How Brewers’ Luis Urías is making his case to become the next baseball star from Mexico

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 14: Luis Urias #2 of the Milwaukee Brewers at bat against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on May 14, 2022 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
By Will Sammon and Nick Groke
May 17, 2022

Between sobs, the shy 8-year-old would tell his baseball-loving father that he didn’t want to go. He preferred to stay home, maybe practicing with his older brother or just throwing the ball into the air and catching it himself. Luis Urías’ father would allow no such thing; whether Urías liked it or not, they’d play with other kids in Magdalena de Kino, a city in Northern Mexico, and drive two hours south to see the closest professional baseball team.

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“My dad forced me to go, really,” Urías said recently. “I remember crying because I didn’t want to be there. But it took me maybe two days, four days, to start liking it.”

Only two other people from Magdalena de Kino have played in a Major League Baseball game, and one of them is Urías’ older brother, Ramón, an Orioles infielder with a career bWAR of 2.3. The other is catcher Sergio Robles, who over 16 games with the Orioles and the Dodgers in the 1970s, collected two hits in 21 at-bats.

At 24 and after producing a 3.1 bWAR last year, Urías, by running with the job of Brewers’ third baseman, is becoming the best player from his city, and so much more. He’s one of the best young players that the casuals have probably never heard of. Give it time. He’s making his case to become the next baseball star from Mexico.

There haven’t been many.

The brightest one was undoubtedly Dodgers pitcher Fernando Valenzuela. His 41.5 bWAR is the highest among Mexican-born players. Even though no one comes close to Valenzuela, there have been other successful pitchers, including two well-known former Brewers: Teddy Higuera and Yovani Gallardo. Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías (no relation to Luis) is climbing the charts as well. Quality position players have been scant. Bobby Avila, an infielder who played in the 1950s, has the highest bWAR among position players from Mexico. The most famous is probably Vinny Castilla, the former slugging third baseman, best known for his time with the Rockies in the late 1990s. Castilla had a 19.3 bWAR, second among players from Mexico, and his 320 home runs are tops for any player born in Mexico.

Among Mexican-born players, Urías’ 4.5 bWAR puts him fifth, and counting. His 31 career home runs rank ninth. To put that in perspective, consider that Valenzuela hit 10 home runs, and he ranks 21st. The only player born in Mexico to hit at least 25 home runs in a season is Castilla, who did it seven times. By hitting 23 home runs last year, Urías showed he could one day join him.

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Fifteen years ago, when Urías begrudgingly — well, at first — traveled with his father to watch baseball, one of the players he admired most was Castilla. Magdalena de Kino is a small town with a population of about 25,000. When he was growing up, both Urías’ parents worked as elementary school teachers. He said he had a great childhood, and was fortunate to live in the city, which he described as safer than most in nearby areas.

In hindsight, he said he was lucky his father was strict and kept tabs on who Urías kept as friends. He’s also thankful that his father loved baseball. Baseball — not soccer — is the sport of great interest. Sonora’s soccer team isn’t good, and winter-league baseball offers a chance to see some MLB players. So Urías’ family would drive to see the Naranjeros de Hermosillo, the team featuring former major-league players like Erubiel Durazo and Castilla.

When talking about those players now, Urías’ eyes still get wide.

“Man,” he said, “It was a lot of fun.”

Castilla can get that way when talking about Valenzuela, the player he looked up to when growing up.

“Even though he was a pitcher, he inspired a lot of players,” Castilla, now 54, told The Athletic last week from Denver, where he works in the Rockies front office as a special assistant. “He opened the door for every Mexican player. After him, a lot of people started going down to Mexico to watch baseball. Fernando was a pioneer for us. He was the first big, big star out of Mexico. There were players before, but Fernando was the first big star.”

Why have there been so few since?

“Let me be honest with you, it’s the system,” Castilla said. “It’s not like the Dominican or Venezuela, where if a scout goes there and likes a kid, they talk to the parents and sign him. In Mexico, most of the kids have already signed with a team in the Mexican League. So when a scout likes a guy, they can’t talk to the kid, they have to talk to the owner of the team. And sometimes the owner asks for too much money for the player and then they don’t let them go. It’s one of the reasons there aren’t more Mexican players. And that’s sad. I think there are a lot of major leaguers down there.”

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When Urías was 13 and his brother, who is three years older than him, signed with a professional team in Mexico, Urías said he thought to himself, “Maybe I can do it, too.”

By 16, he was playing for an affiliate of the Mexico City Red Devils. Soon after, in December 2013, Robert Rowley became the only scout to ever visit Urías’ home. The 5-foot-9 infielder with incredible strike zone awareness and contact skills went on to sign with the Padres. Urías said he was surprised Rowley even made the trip.

Rowley once told The Athletic’s Dennis Lin that he first watched Urías playing sandlot baseball in Hermosillo. Rowley was struck by the 14-year-old’s hands, bat speed and fluidity in less-than-ideal conditions, Lin wrote. Rowley next saw Urías at a showcase in Mexico. The story of a scout discovering a prospect from Mexico, let alone securing one, is rare.

“At the time I signed with the Padres, I didn’t know how the system worked,” Urías said. “We were pretty excited to see a scout at the academy. Usually, if they hear about a good player, they would go for one or two players. Showcases, there would be one about every six months. When I went to the Dominican Republic for the first time, that was different. They have scouts everywhere. Obviously, they have a lot of talent. But I was like, ‘Damn, this is nothing compared to Mexico.’ Because in Mexico, you probably find one scout. There, you see all 30 teams scouting guys.”

Urías’ journey offers a glimpse of what makes him so good. His story is one of perseverance. Players of his size, and address, don’t have great chances. Throw in some struggles, and those percentages shrink. After the Brewers acquired Urías in a trade with the Padres, believing in Urías required patience and trust in his skills. In the shortened 2020 season, he had just a .602 OPS. Last year, poor throws on routine plays from shortstop expedited a trade for Willy Adames. But Urías eventually found a home at third base and has since thrived. He led the Brewers in games (150) and plate appearances (570) while posting a .789 OPS with 23 home runs.

After starting the year on the injured list because of a strained quad, Urías has shown an ability to build off his breakout season. Since his season debut on May 3, Urías has reached base in each of his 11 games. His .838 OPS heading into Monday’s game would’ve led the team if he qualified. On Monday, he was the only player with multiple hits: He went 2-for-3 with a walk in a 1-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. Games like that are pivotal for Urías’ growth — and for Milwaukee, which will lean on Urías more than ever, particularly at shortstop with Adames possibly headed to the injured list because of an ankle issue.

Urías’ popularity hasn’t taken flight yet, but count Castilla as one who has seen and heard plenty of Urías.

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“He’s a really good player,” Castilla said. “He plays hard. He likes to work hard. And he loves the game. He’s a baseball player. I saw him play when he was a really young kid in the Mexican League. I noticed right away that he was a kid who works very, very hard. And he’s got talent. He’s a hard-nosed player. I just love it.

“A lot of people were talking about him back then because he’s a short guy but he’s got pop. He’s like (Jose) Altuve. It’s a rare thing. There aren’t a lot of guys who are short with that kind of pop. I managed against him in the winter league when I was at Hermosillo and he was at Obregón. And he played hard. I love what he did last year. He deserves the opportunity and (the Brewers) gave it to him and he’s running with it.”

At points during 2020, Brewers manager Craig Counsell would remind reporters of Urías’ age, how he was still so young and how making it to the majors when he did, at just 21 in 2018, is a sign of major talent. Urías is known as the team’s “little brother,” as Counsell put it.

When Urías returned from the injured list, Adames joked that he always has to look out for Urías and even picked him up from the airport. Players are quick to hug him or place an arm over his shoulder. On Monday, Braves infielder Orlando Arcia, essentially the player Urías replaced to start 2021, made a point of walking over to center field to meet Urías and wrap his arms around him in a playfully long embrace. Teammates always say the same things about Urías: He is young and fun, soft-spoken and well-intentioned.

But they are also quick to say that he knows where he comes from — in the offseason, Urías likes to stay in Mexico instead of Arizona — and doesn’t take anything for granted. Perhaps those two things are related. Beyond all that, Urías is back to proving just how good he can be with elite contact skills, excellent ball-strike recognition and sound instincts defensively. In essence, Urías continues to showcase what made him such a hotshot prospect out of Mexico and why he could be the country’s next big-name player.

“I love it,” Urías said. “Over there, pretty much everyone knows each other so you can really feel the support that me and my brother got from our city, state, country. And honestly, it feels pretty good. Growing up, my father was strict and that was a key to staying in line. At the beginning, I didn’t understand and I would get mad like every kid. But now I understand why they did it.

“It’s been a long road. And most of the time, I would say, I was always the kid of the team, the youngest guy on the team. It’s still that way, I think, here. That is probably why they treat me like the little brother. But hopefully, I can get to be the veteran one day.”

(Photo of Urías: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)

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