The last two teams to capture the Zaachila Cup, awarded to the winner of the Serie del Rey, the championship series of the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, sit atop the Zona Sur standings as the LMB season approaches the end of its first month.
Sure, the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, at 17-4, are performing as was expected — they’re a literal “superteam,” perhaps as much as one team could possibly be in professional baseball. But the Pericos de Puebla, who won the LMB title in 2023, have gone 9-1 in their last 10 and are just three games back of the Diablos at 14-7.
Over their last 10 games, the Pericos swept a road series from the Bravos de Leon May 2-4, outscoring the Bravos 38-16 over the three-game set, before taking two of three games from the Diablos Rojos at home. This past weekend, the Pericos swept took both ends of a doubleheader on the road at Queretaro and completed the sweep with a 16-3 win on Sunday.
At the plate, the Pericos are productive, pounding out hits at a prodigious pace. Nine players who have appeared in at least 13 games for Puebla are batting over .300, with three — right fielder Rogelio Cobos, third baseman Cristian Adames, and first baseman Estamy Urena — all over .400, and left fielder Phillip Ervin is at .397.
And while they are scoring runs in bunches, the 109 runs they’ve allowed are the third-fewest runs allowed in the LMB, and the fewest of the 10 teams in the Zona Sur. Only Zona Norte powers Monterrey (92) and Tijuana (80) have allowed fewer thus far.
Some of that defensive success comes from pitching, where the Pericos are led by Vladimir Gutierrez, the former National League Rookie of the Year candidate with Cincinnati who has been stellar in his first season south of the border, putting up a 2.96 ERA over 24 1/3 innings in his first four starts. Don’t be surprised if Gutierrez, who’s still just 29, is signed away from Puebla by a Major League Baseball organization looking for a fifth starter or a guy who can pitch in Triple-A and make spot starts in the big leagues.