Mexico-born starting pitcher Jose Urquidy, who had a sensational regular season in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico with the Venados de Mazatlan, has a new home for the playoffs.
The Mazatlan native made six starts during the 2024-25 LAMP season for his hometown club, throwing 33 innings with a 1.09 ERA, allowing just four earned runs and and striking out 35 while walking just eight of the 128 batters he faced. In total, just 31 of the batters Urquidy faced in Mexico this winter reached base, and he posted a 0.848 WHIP.
¡José Urquidy es un león!??
El lanzador mexicano llega a reforzar a los CAMPEONES. ?Todos los detalles en https://t.co/jYZYUCZ8R4. ? pic.twitter.com/8fwETG1DWH
— ???????? ???????? ???? (@EscogidoBBClub) December 26, 2025
When Urquidy left the Venados, he had agreed to terms with the Arizona Diamondbacks on a contract for the 2026 season, but a post on the social network X by BeisbolPuro indicated that the deal with Arizona didn’t come together. Now Urquidy will pitch for the defending LIDOM and Caribbean Series champions as he seeks to be seen by scouts in hopes of a return to Major League Baseball next season.
MAÑANA VUELA URQUIDY A DOMINICANA
Después de que su firma con los @Dbacks no se concretó, y para buscar ser visto por más scouts de organizaciones de Grandes Ligas, el mazatleco José Urquidy decidió continuar lanzando este invierno en República Dominicana con los… pic.twitter.com/pS0vzlDEpt
— Beisbolpuro (@Beisbolpuro) December 26, 2025
The Leones got into the round robin after finishing fourth in LIDOM in the 2025-26 regular season, getting to the postseason in a playoff race that came down to the wire. Five pitchers made the bulk of the starts for Escogido in the regular season, with Grant Gavin throwing 44 2/3 innings over 14 total appearances, making 13 starts with a 4.23 ERA. Norge Ruiz and Travis Lakins started eight and seven games, respectively, with Lakins posting a 2.48 ERA in 29 innings, while Ruiz threw 26 2/3 innings with a 3.38 ERA.
The first round of the LIDOM playoffs is a four-team, 18-game round robin, with the top two teams advancing to a best-of-seven championship series. Last year, the Leones finished fourth in the regular season before going 10-5 in the round robin, finishing second behind their Santo Domingo rival, the Tigres del Licey, but winning the championship in seven games with Junior Caminero hitting a memorable home run in the ninth inning of Game 7.
Photo: Jose Urquidy is headed to the Leones del Escogido of LIDOM after a great season in Mexico. (Photo courtesy of LAMP)
