Before leaving for Mexico, Hendrik Clementina will have to make room in his suitcase for a couple of awards. After taking home the Producer of the Year award, given based on mathematical formulas, the slugger added the highest distinction granted by the Major League Professional Baseball (LMBP): the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
José Ángel Rodríguez, a member of the LMBP press department, indicated that the Caciques de Distrito catcher also did so with historic overtones, becoming the first unanimous MVP of the circuit. With the 40 possible votes for first place in his name, to compile a total of 200 points.
“I am very grateful to have received those 40 votes. It means that I have done a very good job,” said Clementina in an exclusive conversation with LMBP.net. “I don’t set myself these kinds of awards, because the truth is that being the MVP of a league is very difficult. Many things have to come together for that to happen.”
But everything came together. From the unprecedented on an individual level, by becoming the new owner of the records for most home runs (21), RBIs (53) and bases reached (119) for a season; to the collective level, by leading La Raza’s first qualification to a postseason.
Awesome performance
A categorical performance, with global averages of .374/.478/.908, which found its foundations in mental preparation, led by the team’s hitting coach, Néstor Smith, who despite seeing his unprecedented streak of three titles as an instructor in the LMBP cut short, can celebrate Clementina’s recognition with the certainty of knowing that he is one of those primarily responsible for it.
“The universal goal of a hitting coach is to get the player on time with the ball and early with the attack foot,” Smith said. “With Clementina, there was a moment in the season when he went into a slump and I talked to him a lot regarding how to calm him down.”
The easterner refers to the period between June 15 and 22, when the catcher left a meager batting average of .095 (2-21), with seven strikeouts received, without negotiated walks.
From then on, he displayed a solid offensive line of .432/.528/.955 until the end of the regular round, leading the circuit in home runs (7), RBIs (19) and total bases (42).
“He started getting pitched inside a lot,” Smith said. “And his biggest strength is strength, so we started working more on contact, encouraging him to be more aggressive with the first delivery, but not trying to get him to hit the ball out, because that was going to be a natural consequence. That was the moment where the click happened.”
Key adjustments for the baseball player
Clementina also remembers another fundamental adjustment, made following the coach’s observation.
“Nestor also helped me go to the plate with confidence in the plan I have,” said the 27-year-old right-hander. “And he also recommended that I hit the ball to left and center field as well, because sometimes I have a tendency to want to hit to the opposite field, and sometimes that affects me.”
The harvest led Clementina to establish a comfortable lead over her runner-up in the voting for the award, the Cuban Yoel Yanqui (Marineros de Carabobo), who accumulated 54 points. While Deivi Muñoz (Líderes de Miranda) closed the podium, with 49 points.
The catcher thus joined Juan Infante (2021, with Mariners), Edgardo Fermín (2022, with Líderes) and Cheslor Cuthbert (2023, Delfines de La Guaira) as the winners of the award in the history of the circuit.
Caracas / Web Editor
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2024-07-18 02:43:01
