MEXICO CITY — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Alek Thomas said bringing MLB to Mexico is vital to growing the game globally, as his side plays a two-game series against the San Diego Padres in Mexico City this weekend in front of a passionate crowd.<\/p>\n
American-born Thomas, who has represented Mexico at the World Baseball Classic through his mother\u2019s side of the family, said playing in the capital carries personal weight.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely important,\u201d Thomas told reporters Saturday. \u201cGetting the game all across the world is a big part of what MLB is trying to do\u2026 so everybody can see some of the best players in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described a strong connection with local fans in the build-up, saying representing Mexico had deepened that bond.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been a lot of people that came up to me,\u201d he said. \u201cI feel like the Mexican fan base has always been very supportive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to represent Mexico and my mom\u2019s side of the family,\u201d he said. \u201cAfter those games, the hugs were a little bit tighter\u2026 you could see how proud they were.\u201d<\/p>\n
With both his parents in attendance for the series at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu, Thomas called the experience \u201creally special\u201d and said he was eager to win over what was expected to be a Padres-heavy crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to the crowd reaction,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully we can sway them a little bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
San Diego\u2019s Fernando Tatis Jr. pointed to the rapid development of Mexican baseball, noting the rising quality of the domestic summer league, where his father Fernando Tatis Sr. is currently managing the Algodoneros de Union Laguna.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very nice to see the quality of baseball being played here,\u201d Tatis Jr. said. \u201cIt\u2019s a league that\u2019s growing \u2026 you can see the investment and the work that\u2019s being put in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Teammate and fellow Dominican Manny Machado said Latin American fans change the game entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cLatinos play the game differently \u2026 and a big part of that is the fans,\u201d Machado said. \u201cThey give us energy. You\u2019re going to see that here again.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the Padres, who have long enjoyed strong support in Mexico, the series reinforces a connection MLB is increasingly leaning into as it expands internationally.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s something the sport has needed for a long time,\u201d manager Craig Stammen said.<\/p>\n
With both teams challenging the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, attention now turns to the field, where a high-scoring series is expected at altitude in front of a sell-out crowd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MEXICO CITY — Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Alek Thomas said bringing MLB to Mexico is vital to growing the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-631765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}