After a middling start to the season, there’s a new head tomato in Culican.
Lorenzo Bundy, the second-winningest manager in Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico history, has taken over the Tomateros de Culiacan. Tomateros management dismissed manager Roberto Vizcarra and coaches José Ángel Chávez and Daniel Rodríguez following Sunday’s game, a 5-4, 10-inning win against the Venados de Mazatlan that left the Tomateros with a 21-20 record overall and a 3-3 mark in the second half.
The slow start to the second half came after the Tomateros finished the first half of the LAMP season with a 18-17 mark, losing the tiebreaker for sixth place to the Aguilas de Mexicali.
Bundy, 66, first managed in the LAMP with the Mayos de Navojoa in 1991-92, and became just the second manager in league history to record 700 wins in Mexico’s winter league. He trails only Francisco Estrada on the all-time wins list. He won titles each of the last two seasons as manager of the Diablos Rojos del Mexico in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, winning the LMB’s manager of the year award in 2024 and sweeping the 2025 Serie del Rey against the Charros de Jalisco in four games.
Along with Bundy being named manager in Culiacan, Chris Roberson was named bench coach, Robinson Cancel wwas named hitting coach, and David Sinohui was named bullpen coach for the Tomateros, who begin a three-game set against Hermosillo tonight at home.
In addition to Bundy, the Tomateros announced that they have added Dwight Smith Jr. to the active roster. Smith Jr. appeared in 169 Major League Baseball games with the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles from 2017-20, battin .248 with 17 homers and 68 RBIs. He played the 2024-25 season with the Tomateros, batting .301 with six homers and 26 RBIs in 52 games. Over the summer, he helped the Charros de Jalisco to the Serie del Rey, batting .273 with 10 homers and 49 RBIs in 78 games.
Charros Add Tomohiro Anraku, Connor Hollis, and Dean Nevárez – When you have the chance to add one of the top relievers available, you’d be foolish not to take it.
The LAMP’s defending champions, the Charros de Jalisco, picked up Tomohiro Anraku, who won the 2025 Reliever of the Year award in his second season in the LMB with the Diablos Rojos del Mexico last summer. He made his winter ball debut earlier this season with the Estrellas Orientales of LIDOM and was less than spectacular, throwing two innings in three games and allowing five earned runs on four hits and two walks.
A native of Matsuyama, Japan, Anraku held the closer role for the Diablos Rojos, helping them to their second consecutive LMB title, leading the league in saves and posting 2.98 ERA in 47 appearances, throwing 45 1/3 innings and striking out 46 while walking 25 over the summer. In nine seasons in with the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball, he made 231 appearances with ERA of 3.59 across 365 2/3 innings.
Hollis, a utilityman from Arlington, Texas, was a prospect in the Tampa Bay Rays and the San Diego Padres organizations before joining the LMB’s Piratas de Campeche for 2025, recording 118 hits in 80 games with an average of .366, helping them to the Zona Sur Serie Campeonato.
Veteran catcher Dean Nevarez, a native of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 19th round of the 2018 MLB Draft and played in the Cubs and Seattle Mariners organizations before heading to Mexico for the 2022 LMB season. In 221 LMB games with Guadalajara, Tijuana, and Union Laguna, Nevarez had batted .301 with 25 homers and 132 RBIs. He previously played in the LAMP with Mexicali and Los Mochis in 2022-23 and with Obregon in 2023-24, appearing in 40 games with a .240 batting average, three homers and 15 RBIs.
Lefty Avery Weems Joins Algodoneros Rotation – Lefty Avery Weems, who pitched in relief for Double-A Frisco in the Texas Rangers organization last summer, is headed to Guasave, where he’ll be a starter for the Algodoneros.
He’s made 101 appearances and 51 starts in affiliated baseball, throwing 282 2/3 innings, striking out 356 and walking 85 with an ERA of 4.84, having risen as high as Triple-A in the Rangers’ chain. He previously made four winter ball starts in Puerto Rico’s LBPRC with Manati in 2020-21, throwing 11 2/3 innings and allowing two runs on four hits and six walks, striking out 22.
Pitcher of the Week – Darel Torres had two great starts for the Cañeros de Los Mochis, earning him the LAMP’s Pitcher of the Week award. Torres faced the Venados de Mazatlán and Naranjeros de Hermosillo, throwing 12 scoreless innings and striking out seven, with a 0.00 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP for the week. Currently, Torres holds the second-best ERA in the LAMP with a 2.36 mark, the third-best WHIP with a 1.07 mark, and is second in strikeouts with 46.
Also nominated were Felipe González of the Yaquis de Obregón, who threw seven scoreless innings with three strikeouts against Tucson, José Samayoa of the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, who struck out eight in six scoreless innings against Los Mochis, and Raúl Carillo of the Tucson Baseball Team, who threw six scoreless innings with three strikeouts against Guasave.
Player of the Week – Leo Heras of the Algodoneros de Guasave is the LAMP’s Player of the Week after tying a historic record. Heras hit his 40th career triple last Wednesday, tying Matías Carrillo for the most triples in LAMP history. He also hit two home runs, drove in six runs and batted .455 in six games last week against Tucson and Mexicali.
Also nominated were Jacob Rhinesmith of the Jaguares de Nayarit, who hit two homers and drove in nine against Culiacan and Jalisco, Yadir Drake of the Aguilas de Mexicali, who homered once and drove in six runs, and Drake’s teammate Phillip Evans, who hit three homers and drove in nine runs against Jalisco and Guasave last week.
Reliever of the Week – Chase Jassee of the Naranjeros de Hermosillo is the LAMP Reliever of the Week for the second time in the 2025-26 season. The left-hander made three appearances and recorded two saves in two opportunities, throwing three innings and allowing only one hit while striking out five. He previously won the award the first week of the season.
Also nominated were Vidal Nuño of the Venados de Mazatlán, who three three scoreless innings and recorded two holds, and Carlos Morales of the Jaguares de Nayarit, who threw 1 2/3 scoreless innings and recorded two holds.
Photo: Lorenzo Bundy is the new manager of the Tomateros de Culiacan. (Photo courtesy of the Tomateros de Culiacan)
