EMERSON, Ga. – Joel Fuentes is on a mission to revive baseball on the small island of Puerto Rico and his first visit to the new state-of-the-art Perfect Game Park South at LakePoint has been an eye-opening experience.
“This is unbelievable to see how the guys perform in this system and when you’re facing kids that are 14-years-old and throwing 82-83 mph it’s amazing,” said Fuentes. “This is awesome. I never thought this was gonna be so great. First of all, you walk around the campus and this is nothing we see in Puerto Rico. This is a dream.”
Fuentes and his SBO (Storm Baseball Organization) Puerto Rico club are in Emerson, Ga. for the weekend to compete against some of the best young amateur baseball talent in the country at the Perfect Game WWBA Freshman World Championship and they’ve seen some tough competition.
“We come here to America and face the best talent in the world and this is the reality,” Fuentes said. “They’ve gotta understand that we need to compete. A lot of organizations in Puerto Rico are trying to develop the system of travel baseball and I think this is the best thing that we can do because it’s very challenging for the young guys.”
Fuentes and his roster full of youthful 2018 high school graduates are looking to improve baseball on what was once a flourishing baseball island, while getting the exposure the players need in the United States.
“This is my first time here and, just looking around, I see a couple guys that I know from different organizations, because I work for the New York Mets, and it helps,” said Fuentes. “We’re gonna do the best we can do and compete and try and put the small island of Puerto Rico on top of the game again.”
Fuentes, who played in the San Francisco Giants organization and has been a hitting coach in the New York Mets farm system for the past few years, is familiar with what the islanders have to do to make it as far as he did. He is taking his first Perfect Game experience as an opportunity to learn how different travel ball organizations run and what doors he can open for his players.
“We started building up the program two years ago,” Fuentes said. “I have another program down there called VBS (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) and I hope to bring them to Perfect Game. I wish to come back as many times as I can and maybe someday help Perfect Game as well and share my knowledge of Puerto Rican baseball.”
The number of drafted Puerto Rican played has steadily decreased for the most part over the last twenty years, granted the 1994 draft also had 70 rounds. It still gives you something to think about. The most recent 2014 MLB First Year Player Draft didn’t see it’s first Puerto Rican off the board until Nelson Jorge was taken in the seventh round. In the last ten years, only five Puerto Ricans have been first round selections, with Carlos Correa taken first overall in 2012, the draft that saw three first round picks from the island.
The 2000 draft saw 27 players taken, slightly down from the 1994 draft, which selected 34 Puerto Rican players. The most recent draft only called upon 19 players from the island with only two selected within the first ten rounds.
“Baseball in Puerto Rico has changed a lot and we’re trying to put everything together and see our island get back on track and compete with the United States, because we used to when I was younger,” said Fuentes.
Players like Carlos Beltran, Alex Rios, Edwin Encarnacion, and the Molina brothers all call Puerto Rico home and want to see it grow to what it once was for baseball. Beltran even founded the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy to provide the kids with intensive baseball training while at the same time receiving a top-notch education. The academy graduated its first class just last year.
“We are trying to get an opportunity to develop young ball players from the island,” Fuentes said. “We’re gonna promote the 2016 and 2017 classes a lot. I’m trying to get the best in Puerto Rico and bring those guys over here.”
Fuentes said he’s been keeping his eye on the upcoming Perfect Game showcases held in Jupiter in late December and early January. After all, recent MLB draft selection Alexis Pantojas attended two World Showcases, as did Carlos Correa, who attended nine Perfect Game events before becoming a first overall pick.
SBO is on the right track as far as exposing it’s players to the toughest competition in amateur baseball while also getting the exposure from the scouts.
While Fuentes admits his young team has a lot of progress to make, it’s evident he is taking the necessary steps to get Puerto Rico back on the map.