Brazilians and Baseball?

When one thinks of Brazil, you did not think of baseball.  Of course, the one and only sport for the vast majority of Brazilians is football (soccer for us Americans).  Baseball on the other hand is not even a thought for many Brazilians, except for a small minority of the population. Despite the lack of popularity of baseball in the country, there have been five Brazilian born players that have made it the major leagues. All of these five players have reached the major leagues in the past 12 years, which points to the increasingly international impact such talent is having on the US sport of baseball.

Let us look at those five Brazilian players, who have made it to the MLB level.

First off, we have Yan Gomes, who was born in Mogi das Cruzes, Brazil but moved with his family to Florida when he was just 12 years old, and currently resides in Knoxville, Tennessee, with his wife and three children.  Ironically, although the first player from Brazil on our list, Gomes is still in the major leagues unlike the other four Brazilians we will cover here.  Although originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox, Gomes eventually became the first player from Brazil to appear in a major league game, when he made his debut for the Toronto Blue Jays on May 17, 2012 gathering two hits in a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees.

Gomes only spent a year in Toronto and then six years in Cleveland, before stops with the Washington Nationals and Oakland Athletics, before joining his present team the Chicago Cubs.  Over his 12-year career, Gomes has played in 1,084 games with 3,986 plate appearances, 135 home runs, 520 runs batted in, a .248 batting average and .713 slugging percentage.  As a catcher and currently 36 years old, it is easy to see why he has hung around so long in the major leagues with his consistent production throughout his career.

Other highlights of Gomes career include making the all-star team in 2018 and winning a World Series championship with the Nationals in 2019.  Gomes was the second Brazilian to win a World Series after…..

Paulo Orlando who was the first Brazilian to win a World Series ring back in 2015 with the Kansas City Royals.  Signed originally by the Chicago White Sox in 2005, Orlando was known for his speed having previously run track with the Brazilian Youth Olympic Team.  Chicago traded him to the Royals in 2008, but he did not make the big club until he made it to their opening day roster in 2015.  Orlando made his debut on April 9, 2015, ironically against the team that originally signed him, the White Sox.  The year 2015 turned out to be a blessed one for Orlando who ended his first season by winning a championship, as the Royals defeated the New York Mets in five games.

Orlando’s playing time increased in the 2016 season as he appeared in 128 games with 484 plate appearances.  The good that season was a .302 batting average, but the bad was that he only sported a .329 on base percentage with just 13 walks that year as compared to 105 strike outs.  The 2017 season turned out to be disappointing and injury marred season as Orlando hit only .198 in just 39 games and 90 plate appearances.  Things only got worse in 2018 as his average dropped to .167 in just 25 games and 93 plate appearances.  After that season, the Royals released him and although he was picked up by the Los Angeles Dodgers and then signed by the White Sox again, he never again appeared in a major league game.

After bouncing around the Mexican League from 2020 – 2022, Orlando did make the Brazilian team that won a silver medal in the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023.  He now lives mostly in São Paulo with his wife and family, but also lives part of the year in the Kansas City suburbs.

André Rienzo was another player originally signed by the Chicago White Sox back in November 2006.  He did not though make his major league debut for the White Sox until July 30, 2013 and ended the season with a 2-3 record and a 4.82 ERA in 10 games, all as a starting pitcher.  Rienzo followed that up with a 4-5 record and a 6.82 ERA in 18 games, before the Miami Marlins acquired him prior to the 2015 season, which would be his last one in the major leagues.  Rienzo did sign with the San Diego Padres, but never made it to the big league team, and following 2017 he played in the Mexican league until 2023. 

Rienzo distinguished himself more as part of his international baseball career having represented the Brazilian national baseball team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualification, 2013 World Baseball Classic, 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualification, 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier and 2021 World Baseball Qualifier.  He also joined Paulo Orlando in winning the silver medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile in 2023.

Thyago Vieira is also from São Paulo and has had a truly international baseball career.  He originally signed with the Seattle Mariners in November 2010 and played in the Venezuelan Summer League during his time with the club.  Vieira did not make his debut until August 14, 2017 and that was his only appearance for the Mariners before they traded him to the White Sox (yes that team again) at the end of the season.  Vieira only pitched in 22 games over 14 2/3 innings for the entirety of the 2018 and 2019 seasons, before signing with the Yomiuri Giants of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league in 2020.  In the Japanese league, he found some success on the mound and threw the fastest pitch in NPB history at 166 kilometers (103.1 miles per hour) on August 13, 2021. The 2022 NPB season did not go well for Vieira and he was eventually sent down to the Yomiuri farm team.

Vieira then returned to the U.S. in 2023 and signed with the Milwaukee Brewers and he is currently on their 40-man roster.  He is only 30 years old, so with his fastball he still has a chance to potentially return to their roster and resume his major league career.

Vieira also has been part of the Brazilian national baseball team having represented them in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualification, 2013 World Baseball Classic, 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualification and the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier.

Finally, we have Luiz Gohara who has had the shortest MLB career of all the Brazilian born players.  Gohara originally signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2012, but never made it to the major league club.  On January 11, 2017, the Mariners traded him to the Atlanta Braves and he made his major league debut on September 6, 2017.  Gohara only made five and nine appearances, in the 2017 and 2018 seasons, respectively and totaled only 49 innings pitched over those two years for the Braves.  His last MLB appearance was on July 8, 2018, so in total his entire professional baseball career lasted just five months over two seasons. Gohara did sign with the Los Angeles Angels for the 2019 season, but never reached the big league club who released him in May 2020.

Gohara who is of Japanese descent was born in Tupa, Brazil.

Lastly, we have Dentinho, who despite his propensity for catching flies, never mastered the art of catching fly balls. Dentinho is retired and living comfortably with his family in Rio de Janeiro.