Despite logging a loss at the World Baseball Classic, Duque Hebbert is still a winner.
The 21-year-old Nicaraguan baseball player’s Team Nicaragua lost to the Dominican Republic during pool-play at the WBC on Monday, but he struck out MLB superstars Juan Soto, Julio Rodriguez and Rafael Deversin the ninth inning of Nicaragua’s 6-1 loss and earned himself a contract with the Detroit Tigers in the process.
One of the Tigers’ scouts, Luis Molina, found the right-hander, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, as he was leaving LoanDepot Park, asked him a handful of questions and signed him to a minor league contract, said Nicaraguan Athletics Federation press officer Carlos Alfaro Leon.
An announcement was made on the bus in front of the whole team.
Hebbert, who also gave up a double to the hot-hitting Manny Machado in his lone inning of work, used mostly low 90s sinkers, mid-80s changeups and low-90s sliders to strike out the side. Team Nicaragua manager Sandor Guido called it “extraordinary.”
“He showed what he is made of,” Guido said through an interpreter. “When you have will, when you have heart, you can do very good things.”
Gregory Soto is heading east… The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired the 27-year-old Dominican hard-throwing professional baseball pitcher and infielder Kody Clemens from the Detroit Tigers, the tam has announced. In return, Detroit received infielder Nick Maton, outfielder Matt Vierling and catcher Donny Sands. Soto was an MLB All-Star the past two seasons, including 2022, when he went 2-11 for the fourth-place…
Jhonny Peralta has managed to save the best for last… The 31-year-old Dominican professional baseball player’s ninth-inning home run gave the Detroit Tigers a much-needed victory against the Boston Red Sox. Peralta hit the two-run homer off Andrew Bailey in the bottom of the ninth to give the Tigers a…
Miguel Cabrera makes Venezuelan MLB History while joining a new elite club… With a single against the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, the 39-year-old Venezuelan professional baseball player and Detroit Tigers designated hitter became the 33rd member of the 3,000-hit club and only the seventh player in major league history to achieve the milestone and hit…
One of the Tigers’ scouts, Luis Molina, found the right-hander, who’s listed at 5-foot-9, as he was leaving LoanDepot Park, asked him a handful of questions and signed him to a minor league contract, said Nicaraguan Athletics Federation press officer Carlos Alfaro Leon.
