After a 2-4 start to the season, the Diablos Rojos del Mexico are once again torching Zona Sur pitching in the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol.
Following this weekend’s three-game sweep of the Guerreros de Oaxaca that saw the Diablos win all three games in extra innings, the Reds are 10-5 and tied for first place in the Zona Sur with the Bravos de Leon.
“What I can take away from the weekend games is that the team doesn’t fall apart, doesn’t give up, because if anyone wants to be champion, they have to beat the Diablos,” Diablos hitting coach Carlos Sievers told the LMB’s website. “Do you understand? Why? Because we’re number one and we don’t have anything to prove to anyone but ourselves, and that’s what we’ve been doing.”
Looking at the team’s batting statistics, it’s not hard to understand why the Diablos are winning. They haven’t produced the most runs in the league – the Guerreros have that distinction, having scored 124 through 15 games – but they’re not far off. They’ve scored 118, 15 more than second-place Leon, and they’ve done it with timely hitting, compiling 112 RBIs, also second in the league behind Oaxaca, which has two more.
And if there’s one thing driving the Diablos offense this year, it’s the long ball, and one guy has more than anyone else.
Diablos first baseman Jon Singleton leads the league with 11 homers this year, an astonishing number just 15 games into the season. During his time in the Major Leagues, Singleton was something of a “three true outcome” player, clubbing 29 homers, walking 120 times, and striking out 286 times in 812 career at-bats.
Singleton spent the winter with the Tomateros de Culiacan in the Liga ARCO Mexicana del Pacifico, the country’s professional winter league, where Diablos manager Lorenzo Bundy took over the club midseason. Along the way, Singleton, Bundy, and the “Killer Tomatoes” went to the LAMP finals and got a berth in the Caribbean Series, making it all the way to the final game, falling in extra innings to the Charros de Jalisco, the club that also swept them in the LAMP final.
Following Bundy to Mexico City appears to have paid dividends for both Singleton and the Diablos. The 6-foot-2, 256-pound first baseman has an astonishing 1.313 OPS thus far this season. Eleven of his 17 hits are homers. He’s driven in 25 runs, scored 20, and drawn 13 walks. And they’re 6-1 in games where Singleton puts at least one ball over the fence, and 2-0 when he hits more than one homer.
Currently, there are five Diablos batting over .300, and three of the big bats – Singleton, Jose Marmolejos, and Julian Ornelas, each of whom have 10 or more RBIs – are batting better than .290.
“I don’t think we’re at our peak yet. I think we’re still on the rise because we have a couple of hitters who are still finding their rhythm, and I think in a week or so we’ll see them producing,” Sievers told Septima Entrada. “Even though there are different guys (in the lineup), the dynamic, the style, and the philosophy are the same, and these kinds of games happen.”
Notable Series This Week – In the Zona Norte, the Toros de Tijuana (11-4) host the Sultanes de Monterrey (10-4) starting tonight in a series that will determine who heads into the weekend atop the division. In the Zona Sur, El Aguila de Veracruz (8-7) visit the Diablos Rojos Tuesday through Thursday.
Over the weekend, the Toros head to the border to face the Tecolotes de los Dos Laredos (8-7) in the Zona Norte, while the Diablos head to Estadio Hermanos Serdan in Angelopolis for a three-game set against the Pericos de Puebla (8-7).
Photo: Jon Singleton and the Diablos Rojos celebrate a win against the CTBC Brothers 12-4 at the Baseball Champions League. (Photo courtesy of the LMB)
