2017 Winter Leagues | Final Report on Mexican Pacific League

Pitchers

LHP Jose Carlos Medina: 0-0, 10.80 ERA, 5.4 K/9, 3.6 BB/9, .458 Average Against

• After sitting on the reserve squad for the first 2 weeks of the season, Medina's usage saw an uptick in mid-October. However, his season ended as quickly as it began after the young lefty was abused in a blow out game vs los Naranjeros de Hermosillo on October 26th. That 75 pitch performance would be the last we saw of Medina as he was deactivated immediately following the game. While the stats were not promising and he's has never pitched above A-ball, Medina apparently showed good enough stuff that it gave the San Diego Padres enough confidence to select him in the AAA portion of the Rule 5 Draft.

Hitters

C Xorge Carrillo: .263 AVG, .671 OPS, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 18.0% K Rate, 6.6% BB rate

• No Catcher in the Mexican Pacific League got as much work behind the plate as Carrillo did in 2017. Granted, this was expected as Carrillo has been the Aguilas de Mexicali's starting catcher for each of the last 4 seasons. That said, Carrillo's 5th season with the club was also his worst season as he posted LMP career lows in AVG, OPS, RBI, XBH, and a career high in K. This was not the performance that Carrillo needed after declaring MiLB free agency in November. To date, Carrillo has not even been offered a minor league contract and it is looking increasingly likely that he could opt to become a full time Mexican League player in 2018.

C Juan Uriarte: .167 AVG, .533 OPS, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 36.0% K Rate, 4.0% BB rate

• There was hope that Uriarte would get more playing time with los Caneros de los Mochis in 2017 based on his stateside breakout season in Kingsport, however, the addition of Seattle C prospect Juan Camacho bumped Uriarte down to 3rd string on the depth chart. Luckily for Uriarte, the club's starting catcher, Sebastian Valle, transferred to the Dominican Republic to participate in the LIDOM playoffs which opened up playing time for Uriarte during the final week of the LMP season. With only 10 total games games played, it's hard to fault Uriarte for the stat line he produced.