

As far as Brazilians currently playing in pro leagues, the most notable news this week was that Yan Gomes was optioned by the Cleveland Indians to their Triple A team in Columbus, though I have feeling he will be coming up to the big team frequently this season, if not permanently.

photo credit: sportworldreport.com

Naturally, we will start with Brazil’s WBC effort in Japan last week. It’s too bad that Brazil was unable to pull out a victory in their first round pool play with Japan, Cuba and China (especially against China) because it means that Brazil will have to re-qualify for the next WBC tournament in 2017, assuming the WBC keeps the same tournament format.

On the bright side, Brazil played Cuba well in its second game, despite eventually losing 5-2. Starting pitcher Andre Rienzo had a good outing going until he ran into trouble in the 5th inning. After that it was only a matter of time before Cuba’s hitters opened up the floodgates against Brazil’s bullpen in the 6th inning. If anything, it’s impressive that the Brazilian pitching staff didn’t let things get more out of hand than the 5 runs they gave up in each game. Perhaps Barry Larkin’s hook had something to do with that (other than in the first game against Japan when he kept Oscar Nakaoshi in the game for one inning too long).

What was more disappointing was Brazil’s inability to produce more runs. Not having catcher Yan Gomes, especially with the spring he is having for the Cleveland Indians, may have had something to do with that.  Brazil’s lineup depth, or lack thereof, definitely was exposed in this round, and having to rely on a number of young and inexperienced hitters eventually caught up to the Brazilians.

There were certainly a number of positive take-aways from Brazil’s first appearance in the WBC. Infielder Leonardo Reginatto emerged as an offensive spark plug at the top of the lineup and will make a case for promotion to Double A in the Tampa Bay Rays system this season if he can keep up the production. Murilo Gouvea only gave up 2 hits in 6.1 innings pitched in two games and, despite a rocky appearance against Cuba, ate up a lot of critical middle innings for Brazil that kept them in those games.   Oscar Nakaoshi had a good start against China after his appearance against Japan, pitching four innings of no run ball. Veteran outfielders Tiago Magalhaes and JC Muniz provided some production and leadership on a team that featured players as young as 16 years old. Their poise and guidance definitely helped in the overall growth of Brazil’s national baseball program.

Moving forward, guys like Nakaoshi, Rafael Moreno, Thyago Vieira, Daniel Missaki, Felipe Burin, Lucas Rojo, Pedro Okuda and Iago Januario will all have to step up and become the core for future Brazil teams. Many of  them are playing in MLB and NBP/Japanese Industrial league systems, so at least the opportunity is there for them to get more pro baseball experience under their belt between now and the WBC 2016 Qualifiers.

Now, let’s go back to Brazil and see what’s going on in the CBBS and independent leagues:

Two weekends ago at the CT Yakult facility in Ibiúna, the CBBS-sponsored 5th annual Yakult Cup took place for the U-13 age group. Our friends from Londrina took the Cup, and Londrina player Gabriel Maciel had a tremendous tournament, being named Most Valuable Player, Most Valuable Pitcher, Top Run Scorer and 2nd Best Hitter. We’ll be keeping an eye on Gabriel’s progress the rest of the year. The team from Pereira Barreto took the Cup in the U-12 category.

The beginning of March also marks the start of the Liga São Paulo de Beisebol (LSPB) and Liga Paulista de Beisebol (LPB).  The LSPB starts play this weekend, March 10. 9 teams will participate this season, and probably the best place to follow all the action is on the LSPB Facebook page.

The LPB starts its league play on March 17 and features 11 teams this season. Again, the best to get all of the information on the LPB is via their Facebook page.

Leonardo Reginatto scores 2nd Brazil Run - Photo Credit: AFP

Only 6 outs stood between Brazil upsetting Japan in the first round of WBC play in Fukuoka, Japan.  Going into the 8th inning, Brazil was up 3-2 and had already gotten one quality relief inning out of lefty Oscar Nakaoshi. Things began to unravel for Nakaoshi, however, and didn’t go much better for his right-hander side arm replacement, Kesley Kondo. By the time Brazil had gotten out of the inning, Japan had taken a 5-3 lead and never looked back.

It’s hard to put too much blame on Nakaoshi or Kondo, or anyone else for the loss, because it was such an incredible almost-win by Brazil, and the L column doesn’t do the effort by the Brazilian squad much justice.

Manager Barry Larkin’s team came out with a game plan, which is more than you can say for most teams. Brazil starter Rafael Fernandes pitched Japanese hitters inside and it kept them off balance, although Fernandes wasn’t always able to capitalize on it by only converting a few strikes here and there.

Fernandes never really settled in, but never really imploded either for 3 innings. He was able to get out of jams, especially via long fly ball outs in the cavernous Fukuoka Dome. Other than that, he was lucky he didn’t launch more pitches over catcher Diego França’s head, as Fernandes’ control was definitely erratic. Nevertheless, he got the job done of establishing the inside part of the plate (a tactic that definitely came from Larkin’s days with the 1990’s Cincinnati Reds). Murilo Gouvea came in for the 4th inning and gave another huge long relief appearance. He gave up one run in three innings, but it was a great effort given that it came against the best that Japan has to offer.

Leonardo Reginatto was spectacular with his two doubles and run scored. Reginatto has really developed a great plate presence, and his athleticism has blossomed since being signed by Tampa Bay a few years ago. No doubt, Reginatto will be promoted out of the NY-Penn League for this upcoming season. Orlando was also clutch at the top of the lineup, dropping down a nice bunt and stealing second to get in to scoring position for Brazil’s 3rd run, as well as with his ranginess in centerfield.  The defense, in general, played well, Japan was simply too good and refused to lose. França was serviceable behind the plate for not having been with the team in Panama, but you have to wonder how much more of a chance Brazil would have had if Yan Gomes had been able to play.

The tricky part will be the quick turn-around to face Cuba (10:30PM U.S. ET start tonight), which plays a whole different style than Japan in the sense they have monster mashers in their lineup. It will be interesting to see how well Brazil starting pitcher Andre Rienzo gets up for that game. Against Panama in the first game he was shaky, hopefully he settles in and keeps the Cuban hitters off balance.  The harder part for Larkin will be how he balances the rest of his bullpen given who’s been used and the limited pitch counts that are imposed on everyone.

Brazil may have had its best chance for an upset in this tournament, but how can you count them out when in the last four games of WBC play, they’ve beaten Panama twice (in Panama), Colombia by a comfortable 6 run margin, and took a 1 run lead over Japan into the 8th inning?

image credit: yahoo sports

Finally, the World Baseball Classic is upon us, and after marching through the qualifying round in Panama last October, Brazil finds itself in Pool A of the WBC First Round.

If you didn’t already know, Pool A is taking place in Fukuoka, Japan, and the host nation has won the last two (or first two, depending on how you look at it) WBC’s. In fact, this is probably the toughest pool to be in even though people are calling Pool C (with Venezuela, DR, Puerto Rico and Spain) the Group of Death. Not only does Pool A have Japan, but it also has arguably the best historically pro-talent level tournament team in the world: Cuba.

Brazil has the honor of kicking off Pool A play with Japan on Saturday, March 2nd, then they get to play Cuba less than a day later. Brazil will then play China (of whom no one is expecting much) two days after that.

The top two teams from each pool then qualify for the second round of the WBC, and everyone is expecting Japan and Cuba to easily cruise through the first round.  As you may recall, everyone expected Panama to win the qualifying round, held in Panama City, before Brazil spoiled that party by beating them twice and Colombia once, all pretty decisively I might add (see my prior blog posts on the subject).

This time around, no one will be taking Brazil lightly; they feature a number of professional players currently plying their trade in the U.S. and Japanese leagues. Brazil’s roster from the qualifying round is mostly intact, with one major exception. The first and only Brazilian born MLB player, Yan Gomes, will not be with the Brazil squad in Japan, as he is attempting to concrete his position on the Cleveland Indians’ roster this Spring Training. While it must have been a difficult decision for Yan to make, MLB no doubt made it more difficult for him (and many others who would have loved to play for their country) by holding the WBC during Spring Training instead of after the major pro league seasons.

Alas, Brazil can’t worry about that now, and Gomes has been replaced on the roster by Diego França, who currently plays in the Japanese Industrial League. Bruno Hirata, also currently in the Japanese Industrial League, will likely get the nod to start behind the plate.

Another notable exception will be the highly touted left handed pitcher, Luiz Gohara, who Seattle will not allow to pitch in the WBC, presumably to protect their investment.  It may not matter, however, given how the Brazilian pitching staff performed in Panama.  Either Chicago White Sox super-prospect Andre Rienzo or NPB veteran Rafael Fernandes will get the first start against Japan. Since Fernandes plays in the NPB and knows many of the hitters, Manager Barry Larkin could go with him, however he may also pick Rienzo since not many Japanese hitters have seen him before. Either way, both Rienzo and Fernandes need to have quality starts in order for their team to have a chance against Japan and Cuba.

The bullpen, including Houston farmhand Murilo Gouvea, was a big part of Brazil’s success in Panama, and they will need to replicate that success against even deeper lineups than they saw against Panama and Colombia.

On the offensive side, Brazil’s ability to score runs in Panama was due in large part to Kansas City prospect centerfielder Paulo Orlando and Tampa Bay prospect infielder Leonardo Reginatto.  Both of them did a great job in setting the table for the rest of the lineup to score runs, and the team did a great job of taking advantage of pitching and defensive mistakes to open it up in the qualifying round. Not having Gomes in the lineup leaves a big hole that DH Reinaldo Sato and 1st basebaman Daniel Matsumoto will have to fill.

Brazil’s own defense, which initially was a bit shaky in the first few innings of the first game against Panama, settled down and turned in some remarkable defensive plays the rest of way (including some clutch double plays). Felipe Burin, a minor leaguer in the Seattle system, showed great range at 2nd base.

Since the WBC first round is a round-robin format, Brazil needs to at least win two games and score as many earned runs as possible, as well as allow as few earned runs as possible, in order to have the best Total Quality Balance (TQB) possible. They could take care of the TQB conundrum by simply winning all three of their games, but that is probably unlikely in this pool.

One of the big X Factors that Brazil seems to have on its side through all of this is Hall of Famer Barry Larkin as their manager. The way he guided Brazil through the qualifying round with his steadying hand, calm disposition, and shrewd moves (especially with the pitching staff) seemed to instill a lot of confidence in this team. Add to that the fact that these guys are highly motivated to bring home success for their country, and you could see Brazil pull at least one upset over either Japan or Cuba, which (in my book) would be a huge step forward for the game in Brazil regardless if their national team makes it to the 2nd round or not.

Boa Sorte Brasil!!

Welcome  back to the final part of our coverage on the MLB Elite Camp Tryouts taking place in Ibiúna, Brazil this weekend.

Daniel Chibana played for São Paulo last season and won an award for being best defensive outfielder in the Copa Seattle Mariners (one of the main annual CBBS club tournaments, sponsored by the aforementioned MLB team).  Chibani also played for the Capital select team in the annual Brazilian inter-selection tournament last December, stealing the most bases in the tourney (3).

Lucas Moya played for Ibiúna last season and hit 3 home runs with a .700 batting average in the U14 club championship last October.

Unfortunately I could not find any information on Victor Kenzi Itami Matuda.

Igor Rodrigues pitched and played shortstop last season for São Paulo. His numbers on the mound were pretty good: 13 2/3 innings, 0 earned runs and 10 K’s.

Leonardo Munhoz is a very productive right fielder in Brazil’s youth system.  Between Ibiúna and the national team last year he went 24-52 with 16 runs scored and 17 RBI’s.

Erick Kimura played for Ibiúna last season and robbed 7 bases in the U14 Yakult Cup tournament in February.

I was also unable to find any information on Jonathan Mizuno.

Boa sorte pessoal!

Welcome back to the continuing analysis of the players who will be featured in the MLB Elite Camp in Brazil this coming weekend. I meant to get this out yesterday, however due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the U.S. I was caught up in taking care of out-of-school kids! Anyway, back to the subject at hand…

Hugo Prevedel played for Marília last season, primarily at third base. He didn’t hit for much, only .118 in 17 ABs. He did, however, pitch 5 innings in relief and only gave up one earned run while striking out 7.

Julio Nakayama also played and pitched for Marília last season, but was the opposite of Prevedel in that he hit well but didn’t pitch as well. Nakayama primarily played first base and hit .286 in 14 at bats, with 4 runs scored, 3 RBI’s and 4 stolen bases.

Fernando Takafuji had a good tournament for the national team last year in Hermosillo, playing third base and going 6 for 15 at the plate while scoring 4 runs in 7 games. Takafuji has also played for Ibiúna.

Marcelo Matsumoto pitched and played the outfield last season for the Nippon Blue Jays. What little playing time he got, he certainly made the most of it by going 3 for 4 at the plate, all doubles, and six runs scored. On the mound he pitched 3 2/3 innings with no earned runs allowed and 4 strikeouts.

I don’t have statistics on Lucas Tsukamoto, but he’s been playing baseball for nearly 9 years, and made his first national team at age 10, when he played for Brazil at a Panamerican tournament in the Dominican Republic. He also played for a national team that traveled to Japan, and has been training with the Nippon Blue Jays at the club level.

Thiago Kubo has played with Ibiúna and the national team, with whom he had a solid tournament last year in Hermosillo by going 7 for 24 with 11 runs scored, 8 RBI’s and 3 stolen bases. Kubo played center field, left field and second base.

Keyne Kitayama played for GECEBS last season, and saw playing time all over the field, but spent most of his time at short stop and third base. Kitayama went 5 for 27 with 5 RBI’s in club play.

We’ll look at the last 7 players on the list tomorrow…

Welcome back to Part 3 of our analysis of the players attending the MLBI Elite Camp in Brazil this January 27.

Carlos Kazuo Omai Lima played for both São Paulo and the U15 national team last year. In fact, he’s been on a number of national teams and club all-star teams over the last few years.

Gabriel Ferrucci played for Presidente Prudente last year, he played 1B, 2B, 3B and pitched, though his strength was with the bat. He went 6-18 in 5 club games with a .760 OPS.

Danilo Uehara is another hitter from São Paulo who has won a number of tournament awards over the years in club play.

Igor Nakayama is out of Indaiatuba, and played on the U15 national team last year as well.

Leo Haneda played for the Nippon Blue Jays last year, primarily at 3B.  He went 4-11 with 2 doubles and 2 RBI’s in the club tournament last October.

The only information I have on Nelson Hashizume is that he played a little outfield for São Paulo in the club tournament last October and went 0-8 at the plate.

Vitor Houra is a secondbaseman from Guarulhos, and also played for the national team in Hermosillo last summer.  Overall he was 4-20 at the plate in 9 games.

Rafael Saito is a second baseman from Maringá, who also pitched and caught last year in club play. He was 3-18 at the plate with 3 runs scored in 5 games.

Lucas Sakay spent last year in Ibiúna, as well as with the national team where he had a monster tournament in Hermosillo, going 15-30 with 16 runs scored and 10 RBI’s. He also had 3 doubles and 4 triples, primarily playing shortstop.

Rodrigo Tsuhako is a shortstop out of Marília, and over seven games with the club team last season went 10-33 with 9 runs scored.

Douglas Kaneko is a hitter who has been in the Ibiúna program since 2008.

More to follow on Monday…