A vital week for the beasts and the Southern Zone

While the Red Devils of Trevor Bauer and company continue to dominate the South Zone (and the Mexican League) at will, what a mess is being created between the teams that have been watching them almost through binoculars.

For several weeks the Lions were easily in second place, but this week of the road trip that begins today will be a real test for Roberto Vizcarra’s men. In their previous trips, the Lions had gone to the home of teams with a losing record or below them in wins and losses.

This week, no. They are in for a series of back-and-forth in Puebla, once morest the Pericos who have revived their laurels with the arrival of Chris Carter, among others, and have won eight games in their last ten games. Then they will go to hell to visit the Diablos, who will surely have Bauer as one of their starters for that series. There is no other choice: they have to come out at least even in this series once morest Puebla, because Querétaro and Tabasco are also very close.

If there is one thing they have shown, it is that, playing on the road, whatever the case, they have come out well. They have a record of 18-8 in that category, which is the envy of anyone, as well as the 247 runs allowed in this role (54 games). No one has allowed fewer runs than the beasts.

They need to define many points, though. One, their closing relief. The beasts have executed 12 saves out of 23 save opportunities. Recently they missed games due to failures in that area by Jhon Jairo Romero and Alex Tovalín. Romero was sent to the Rieleros and it remains to be seen who will be in charge of turning off the lights. That will be a key task and, as we know (we have seen), it is not being liked by the rest of the players in the dugout: the starters have done their job most of the time; other times, the batting has not responded. Some hitters are going down the road of bitterness, with percentages that, in other times, would not have had a place in the team.

The bad thing is that players come and go. On Sunday, in the ups and downs of the Mexican League, it was reported that the beasts registered Venezuelan catcher Ramón Salvador Cabrera, 34 years old and with two stays in MLB with the Cincinnati Reds (74 games, .264 percentage, four home runs and 26 RBIs). And days before, they registered Dominican pitcher Lizandro Xavier Santos (six years in the Atlanta affiliate system), as well as American Thomas Ponticelli, who had a record of 0-6 and an ERA of 14.96 with Albuquerque, the Triple A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.

The attempt to improve is not in question. The key issue is to see players who this year do not have the numbers of reinforcements (or what is expected of a reinforcement). When Sebastián Valle left, a large package was left for Webster Rivas. And the Dominican is doing it within his possibilities: he is batting .262, with four home runs and 16 RBIs (not much, don’t you think?). And Valle is hitting .311, with six home runs and 14 RBIs in 11 games since he left for Saltillo. Defensively speaking, Valle’s experience is well-known.

Among the Lions’ foreigners, Jose Peraza is the best, with a .312 percentage. Art Charles does not count in that category because he plays as a Mexican. The “Big Man” is still the leader in home runs (23) and RBIs (60), but they are already hot on his heels. On this trip to the lands of the highlands, the offense should improve. That is expected. — Gaspar Silveira

Related