Caimanes de Barranquilla and Vaqueros de Monteria play Game One at 7 p.m. EST
(Image Source: Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombia)
By Matthew Tallarini
World Baseball Network
The 2024 Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombia best-of-seven championship series will feature the top two teams in the four-team league.
The four participating teams – the Tigres de Cartagena, Caimanes de Barranquilla, Vaqueros de Montería, and Leonés de Santa Marta – in the Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombia played in 41 games in the 2023-24 regular season.
The Caimanes de Barranquilla finished the regular season in first place at 26-15, and the Vaqueros de Monteria took second place with a 20-21 record. Those two teams will play game one of the 2024 LPBC championship series on January 2 at 7 p.m. EST and will be streamed on the https://www.youtube.com/@lpbcol page. The series is a best-of-seven format.
The Tigres de Cartagena and Leonés de Santa each finished with an 18-23 record in the regular season and missed the playoffs.
The LPBC changed their playoff format on December 17 and elected to have a championship series between the first- and second-place teams in the regular season, rather than two rounds of playoffs.
The winner of the LPBC championship series will play in the 2024 Intercontinental Series, which will start on January 25 and will go on until February 1 at Estadio Edgar Renteria in Barranquilla, Colombia.
The Intercontinental Series is a club tournament based upon the Latin American Series, which was operated from 2013-19 and featured the winners of the winter leagues in Panama, Argentina, Curacao, Nicaragua, Colombia, and Mexico.
Curacao, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Mexico, and the United States are reportedly also participating in the 2024 Intercontinental Series.
The Nihonkai Baseball League in Japan, the Neo Asia League “Field of Dreams” Professional Baseball Organization in Indonesia, the Western League from the United States, which is an independent league will bring teams with players from their leagues. The Pecos League, based in the southwestern United States, will also participate in the 2024 Intercontinental Series.
The Curacao Professional Baseball League, which is operated by Federashon Di Beisbol Di Korsou, will bring a with of players who played in the 2023 regular season. South Korea will send a team of players from the Gyeonggi Province Independent League, and the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol will send a team to the 2024 Intercontinental Series.
No game schedule has been announced for the 2024 Intercontinental Series.
Colombia will not participate in the 2024 Caribbean Series at loanDepot Park in Miami. From 2020 to 2023, Colombia was an invitee to the Caribbean Series.
Caimanes de Barranquilla manager Jose Mosquera, who took over from Carlos Vidal late in the season, will look to help the organization win their 13th LPBC championship when the series starts on January 2. Vidal is now serving as the Caimanes’ bench coach.
The Caimanes de Barranquilla added four reinforcement players to their roster for the best-of-seven championship series: left-handed pitcher Rafael Garcia, right-handed pitcher Wellington Diaz, infielder Devi Munoz, and catcher Guillermo Quintana.
Current Major League Baseball free agent infielder Gio Urshela is playing for the Caimanes de Barranquilla during the 2023-24 winter league season, and has played in 11 games with 39 at-bats, batting .282 and smacking 11 hits, two doubles, five RBI, five walks, and two strikeouts.
Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Harold Ramirez has played in 18 games with Caimanes de Barranquilla in the 2023-24 season with 58 bats batting .293 recording 17 hits, one double, four RBI, nine walks, and four strikeouts.
Caimanes de Barranquilla Position Players To Watch:
2B – Carlos Arroyo – .311 AVG, 45 AB, 14 H, 5 2B, 1 3B, 4 RBI, 7 BB, 5 K
OF/1B – Dilson Herrera – .304 AVG, 135 AB, 41 H, 8 2B, 2 HR, 16 RBI, 15 BB, 17 K
CF – Ricardo Cespedes – .281 AVG, 139 AB, 39 H, 5 2B, 4 3B, 19 RBI, 5 BB, 15 K
Caimanes de Barranquilla Pitchers To Watch:
RHP – Ryo Negishi – 1-0, 1.88 ERA, 19 AP, 1 GS, 24 IP, 19 H, 5 2B, 5 ER, 9 BB, 24 K
RHP – Fernando Perez – 1-0, 2.88 ERA, 10 AP, 6 GS, 34.1 IP, 20 H, 2 2B, 11 ER, 15 BB, 34 K
Vaqueros de Montería manager Ronald Ramirez is aiming for the franchise’s second consecutive title. The Vaqueros de Monteria have won three league titles since their inaugural season in LPBC in 2019-20 season.
Vaqueros de Monteria added four reinforcement players to their rosters for the championship series such as right-handed pitcher Jackson Solarte, right-handed pitcher Randy Cuentas, outfielder Diover Avila, and catcher Andres Noriega.
Vaqueros de Monteria infielder Daniel Mayora won the league’s batting title during the 2023-24 regular season with his average at .331.
Vaqueros de Monteria Positions Players To Watch:
3B – Daniel Mayora – .331 AVG, 133 AB, 44 H, 6 2B, 2 HR, 24 RBI, 22 BB, 18 K
C/1B – Andres Angulo – .285 AVG, 137 AB, 39 H, 10 2B, 2 HR, 14 RBI, 18 BB, 25 K
Vaqueros de Monteria Pitchers To Watch:
RHP – Jesus Valles – 5-3, 1.97 ERA, 9 GS, 45.2 IP, 37 H, 3 2B, 1 3B, 10 ER, 17 BB, 23 K
RHP – Jorge Mendoz – 0.57 ERA, 12 AP, 3 S, 15.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, 17 K
RHP – Eduar Lopez – 4-3, 2.74 ERA, 8 GS, 2 CG, 1 SHO, 46 IP, 38 H, 5 2B, 3 3B, 1 HR, 14 ER, 15 BB, 28 K
The LPBC best-of-seven championship series will be streamed on https://www.youtube.com/@lpbcol until the final out of the series.
2024 Liga Profesional de Béisbol Colombia Championship Series Schedule
All Game Start Times Are Eastern Standard Time
*If Necessary
Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024
Game 1 – Vaqueros de Montería vs. Caimanes de Barranquilla – 7 p.m. EST – Estadio Edgar Renteria – Barranquilla, Colombia
Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024
Game 2 – Vaqueros de Montería vs. Caimanes de Barranquilla – 7 p.m. EST – Estadio Edgar Renteria – Barranquilla, Colombia
Friday, Jan. 5, 2024
Game 3 – Caimanes de Barranquilla vs. Vaqueros de Montería – 7 p.m. EST – Estadio 18 de Junio – Monteria, Colombia
Saturday, Jan. 6, 2024
Game 4 – Caimanes de Barranquilla vs. Vaqueros de Monteria – 5 p.m. EST – Estadio 18 de Junio – Monteria, Colombia
Sunday, Jan. 7, 2024
*Game 5 – Caimanes de Barranquilla vs. Vaqueros de Montería – 4 p.m. EST – Estadio 18 de Junio – Monteria, Colombia
Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024
*Game 6 – Vaqueros de Montería vs. Caimanes de Barranquilla – 7 p.m. EST – Estadio Edgar Renteria – Barranquilla, Colombia
Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024
*Game 7 – Vaqueros de Montería vs. Caimanes de Barranquilla – 7 p.m. EST – Estadio Edgar Renteria – Barranquilla, Colombia
