The Cincinnati Reds made an intriguing move this week by signing 24-year-old right-handed reliever to a minor league contract. He has spent his entire career pitching in Mexico, playing in both the Mexican League and the Mexican Pacific League (the winter league).
He made his professional debut at 19 with Campeche in the Mexican League, appearing in 36 games and logging 37.2 innings with a 4.54 ERA. For context, the league’s overall ERA was 5.79, and his team’s ERA was 6.26. The average age of pitchers in the league was 29.5. That winter, Machuca made 31 appearances for Los Mochis, throwing 25 innings with a 3.96 ERA, while the league’s ERA was 3.60.
Since then, he has continued playing for Campeche in the spring and summer, while returning to Los Mochis each winter. He missed the entire 2021 season but has been dominant in the past two winters, tossing 55 innings with a 1.15 ERA, striking out 64 batters and walking just 18.
While the competition in Mexico’s leagues isn’t on par with Major League Baseball, there are players with MLB experience in both leagues. The quality of the competition is generally closer to Double-A rather than MLB level.
Although it’s difficult to directly translate his performance to the majors, we can evaluate his skills by watching him pitch. The Mexican Pacific League broadcasts all their games on YouTube, and I reviewed his four most recent outings to break down his performance.
A few things stood out. He has a strong fastball, consistently throwing between 94-97 mph with good movement on both planes. His slider, which sits in the mid-80s, also has solid 12-6 action.
However, he did struggle with command during these four games. His slider was tough to control, and his fastball command wasn’t sharp either. Over these four games, he threw strikes 62% of the time, which is below expectations, especially given his strong walk rate this winter. This could have been a rough stretch, as he didn’t walk anyone in these outings and still struck out seven batters.
It seems unlikely that Machuca will be competing for a big league spot this spring. However, he has the tools to make it to the majors. His fastball’s velocity and movement are impressive, and while his slider has potential, he’ll need to improve his command of it to be successful against top-tier hitters.
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