The Diablos We Know and Some We Don’t: Baseball Champions League Americas Group A Preview

When the 2025 Baseball Champions League Americas starts Tuesday, the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, who are hosting the event at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City, will take the field as heavy favorites.

They have 17 players with Major League Baseball experience on the roster. They won the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol championship last season after setting a record for winning percentage during the LMB’s regular season. And they’re assigned to a group with the two weakest teams in the event: the Tigres de Chinandega, who won Nicaragua’s Campeonato Nacional de Béisbol Superior Commandante Germán Pomares Ordóñez last year, and the Titanes de Florida, who won Puerto Rico’s Liga Superior Beisbol Doble-A in 2024.

The first two days of group play at the BCL Americas are followed by quarterfinal games where the second place team in each group faces the third place team from the opposite group, with the first place team having the day off.

Diablos Rojos del Mexico
League – Liga Mexicana de Beisbol
2024 Record – 71-19
Previous Tournament Appearances – None
Previous Tournament Championships – None

About the League – The Liga Mexicana de Beisbol is likely the best summer league in the Americas that is not affiliated with Major League Baseball. For years, the league was considered to be Triple-A and was part of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, which governed affiliated baseball in North America. After the NAPBL folded, the LMB became independent, but the level of play rose as teams began signing players with Major League Baseball and Triple-A experience who were unable to secure MLB or minor league contracts.

Notable Players – 2B Robinson Cano, 1B Jose Marmolejos, CF Franklin Barreto, P Zac Grotz, P Tomohiro Anraku.

Outlook for the BCL Americas – The Diablos Rojos are coming off a historic 2024 season that saw the club go 71-19 in the regular season, make a comeback from a 3-0 series deficit against Oaxaca to earn a berth in the Serie del Rey by reeling off four straight wins, and then capture their 17th LMB title decisively. Though the BCL Americas will be a tuneup for the LMB regular season for the Diablos, don’t expect them to take it lightly. They have a potent lineup that will feast on weak pitching, and their backend starters would be elite pitchers in most of the other leagues in the event. The Diablos should win both pool play games with relative ease, but they could be challenged in the semifinals or finals. That said, the Diablos are a heavy favorite to win the event on their home turf.

Tigres de Chinandega
League – Campeonato Nacional de Béisbol Superior Commandante Germán Pomares Ordóñez (Nicaragua)
2024 Record – 66-29
Previous Tournament Appearances – Latin American Series (2013, 2017, 2018)
Previous Tournament Championships – Latin American Series (2017, 2018)

About the League – The Tigres play in the Campeonato Nacional de Béisbol Superior Commandante Germán Pomares Ordóñez, commonly known as the Liga German Pomares, a 20-team summer league in Nicaragua that plays from late February to early October. Like most summer leagues in Latin America, the level of play is lower than that of the country’s winter league, the Liga Beisbol Profesional Nacional, as the best players in Latin America are playing in affiliated minor leagues in the United States, the Liga Mexicana de Beisbol, or in Asia during the summer.

Notable Players – P Ronald Medrano, P J.C. Ramirez

Outlook for the BCL Americas – The Tigres will have two of the strongest pitchers at the event in Medrano and Ramirez, which will give them a good chance to beat the Titanes de Florida. Medrano will likely be the starter against the Diablos Rojos, who will have a potent lineup he should be familiar with having pitched in the LMB with Aguascalientes last year. Ramirez, who pitched for six different teams in MLB over six seasons from 2013-19 and was Medrano’s teammate in Aguascalientes, will likely start against the Titanes de Florida. If the Tigres can beat the Titanes, they’ll get to play the third place team from Group B and a chance to advance to the semifinals. If Medrano is ready to pitch again in the semifinals, it’s conceivable that they could make the championship game.

Titanes de Florida
League – Liga de Beisbol Superior Doble-A (Puerto Rico)
Previous Tournament Appearances – None
Previous Tournament Championships – None

About the League – The Liga de Beisbol Superior Doble-A is a 45-team semi-professional league that spans the entire island, playing a 50-game schedule every summer.

Notable Players – P Joshua Santiago, IF/OF Jay Feliciano, OF Ian Laureano

Outlook for the BCL Americas – The Titanes de Florida won their league championship, but they are also a team of mostly unknown players from Puerto Rico’s best summer league. It’s hard to see them beating the Tigres de Chinandega, a team with several players with, at minimum, high minor league experience and a couple with time in MLB. It’s harder still to see them beating the Diablos Rojos del Mexico, with 17 players with MLB experience on the roster. Given the quality of the other five leagues in the event, the Titanes have a big hill to climb this week, but their players will get some good experience against elite competition.

Photo: Manager Lorenzo Bundy addresses the Diablos Rojos del Mexico at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu during spring training in 2025. (Photo: Enrique Gutiérrez/Diablos Rojos del Mexico)