By Gabriel Fidler (@gabrielfidler)
Fourth in a series of World Baseball Classic Previews
MARYVILLE, Tenn. – Along with Thailand and New Zealand, Brazil is one of the most recent countries in which baseball has taken hold. Though the sport has been played for some time, the national governing body was only founded in 1990 with the first international competition in 1995. In the last half-decade, though, Brazil has quickly made an entrance to global baseball.
Baseball was introduced by Japanese workers in São Paulo, many of whom moved to the coffee plantations in northeast Brazil, and it is there and in the richer parts of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro that the game flourishes today. Particularly in the north, the game is played by communities with Japanese traditions, and until the last few years had a much stronger connection to Japan. In fact, according to multiple sources, Brazil has the largest population of Japanese in any nation other than Japan.
The country first competed internationally in the Intercontinental Cup in 1995, finishing fifth. It was another seven years before Brazil competed in a global tournament, but has been regular participants since. The quality of the Brazilian national team has risen in the last decade thanks to an agreement with Cuba that allows Cuban coaches to assist with development of the game in Brazil.
Cuba almost tasted the fruit of their success in the 2003 Baseball World Cup. Brazil advanced all the way to the quarterfinals in the competition and faced perennial titans Cuba in the round. The blue-and-gold nearly pulled off what would have been one of the greatest upsets in international baseball history, needing only three outs to secure a 3-2 victory. Brazil’s bullpen could not hold Cuba, who rallied for a 4-3 win and eventually, the Cup title. Brazil settled for seventh in 8-3 decision over a weak South Korean side.
Brazil finished a disappointing 14th at the 2005 World Cup, though fell just short of a better result. The team was 2-6, with the wins including a one-hitter over South Africa and an 11-4 victory over Sweden. They also lost a 15-inning nail-biter to China and almost defeated Panamá.
The blue-and-gold hosted the 2007 Pan American Games at Rio de Janeiro. Brazil started off in fine fashion, shutting out Nicaragua 1-0. The single run scored on a home run by Tiago Magalhães, one of three players still on the national team. Next up was the Dominican Republic , who crushed them 14-2, but they regrouped against the US.
Showing no intimidation, Brazil took a 1-0 lead and entered the bottom of the seventh tied 2-2. As is often a problem with less-established teams, the bullpen could not keep the game close, giving up five runs, though Brazil’s bats made the final score 7-5. The loss eliminated the home team.
Team Brazil finished 2-6 in the 2009 World Cup qualifying tournament, the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup. Their wins were over Guatemala, 7-5, and a 6-3 victory over Aruba. They lost a close match to the Netherlands Antilles, 2-1, and were no-hit by Nicaragua, but still only lost 2-0. Panamá, Venezuela, and Mexico also handed them losses. The seventh place finish did not qualify them for the World Cup.
Brazil had a lull in international competition from 2009-11. In 2010, the team did not enter teams in the South American Games or Baseball World Cup Qualifying Round. Despite this, in 2011 Brazil was rated the eighth-best team by COPABE, the governing body for baseball in the Americas, mostly on the body of work in amateur and youth tournaments. They also climbed five places up the world rankings to No. 33.
The growing talent of Brazilian youth teams will be important if the nation is to take the next step in establishing baseball as a national sport. Baseball does not yet have a domestic professional league, but if any nation is ripe for the growth of the sport, it is Brazil, a nation of almost 200 million people. Despite ranking far behind volleyball and basketball in popularity among team sports, the national confederation claims 30,000 players in the country and a growing international connection.
“We’re playing for honor, for the name on our shirt,” stated former national team pitcher Marcelo Arai, as he gestured to his jersey in an interview with the New York Times. The veterinary student continued, “We’re not playing for money or fame, because the truth is that we often pay out of our own pockets to be able to play.”
As Arai indicated, facilities for the sport vary widely. According to a report by the online arm of The Globe, in parts of the country, baseball is played on futebol fields with “bases [made] from cushions”. On the other hand, Brazil boasts one notable baseball academy in Ibiúna, funded by Japan’s Yakult Swallows. The Tampa Bay Rays were in talks to build a second complex, but talks fell apart in 2011. At least half a dozen MLB scouts still attend major domestic tournaments, though.
Major League Baseball International has successfully staged its Elite Camp in 2011 and 2012, which is led by Brazil’s manager for the World Baseball Classic, Hall-of-Famer Barry Larkin. Elite Camps involve intense instruction by big league players and coaches and have been held on six continents with more than 300 players having signed professional contracts with MLB organisations.
“If there is a kid that has tremendous ability, then maybe we can create the Ronaldo or the Pele in baseball, an iconic figure that the country gets behind,” Larkin told the online edition of Dawn in arguing that Brazil can generate high-level prospects.
Cuban-imported coaches agree. “There is an awful lot of talent here,” Juan Yáñez, the pitching coach for the national junior team told the New York Times. “It just needs to be polished.”
This dramatic increase in foreign investment is coupled with an emphasis by the Brazilian government on augmenting their profile in world sport in conjunction with the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympic Games. Foreign coaches have been pouring into the country on federal contracts with the hope of improving the nation’s ranking in top world tournaments. Despite being dropped from the Olympic programme, baseball still receives attention because of its popularity in Asia and the Americas.
There are currently 14 Brazilian born players in the United States, headlined by Yan Gomes, recently traded by the Toronto Blue Jays to the Cleveland Indians. That number may not sound noteworthy when compared to the dozens of professional players born in the other three countries in Brazil’s pool, but consider that only 19 athletes trained in Brazil have ever signed professional baseball contracts and the number becomes much more impressive.
Additionally, more than 30 compete in Japanese and Taiwanese leagues, according to Olivio Sawasato, vice president of the baseball federation in Brazil. Three of those are on top clubs in the NPBL.
The swelling numbers of Brazilian baseball players is important in a country that is still trying to establish the sport at a local level. Everaldo Marques, an ESPN broadcaster for the Brazil’s weekly Sunday MLB game, reflected to the New York Times on the significance of each player signed to a US contract: “Brazilians like rooting for their fellow countrymen, so once we get a Brazilian playing in Major League Baseball, that will help popularize the sport.”
Marques, speaking in 2007, was almost proved right a decade earlier, when the Blue Jays dipped into the Brazilian amateur ranks in 1993 to sign José Pett. Pett, the first player signed by a MLB organisation, was quickly ranked the 75th-best prospect in baseball, but struggled in the upper minors. He did stick around till 2000, throwing almost 500 innings. At his retirement from US ball, he was still the only Brazilian in the minor league, though two others had come and gone.
Pett spent the late 90s trying to catch on in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPBL), Japan’s top circuit, but did found the Nippon Blue Jays, an industrial (top-level semi-professional) league team. Though Pett never earned a promotion to the Japanese big leagues, several of Brazil’s national team played for his Blue Jays.
Yan Gomes became the first Brazilian in the big leagues when he debuted May 17, 2012, and he will be expected to lead the blue-and-gold on offence. Gomes will catch for Brazil, but can also play the infield and outfield corners. The story of how the native of São Paulo discovered the game has become almost legendary, but bears repeating.
At age eight, his father was at the grocer’s when he happened upon a Cuban coach who was recruiting for a local youth team. Gomes’ father convinced his son to try out, and quickly learned to love the sport. His family moved to Miami when he was 12, and he was recruited by the University of Tennessee. He was named a NCAA Division I Freshman All-American after hitting .310 in 59 games. Gomes was drafted by the Boston Red Sox a year later, though he did not sign after improving his average to .316.
Gomes transferred to Barry University for his junior season, setting school records for RBIs (92) and total bases (172), while hitting .404/.480/.775 with 21 home runs in 222 at bats. Playing mostly as a catcher, he threw out a whopping 52 per cent of would-be base stealers. He was named an All-American and the All-South Player of the Year and drafted by the Jays in the 10th round.
A career .287 hitter with an OPS over .800 in the minors, Gomes was called up to Toronto after hitting .328/.380/.557 at Triple-A Las Vegas, a renowned hitter’s park. Gomes earned his first major league hit in his second at bat, and his first four-bagger a day later. He finished with a .204/.264/.367 line in 43 games, playing four positions. Gomes totalled four home runs in only 98 at bats.
“He was one of the brighter stories in spring training for us,” Blue Jays’ manager John Farrell told CBC Sports. “He’s a hard-nosed player,” Blue Jays manager John Farrell said. “I’d say he’s kind of a blue-collar type of guy that has never had anything given to him. His ascent to the major leagues has been clearly earned on his part.”
“Growing up in Brazil you would never think of [playing in the majors],” expressed Gomes after his debut. “Coming out here and having it, it seems like it happened so fast, so I definitely have to take it in. I’m really proud of it. It’s an honour to represent my country.”
If Gomes has most of the spotlight, Tiago Magalhães has been the most productive player internationally for Brazil. The outfielder played for five years in the Cincinnati Reds’ minor league system, hitting .227. Despite his US career, Magalhães is the closest thing that Brazil has to a clutch hitter, as his exploits while wearing the blue-and-gold are almost legendary.
In the 2003 World Cup, Magalhães 8-of-40 (.200), but registered a double and four home runs for a .525 slugging percentage. He scored eight runs and drove in 10 in seven games. Two years later, his performance was even more exemplary as he recorded a .414/.500/.621 line, driving in six in eight contests. Magalhães was 3-for-3 against Bronze Medal-winning Panamá and was named to the All-Star team.
Magalhães did not disappoint in the qualifying tournament for the 2008 Olympics, during which he stroked the ball for a .391/.391/.870 line that included three dingers and six RBIs in five games. Later that year, he played in the Pan American Games, but was only 1-for-6 in part-time duty, though the single hit was the aforementioned four-bagger in the win over Nicaragua.
Magalhães, who has played center for most of Team Brazil’s games, will likely cede the middle outfield position to Paulo Orlando. Orlando was the first Brazilian named to a 40-man roster when the Kansas City Royals added the 27-yeard old in 2012 after a 2011-12 winter ball campaign in Panamá that saw him named the postseason MVP.
Before being acquired by the Royals, Orlando was named the fastest baserunner and best defensive outfielder in the Chicago White Sox system. A former youth track star, Orlando is a career .270/.319/.403 hitter with 158 stolen bases. He has been named an All-Star in the Texas Double-A League.
After being slowed by a hernia in spring training, Orlando played in Kansas City’s Double-A squad in 2012 and totalled a line of .279/.329/.374 with 21 stolen bases in 116 games. Orlando also has international experience, collecting three hits and two steals in 12 at bats during the 2007 Pan Am tourney.
The other outfielders on the squad are Juan Muñiz and Mike Magario. Muñiz, born in Cuba, but defected to Brazil. He has logged time in Cuba, the US minor leagues, and Japan. Magario was raised in Japan and plays for the Yakult Swallows’ farm club.
Daniel Matsumoto, a former teammate of Magario in Japan, has a .256/.304/.335 over 11 seasons for the Swallows. The veteran will man first base for Brazil. In 2002, Matsumoto was the leading hitter for Brazil in the Intercontinental Cup and also made the All-Star Team. He thumped the ball for a .450/.522/.950 line, stole three bases, and had six of Brazil’s 15 RBIs.
The rest of Brazil’s infield has one thing in common in their youth. Leonardo Reginatto will be the shortstop, while Pedro Okuda, 22, will man second base. Both replace infielders with a decade’s experience for the national team. Felipe Burin is at the hot corner. Reginatto is in his fourth minor league season for Tampa Bay. He was a New York-Penn League All-Star after hitting .267/.317/.325, which was in line with his career averages.
Okuda moved to Japan for secondary school and competed in the prestigious Koshien high school tournament. Like a number of Brazil’s other players, the 22-year old shows good plate discipline. Also in the Mariners’ organisation, Okuda has a career on-base percentage of .392 and had a strong 2012. The middle infielder spent most of the season at second in the Venezuelan Rookie League and stroked a .274/.381/.374 mark in 56 games.
Burin, though a little old for rookie league at 20, has put up solid numbers over 222 minor league games for the Seattle Mariners. Though he had a disappointing 2012, hitting only .214/.320/.255, Burin shows great plate discipline and has a career on-base percentage of .400, to go with a .303 average and a little pop. In 2011, he was named the Venezuelan Rookie League Position Player of the Year and accumulated a .350 average over two minor league stops. ‘
With only a few players with international experience, the Brazilian team’s lineup is hard to predict. Based on the suggestions of Andy Loretta, an expert on Latin American baseball, a potential starting nine might take the following form:
Paulo Orlando – CF
Pedro Okuda – 2B
Yan Gomes – C
Tiago Magalhães – RF
Daniel Matsumoto – 1B
Felipe Burin – 3B
Mike Magario – LF
Juan Muñiz – DH
Leonardo Reginatto –SS
Such an inexperienced lineup, at least in top-level competitions, will need strong pitching. Brazil is traditionally known more for its pitching, and will feature a legitimate number one starter in Andre Rienzo.
Rienzo, 24, was signed by the White Sox out of São Paulo in 2007 and has moved steadily through the system. The right-hander was tabbed to the Carolina League All-Star Team in 2011, a season which saw him throw 116 innings and strike out 118.
In 2012, he spent most of the year in Double-A, starting 18 games across three levels. All told, Rienzo was 7-3 with a 2.53 ERA, dropping his career mark to 3.30. He whiffed 9.8 batters per nine innings, equalling his career record. For his last start of the regular season, the No. 18 prospect for the Pale Hose was promoted to Triple-A, and impressed, tossing 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out 10 batters.
Rienzo continued his campaign in the prestigious Arizona Fall League (AFL), a circuit known for high batting averages and ERAs to match. Earning a spot as a starter, he was 1-1 with a 4.74 ERA and, despite struggling with his command, whiffed almost a batter per inning. Early reports from the AFL tab him as the fifth-best prospect, a tremendous honour.
Rienzo can run his fastball into the mid-90s and has a strong curveball and cut fastball. He is very difficult to take out of the park, having allowed only 16 homers in six seasons. This will be crucial against a talented Panamá side. Brazil’s top starter does have international experience, going 0-2 with a 4.26 ERA in the 2008 Americas Baseball Cup. He was dominant against Nicaragua, giving up two runs in 6 2/3 innings with 8 Ks, but Brazil was no-hit. All told, Rienzo had 16 Ks in 12 2/3 frames.
Brazil’s second-best hurler is Murilo Gouvea, also signed by the White Sox and since traded to the Houston Astros. He has worked mostly out of the bullpen in six seasons, amassing a 4.77 ERA in 330 1/3 innings. Gouvea’s most recent season at age 24 was his best, as he threw 77 2/3 innings, striking out 87, walking 29 and claiming a 3.71 ERA. The right-hander will likely be the stopper for Brazil, especially with a career average of 10.3 strikeouts per nine frames.
Beyond Rienzo and Gouvea, Manager Larkin’s pitching staff is full of unknown quantities. The average age of the hurlers is only 23, with only one older than 28. This may well work to Brazil’s advantage, as most of the players for the other three countries in the bracket have at least some familiarity with each other. Three Brazilian hurlers to watch will be Rafael Moreno, Oscar Nakaoshi, and Gabriel Asakura.
Moreno turned some heads with his Dominican Rookie League performance in 2012. Only 17, the righty won his team’s Rookie of the Year Award after compiling a 3.86 ERA in 65 1/3 innings. Moreno struck out 59 and walked 22, giving up only 56 hits.
Nakaoshi is one of three college arms on Brazil’s roster. In 2010, he was MVP of the Kanto Region, a top collegiate honour. The southpaw set Hakuoh University’s career victory mark at 28, and had ERAs of 1.04 and 1.18 in his second and third years.
If Gomes was Brazil’s best-ever college hitter, Asakura has earned the label for pitchers. After a solid junior college debut, the right-hander burst onto the collegiate baseball scene with a 7-2, 1.38 campaign for California State University-Los Angeles in 2011. Asakura followed that with a 7-3 record and a 2.71 ERA. Between the two seasons, he has 11 complete games, four shutouts, and has whiffed 135 in 141 2/3 frames.
Brazil will have to hope that its combination of players in Japan and the US can surprise the much more powerful nations in the Panamá City bracket. The blue-and-gold lead off with the 15th-ranked hosts in a contest that will start at 1 a.m. GMT on Nov. 16. Brazil will play again on Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. GMT against either No. 14 Nicaragua or No. 20 Colómbia.
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