Baseball Latin America – Baseball Brazil

May 26, 2011

Baseball Brazil: Outfielder Paulo Orlando of Omaha (KC AAA) Coming On Strong

Filed under: Baseball in Brazil — Andy @ 10:02 am

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After a slow start to the season, Omaha Storm Chasers outfielder Paulo Orlando went on a roll in May.  Orlando’s BA/OPS for the season is at .241/.624,  but in his last 10 games it’s .386/.934 with 7 runs, 5 doubles, 1 home run and 10 RBIs. Here are Orlando’s stats for the season.

I notice Orlando hasn’t played in the last two Storm Chaser’s games, but I haven’t heard of any injury report.  No doubt, he is on the radar of the Royal’s top brass; it’s just too bad Orlando is not in an organization with a lack of talent in the big league club’s outfield.

May 19, 2011

Baseball Latin America: Can Pitcher Yovani Gallardo reach 200 K’s for 3rd Straight Year?

Filed under: Baseball in Mexico, Baseball in the USA — Andy @ 8:33 am

Yovani Gallardo - photo source: wnpj.org

Although Gallardo has 50 strikeouts in 10 starts thus far this season, which puts him at a pace of 150K’s over 30 starts, there’s no reason why the right handed native of Michoacan, Mexico (by way of Ft. Worth, TX, where he went to high school) can’t reach 200 K’s for the season, especially if he continues to throw K’s like he did last night against the Padres.

Gallardo is one of the reasons the Brewers have been a contender over the last few years; an  ace in the rotation who totaled over 365 innings pitched in 2009 and 2010, with a 27-19 record over that span.

Gallardo is also a decent hitter: he had 3 home runs last season, to go with a .254 batting average and .837 OPS in 63 at bats. Gallardo already has a home run this year.

Indeed, great things are expected from the 25 year old. Hopefully Gallardo can continue to put up big numbers over the duration of his career. Personally, I hope he opts to be a part of Team Mexico for the World Baseball Classic in 2013. Gallardo passed on participating in the WBC in 2009 in order to get ready for that season with the Brewers, which was probably a smart thing to do in hindsight from a career development standpoint.

May 12, 2011

Baseball Latin America: Tejano Infielder Jorge Cantu “Can-Do”

Filed under: Baseball in Mexico, Baseball in the USA — Andy @ 5:23 pm

He may have not had the greatest start to the season so far, but what San Diego Padre has? At least Jorge Cantu’s run producing hits have come at opportune times, with 2 out of his 3 home runs having won games in some way shape or form. 

Jorge Cantu is probably best known this season as the part time replacement (the other being Brad Hawpe) of Adrian Gonzalez. At least Cantu’s also a border Mexican (born in McAllen, TX but grew up across the Rio Grande  in Reynosa, MX) who can attract some attention from the Tijuana side of the line, so long as he’s producing.

Cantu has had a track record of putting up huge numbers, first with his 2005 breakout season, where he hit 28 home runs and 115 for the Tampa Bay Rays. Then, with the Marlins, he hit  a combined 45 home runs and 195 RBI’s in 2008 and 2009. Cantu started 2010 with the Marlins strong enough with a 21 game hitting streak, but was traded mid way through the season to the eventual AL champion Texas Rangers as an off-the-bench option, where his numbers subsequentally dropped.

Whatever the previous case, Cantu’s being expected to carry a huge load this season with the Padres. Despite the lack of numbers in the early going, he is still a good clubhouse addition and positive community presence on both sides of the border.  For $850,000, Cantu’s definitely a bargain for the small budget Padres.

May 4, 2011

Baseball Brazil: Updated Status and Statistics for Brazilians in the U.S. Minor Leagues

Filed under: Baseball in Brazil, Baseball in the USA — Andy @ 10:30 am

photo credit - ourlatinamerica.blogspot.com

Below is the most updated information I can find regarding Brazilian born AND raised players currently on MLB minor league rosters. Perhaps there have been some additional signings this past offseason, however I haven’t done a thorough audit of all 30 organizations’ minor league rosters, which at this point is still a manual process. So if you know of anybody new from Brazil, please include it!:)

Paulo Orlando, OF- Omaha Stormchasers (KC Class Triple A): .180 BA, 4R, 0 HR, 8RBI, 2SB, .450OPS – Slow start for Orlando in his Triple A debut, but he has had some clutch hits along the way.

Andre Rienzo, P – Winston-Salem Dash (CHW Class A+):  0-0,  2.36 ERA in 5 GS, 33K/12 BB in 26.2 IP. – Excellent start at the Single A Advanced level despite not yet being able to get a decision. In Rienzo’s last start, on May 1, he pitched 7 innings of 1 hit, 1 run ball and struck out 9.

Murillo Gouvea, P - Lexington Legends (HOU Class A): 0-0, 5.63 ERA in 4games, 10K/4BB in 8IP. – At this point, too small a sample size to pass judgement as a guy coming out of the bullpen. Gouvea’s essentially had one good outing, one OK outing, and two not-so-good outings.

Felipe Burin, 3B – 2010 STATS:  VSL Mariners (SEA Rookie):  .335BA, 41R, 2HR, 22RBI, 4SB, .904OPS. – Burin is listed on the 2011 Venezuelan Summer League Mariners roster, which has yet to start its season.

Pedro Okuda, SS – 2010 STATS:  VSL Mariners (SEA Rookie): .221BA, 7R, 6RBI in 41ABs. - Okuda is listed on the 2011 Venezuelan Summer League Mariners roster, which has yet to start its season.

Leonardo Reginatto, SS – 2010 STATS:  Princeton Rays (TB Rookie): .279BA, 4R, 0HR, 4RBI, 2SB in 16 games. – Reginatto is listed on the 2011 Princeton roster, which has yet to start its season.

Wester Ramos, RF – 2010 STATS:  VSL Rays (TB Rookie): .123BA, 9R, 2RBI in 25 games. – Ramos is listed on the 2011 Venezuelan Summer League Rays roster, which has yet to start its season.

Heitor Correa, P – 2010 STATS:  Clearwater Threshers (PHI Class A): 8-14, 6.62 ERA in 27 G (25 GS), 85K/60 BB in 137.1 IP.  – Correa’s 2011 status is unknown. He is not currently listed on any of the Phillies’ minor league affiliates rosters though his milb.com profile lists him as “Active”.

**UPDATE: According to Ubiratan Leal of ESPN Brasil: Correa was let go by PHI and was still looking for another team to pick him up.

Tiago Calixto, P – 2010 STATS:  DSL White Sox (CHW Rookie): 1-0, 5.02ERA in 8 games (14.1IP), 9K/14BB. – Calixto was released by the White Sox after the 2010 season (his third with the DSL team). Doesn’t look like he has been picked up by any one else.

May 2, 2011

Baseball Latin America: The Next Carlos Santana You Will Get To Know – Cleveland Indians Catcher

Filed under: Baseball in Dominican Republic, Baseball in the USA — Andy @ 9:15 am

Photo credit - msnbc.com

I was watching the Tigers play the Cleveland Indians the other day, and I came away impressed with one young Carlos Santana. No, not the Mexican guitarist. I’m speaking of the 25 year old catcher from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic of the same name.

Big things were expected of Santana, now in his second season in the Big Leagues and his first full season as a regular starter. Indeed, despite his slow start, Santana’s walk off grand slam against the Tigers on Saturday gave Cleveland its best record for the month of April EVER.  Santana is definitely one of the reasons the Indians are surging in the early part of 2011, and if his bat heats up, it could only get worse for the rest of the American League.

What’s most impressive about Santana is his OPS upside. For starters, he gets lots of extra base hits. Out of the 39 hits he had last season, 13 were doubles and 6 were home runs. Santana ended 2010 with only a .260 BA, but with a SLG of .467. Couple that with his 39 walks (to 29 strikeouts) and his OBP of .401 gave him an OPS of .868 in 2010.

This season, Santana has already hit 5 home runs (including the grand slam on Saturday), and even though his batting average is .191 he has maintained an OPS of .706 through his first 25 games this season.

Hitting isn’t the only area where Santana has solid upside of which he showed flashes last season. Behind the plate in 2010, Santana threw out 12 of 34 base stealers for a 35% caught stealing percentage. This year, however, Santana has only thrown out 1 runner to 11 successful steal attempts.

Understandably, catching is one of the more difficult defensive positions in baseball and throwing out runners is one of the toughest things to do. Handling a very young yet extremely talented pitching staff to a 19-8 record, though, is probably even harder to do, and Santana has played a big part in the Indians pitching success, including a 3rd ranked team ERA of 3.48.

It will be interesting to see how Santana progresses this season. At least he is on a team with many other players having successful starts, which always helps the overall confidence level of the team. As long as Santana keeps driving the ball for extra base hits, he figures to be around for a while.

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