Ronnie Williams delivers a pitch for the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, who have posted the highest winning percentage in franchise history in 2024. (Photo: Diablos Rojos del Mexico)
While the race for the top of the Mexican Baseball League’s Zona Sur is long over, four teams are within two games of first place in the Zona Norte as the 2024 regular season comes to its denouement.
With a pair of wins, the Algodoneros de Union Laguna took the season series from the Zona Norte-leading Sultanes de Monterrey last week. Now 47-35, the Algodoneros are just 1 1/2 games back of the Sultanes with nine games remaining on the 2024 Liga Mexicana de Beisbol schedule, and look to return to the Serie del Rey.
Union Laguna (47-35) heads to Guadalajara to face the Charros de Jalisco (33-50, ninth place) to start the week and heads to Aguascalientes (42-40, sixth place) this weekend. The Algodoneros close the regular season with three home games against seventh-place Saltillo (41-42) next week.
Monterrey has three games to start this coming week against the Caliente de Durango, who at 34-49 are currently in eighth place in the Zona Norte, three games on the road against the Dorados de Chihuahua (30-54, 10th place) and three games to close the season at home against the second-place Tecolotes de Dos Laredos (49-35).
Dos Laredos will face fifth-place Tijuana (45-38) to start the week, seventh-place Saltillo (41-42) this coming weekend, and finish the season with three games against Monterrey.
The Acereros de Monclova, two and a half games out of first place, have the easiest remaining schedule and host the Dorados de Chihuahua (30-54, 10th place) to start the week. They host the Charros de Jalisco this weekend. They’ll finish the season against the Rieleros de Aguascalientes next week.
The Red Devils Get Their Due – With a win last Saturday against Veracruz, the Diablos Rojos del Mexico pushed their record to 65-14, ensuring that they’d have the highest winning percentage in club history this season.
With the win, the Diablos are assured of a winning percentage of at least .714, nine points higher than their mark of .708 that they achieved in 1995, when they went 80-33 and won both the first and second halves of the season . Later that year, the club fell in the Serie del Rey, getting swept by the Sultanes de Monterrey in the best-of-seven series.
Another win will guarantee the Diablos Rojos a winning percentage of at least .7253, which will put them ahead of the 2005 Sultanes de Monterrey (.7248) with the highest winning percentage in a season of at least 90 games.
The Diablos Rojos face the Bravos de Leon (34-48, eighth place in Zona Sur) Tuesday night at 7:30 pm EDT at Estadio Domingo Santana in Leon.
Reinforcements! We Need Reinforcements! – As the playoffs draw closer, teams around the LMB have been making moves to strengthen the roster for the postseason, or gain the rights to players they hope to retain for the 2025 season. The LMB does allow teams to loan players within the league, so a team acquiring a player as a reinforcement does not necessarily mean that a team holds the rights to that player when the offseason rolls around.
VENTANA CERRADA
Concluyó la última fase para que los equipos de la @LigaMexBeis se reforzaran, y éstas fueron las contrataciones que se registraron:
-LAGUNA: Luke Farrell (PD) y Greg Bird (1B).
-DOS LAREDOS: Luis Sardiñas (IF).
-TIJUANA: Víctor Castañeda (PD) y Anthony… pic.twitter.com/2M11J3J5QJ— Beisbolpuro (@Beisbolpuro) July 23, 2024
The biggest name among the late-season reinforcements is former New York Yankees first baseman Greg Bird, who is in his first season in Mexico. Bird has a .317 batting average with 83 hits, 18 homers and 51 RBI in 72 games with Jalisco this season. He’ll rejoin his former Yankees teammate Didi Gregorius on the right side of the infield in Torreon, where the two hope to get the club back to the Serie del Rey.
Playoffs On the Horizon – The first round of the playoffs begins on August 3, when all three Zona Norte series begin.
In the Zona Norte, the best-of-seven first round will be played August 3-4, August 6-8, and August 10-11. The South Zone first round will be on August 4-5, continue August 7-9, and conclude August 11-12.
If the playoffs were to start today, the first round matchups would be as follows:
Northern Zone
(1) Monterrey vs. (6) Aguascalientes
(2) Dos Laredos vs. (5) Tijuana
(3) Union Laguna vs. (4) Monclova
Southern Zone
(1) Mexico vs. (6) Tabasco/Veracruz
(2) Queretaro vs. (5) Puebla
(3) Yucatan vs. (4) Oaxaca
You can watch Liga Mexicana de Beisbol on Jonron.tv , YoutubeTV , and LMBenvivo .
