Futures Game: As Venezuela withers, its young baseball stars are forced to adjust elsewhere

Jorge L. Ortiz | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON - Bryan Mata was so homesick he could barely get out of bed. Keibert Ruiz couldn’t stand the food. Luis Basabe had to go several months without seeing his family.

All three Futures Game participants from Venezuela were 16 – the age of a typical high school sophomore in the United States – when they were forced to grow up in a hurry in a foreign land. That same trial by fire awaits their young countrymen who aspire to one day reach the big leagues.

Venezuela consistently produces the second-most foreign-born players in the majors, accounting for 74 at the beginning of this season, 10 fewer than the Dominican Republic. And yet, major league clubs have stopped operating academies in Venezuela as the South American nation’s economic and political crisis has intensified, to the point some teams couldn’t find enough food staples like chicken, flour and eggs to feed their players.

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So clubs instead send their newly signed prospects to their baseball academies in the Dominican, where the language is the same those teenagers are used to but other aspects of life can prove quite different.

That adds another layer of difficulty to what’s already a challenging journey to the majors that few complete. Venezuela had six representatives at Sunday’s Futures Game, won by Team USA, 10-6. Basabe provided the World an early 3-1 lead with a two-run homer in the third.

Ruiz, a catcher rated as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ No. 2 prospect, remembers struggling to adjust to an unfamiliar diet in the DR. Instead of the arepas (cornmeal muffins) he used to enjoy for breakfast, he often found mangu – boiled and mashed plantain – on the menu at all hours.

“It was a tough transition the first few months. Their food is different from ours,’’ said Ruiz, who has played all season at Class AA Tulsa (Okla.) and doesn’t turn 20 until Friday. “I would go eat in the morning in the Dominican and they had yuca (a starchy root) and stuff like that for breakfast.’’

At least Ruiz had relatives come visit him, which made the distance from them more bearable. For many of the prospects’ families that wasn’t an option, especially with their economic prospects dimming as the country sank deeper into a depression.

Mata, a fresh-faced pitcher from Maracay who’s 6-2 with a 3.42 ERA at high Class A Salem (Va.), signed with the Boston Red Sox in early 2016 and spent his first season at their academy in the Dominican town of San Antonio de Guerra. He called his family every day but still had a hard time shaking his homesickness.

“The first few days I didn’t even want to get out of bed to go train,’’ said Mata, 19. “I would stay in bed. I was sad all day. But eventually I adapted.’’

What snapped him out of his malaise?

“I realized I had to give it my best effort so I could help out my family,’’ he said.

As they strived to develop their careers in a highly competitive environment, the Venezuelan prospects couldn’t avoid worrying about the mounting problems in their home country, which has been beset by rampant crime and hyperinflation. Essential items as milk, medicines and toilet paper are increasingly scarce or prohibitively expensive.

Basabe, a switch-hitting outfielder for the Chicago White Sox’s Class AA team, hails from the state of Zulia, which features the enormous Lake Maracaibo. That has been a boon in these trying times.

“As far as food goes, we’re doing OK because we live next to a lake, so we can get fish there,’’ said Basabe, 21.

While Basabe, the White Sox’s No. 13 prospect, was pleasantly surprised to be chosen for the Futures Game, countryman Andres Gimenez was a more clear-cut candidate. At 19, the polished shortstop is regarded as the New York Mets’ top prospect.

But they share a common experience as Venezuelan teenagers who made it through their first season in the DR, which served as preparation for their transition to minor-league ball in the States.

“It was a big help, because by the time I got here I knew what a professional environment was like,’’ said Gimenez, who has a .772 OPS at Class A Port St. Lucie (Fla.). “It made it much easier to adjust here.’’