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Nicaraguan Baseball (LBPN): News, Notes, and Where to Watch

David PolliNov 1, 20245 MIN READ
Nicaraguan Baseball (LBPN): News, Notes, and Where to Watch

The Nicaraguan Professional Baseball League (LBPN) starts its 20th season on Friday, Nov. 1. The LBPN season will consist of 80 regular season games, then 24 round-robin games, and the seven-game championship series. The league consists of five teams. The defending champions, Gigantes de Rivas, defeated Tren del Norte in last year’s Serie Final in six games. 

Changes and Rules

The season was originally slated to start on October 25, but due to the arrival of international players, the first games were pushed back to November 1.

The league adopted a new rule this past offseason stating that teams must have a minimum of 10 foreign players, with no maximum.

Each team has a roster of 30 players, which means that at least one-third of each roster and at least 50 players will not be native to Nicaragua.

The league had its national player draft on Oct. 2, where 45 Nicaraguan players were drafted.

Gigantes de Rivas

The Gigantes de Rivas are coming off of their third title in franchise history since their founding in 2013. The Gigantes will be managed once again by German Mesa, a long-time member of the Cuban national team as a player and a coach.

Tren del Norte

Tren del Norte was founded as a club in 1961, but it has been searching for its first LBPN championship title since joining the league in the 2019-2020 season. It has had a quick rise since then, competing in the Serie Final last season in just its fifth season. Tren del Norte retained manager Tony Rodriguez after his strong managerial debut in the LBPN last year and looks to build on his first-season success.

Leones de Leon

Leones de Leon finished third in the regular season last year and third in the round-robin stage. Managed by Sandor Guido in his sixth season at the helm, the Lions are trying to bounce back from a mediocre year and claim their fourth title in the last seven seasons. The biggest returning piece for the Leones is 2023-2024 innings leader Jesus Linarez, who went 3-1 for them last season with a 2.31 ERA.

Tigres de Chinandega

Tigres de Chinandega have won four titles since the league’s inception, including the first Serie Final in 2004-2005. The Tigres last championship however was in 2017-2018. This year, the Tigres will be managed by retained manager Lenin Picota in his ninth season managing in the LBPN and his seventh in Chinandega.

Indios del Boer has been the most successful team in the history of the LBPN. They have won six out of the 20 championships since the LBPN’s reformation in 2004. However, they have a tall task ahead of them after finishing last in the first round last season. Luis Sumoza is in his first season as manager for Indios del Boer and is the only new manager in the LBPN. Only 36 years old, Sumoza is the hitting coach for the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Dominican Summer League team. He is looking to bring his LBPN squad back to the top of the league after finishing last in the first round a year ago.

The season will open on Nov. 1 with two games at 6:00 p.m. EST. One game will be a rematch of last year’s Serie Final between the Gigantes de Rivas and Tren del Norte, and the second contest will be between the Leones de Leon and the Tigres de Chinandega.

All the games will be available on the official LBPN YouTube channel during the season.

Follow along for weekly updates on the LBPN here at World Baseball Network.

Matt Tallarini contributed to this article.

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