Jonathan Loáisiga: From Nicaragua To New York

By Adry Torres

Located north of Panama and between Honduras and Costa Rica, Nicaragua’s sporting identity is a bit peculiar.

The Central American nation is definitely not a fútbol-mad country. Its men’s national team ranked 132 out of 211 countries in the FIFA polls that were released before the start of the 2018 World Cup.

Nicaragua has a modest but proud baseball history, and Jonathan Loáisiga, 23, adding another chapter this month with the most stories franchise in baseball.

Loáisiga became the latest Nicaraguan to arrive in the big leagues, donning the iconic Yankee pinstripes on a warm New York City night. His debut might lift the hopes of Nicaragua’s baseball talent at the grassroots level.

Nicaragua has produced 15 major leaguers, including “El Presidente” Dennis Martinez, who remains Latin America’s winningest pitcher in Major League Baseball history. But Nicaragua has never been considered a baseball hotbed next to Latin American counterparts like the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Cuba, Puerto Rico or even Mexico and Panama.

Loáisiga is the eldest son of Stanley Loáisiga, who was signed by the Montreal Expos in the early 90s and played with Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero before returning home.

The younger Loáisiga blanked the Tampa Bay offense over five innings to earn his first victory in the majors.

His dreams were almost dashed when he was 19. That’s when he suffered a right shoulder injury after going 8-1 with a 2.75 ERA in 2013 with the San Francisco Giants who were the first to notice his talents after he showed up at a tryout and moved from the outfield and impressed on the mound.

Loáisiga missed all of 2014 while rehabbing. By May 2015, he was out of baseball after the Giants released him.

Unlike countless other Latinos who get signed in their teen years as early as the age of 16 and return back home to nothing or move on to the American workforce, Loáisiga wasn’t ready to quit.

“First of all, my faith in God (helped),” he said. “I kept working. Then my family, they supported me a lot.”

With the assistance of a doctor back home and a local trainer, the former prospect regained his repertoire and caught the eyes of New York Yankees area scout Edgar Rodriguez during his comeback trail.

Rodriguez, the scout who signed Loáisiga’s dad for the Expos, called his bosses in the scouting department and then signed the young pitcher to a new contract on Feb. 9, 2016.

“What first caught my attention was his loose delivery,” Rodriguez said. “There wasn’t too much strain. Physically, he didn’t come about as too exuberant. Rather he was a lanky kid. But when he let the ball loose it traveled very well, and its movement was very fluid.”

Loaísiga participated with Nicaragua’s national team in the WBC qualifiers a month after signing his new deal. He was assigned to Class-A Charleston on May 12, 2016, before he was injured again in his first minor-league outing.

Loaísiga had a torn ulnar collateral ligament, so he underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

The righty was determined to come back, especially when baseball’s winningest franchise wagered on his talent.

The stage was set last summer when Loáisiga was back on the mound, making 10 starts between the organization’s Gulf Coast League affiliate and short-season Staten Island.

After impressing the Yankees’ coaching staff and front office in spring training, Loáisiga’s command earned him a spot at Class-A Tampa. He dominated in four starts, going 3-0 with an 1.35 ERA. By the first week of May he found himself down I-95 with Double-A Trenton, compiling a 3-1 record with a 4.32 ERA in six starts before the big club deemed him ready to step into the rotation once Masahiro Tanaka injured both hamstrings while running the bases in the opener of the Subway Series on June 8.

As he walked from the bullpen and looked up at the Nicaraguan flags flying in the stands behind home plate, a sense of relief finally settled in.

“All the people want is to sign to see if they can play with the Yankees,” Loáisiga said. “It’s a winning franchise.”

Featured Image: Mike Stobe / Getty Images Sport