Brazilian Teenager Signs Contract With Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays

 

Major League Baseball’s website says the Toronto Blue Jays signed Eric Pardinho, a teenager from Brazil, on July 2.

Pardinho is a pitcher². He can throw a baseball over 145 kilometers per hour.

That is just about the average speed of a fast pitch¹ in Major League Baseball. But Pardinho should get even better. After all, he is only 16.

If Pardinho makes it to the major leagues, he will be only the fourth Brazilian³-born player to play at that level. Cleveland Indians catcher Yan Gomes was the first.

Pardinho was rated as the fifth-best international prospect⁴ by MLBPipeline.com. He throws right-handed and is only 1.72 meters tall, which is short for a pitcher.

He received over $1 million for agreeing to play in the Blue Jays’ organization.

Pardinho said he was six years old when he started playing. His uncle saw him playing paddleball on the beach and thought he might make a good baseball player.

So when they returned to their hometown of Bastos, they started practicing. While baseball is not well-known in Brazil, Bastos has a large Japanese influence, and baseball is a popular sport in Japan.

Pardinho’s grandparents on his mother’s side of the family are Japanese.

Pardinho started getting attention in 2016 when he pitched⁶ against the Dominican Republic in the under-16 Pan⁵ Am Games. He struck out 12 batters⁸ in the game, which means⁹ he threw three strikes to each batter⁷. The Dominican Republic has a strong baseball tradition.

Many Brazilian coaches see Pardinho as a player who could help the national baseball team make the Olympics when the sport returns at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

Baseball players who have batted against Pardinho say he is very good, even though he is short.

Victor Coutinho said: “his height doesn’t matter, because his arm can do wonders.”

Pardinho’s coach is Mitsuyoshi Sato. He helps Pardinho improve and get stronger, but he also makes sure the prospect does not throw too often.

“I don’t want him to do too many fastballs now because I worry about a possible injury,” he said.

Pardinho thinks he could make baseball more popular in Brazil if he goes on to have a good career.

“Maybe more and more Brazilians¹⁰, not only those of Japanese heritage¹¹, will think of playing on a diamond, too,” he said.

I’m Dan Friedell.

Words in This Story

prospect – n. someone or something that is likely to succeed or to be chosen

practice – v. to do something again and again in order to become better at it

bat – v. to try to hit a ball with a bat in baseball, cricket, or a similar game

1 pitch   

n.球场；声音的高低度；沥青；程度；v.投掷

参考例句：

• The pitch is too small to play football on.球场太小了，无法踢足球。
• People just pitch their rubbish over the wall.人们径直把垃圾扔过墙去。

2 pitcher   

n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手

参考例句：

• He poured the milk out of the pitcher.他从大罐中倒出牛奶。
• Any pitcher is liable to crack during a tight game.任何投手在紧张的比赛中都可能会失常。

3 Brazilian   

n. 巴西人;a. 巴西的, 巴西人的

参考例句：

• It was a great showing by the Brazilian team.这场比赛成了巴西队的表演赛。
• Why don't we try some Brazilian food? 我们为什么不吃巴西人的食物呢？

4 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

5 pan   

n.平底锅；v.严厉批评

参考例句：

• The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了，锅也烧坏了。
• The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。

6 pitched   

adj.（屋顶）有坡度的v.投( pitch的过去式和过去分词 )；用沥青涂；排列；把…定于特定角度

参考例句：

• The demonstration escalated into a pitched battle with the police. 示威逐步升级，演变成了一场同警察的混战。
• This song is pitched too high for my voice. 对我的嗓子来说，这首歌的音定得太高了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

8 batters   

n.面糊（煎料）( batter的名词复数 )；面糊（用于做糕饼）；（ 棒球） 正在击球的球员；击球员v.连续猛击( batter的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The pitcher has beaned as many as three batters in this game. 在这？热？投手投球竟打中了三个击手的头。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A storm batters the ship. 一场风暴袭击了这条船。 来自辞典例句

9 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

10 Brazilians   

n.巴西人( Brazilian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brazilians know oil can be a curse as well as a blessing. 巴西人知道石油可以是祸根，也可以是恩赐。 来自互联网
• This name is now welcomed by both Ronaldo and the Brazilians. 现在这个名字得到名为罗纳尔多的人及所有巴西人的喜爱。 来自互联网

11 heritage   

n.传统，遗产，继承物

参考例句：

• The ancient buildings are part of the national heritage.这些古建筑是民族遗产的一部分。
• We Chinese have a great cultural heritage.我们中国人有伟大的文化遗产。