Carlos Bustamante

Carlos Bustamante

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 0", Weight 190 lb.

• Born September 22, 1994 in Navojoa, Sonora Mexico

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Carlos Bustamante has played in the Mexican League, US minor leagues, World Baseball Classic qualifiers, Premier 12 and Olympics.

He got his start at only 17 years of age, playing in two games for the Tigres de Quintana Roo in 2012 and posting a 4.50 ERA in two innings of work. He walked one and struck one for the 2012-2013 Mayos de Navojoa. With Quintana Roo in 2013, he was 3-0 with a 5.31 ERA in 40 relief appearances. He returned to the Tigres for 2014, going 0-2 with a 8.10 ERA in 11 games. In 2014-2015, he allowed two runs in two innings for the Mayos. In 2015, he had a 2-2, 2.84 record in 24 games (8 starts) for Quintana Roo, walking only 13 in 66 2/3 IP.

With the 2015-2016 Mayos, he improved to 4-3 with 7 saves and a 2.11 ERA. His 35 games pitched were second in the Mexican Pacific League, two behind Arturo Barradas, and he was 10th in saves. That performance earned him a spot on the Mexican national team for the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. In the pool finale, he relieved Daniel Rodríguez in the 3rd with a 6-0 lead over Nicaragua, two outs and none on. He got Willie Vasquez on a grounder. In the 4th, he fanned Jairo Beras and got Ofilio Castro on a grounder but Douglas Morales doubled and Janior Montes walked; Bustamante struck out Dwight Britton to end the threat. He was relieved by Javier Solano in the 5th.

Signing with the Pericos de Puebla, he was 4-2 with two saves and a 4.24 ERA in 49 games in 2016. He saw limited action that winter for his hometown Navojoa club but did well (2-1, Sv, 1.46, 4 H in 12 1/3 IP). Signed by the Arizona Diamondbacks, he split the summer between the AZL Diamondbacks (0 R in 1 IP), Missoula Osprey (1 UER, 0 ER, .92 WHIP, 13 K in 12 IP, 3 Sv) and Kane County Cougars (1-1, Sv, 0.55 ERA, .67 WHIP in 6 G) for a strong performance. For Navojoa, he was 2-1 with two saves, a 0.88 ERA and 36 K in 30 2/3 IP. He was 4th in the LMP with 36 games pitched.

Bustamante split 2018 between Kane County (2-1, Sv, 4.66 in 19 G; 38 K in 29 IP) and Visalia Rawhide (Sv, 5.01 in 22 G; 41 K in 31 1/3 IP). Despite strong strikeout numbers in the D'backs chain, he was back in the LMB in 2019, going 1-3 with 27 saves and a 2.57 ERA for the Acereros de Monclova, striking out 67 in 49 innings. He was third in the league in saves (behind Roman Mendez and Wirfin Obispo).

He was back in a Mexican national team uniform for the 2019 Premier 12. He did a stellar job, allowing only one hit and one walk (an intentional one, no less) in five shutout innings. He set the trend early, against Team USA, relieving Brennan Bernardino and retiring all six batters - Drew Waters (K), Jo Adell, Bobby Dalbec (K), Alec Bohm (K), Daulton Varsho, Andrew Vaughn - to close out a 8-2 upset win. He saved Arturo Reyes' 2-0 win over Taiwan, relieving Felipe González in the 9th and again retiring everyone: Po-Jung Wang on a grounder, Hung-Yu Lin on a fly and Chun-Hsiu Chen swinging. In his third outing, he relieved Fernando Salas and allowed his only hit (Jeong Choi) in closing out a 7-3 loss. In the 3rd/4th place game, with a spot in the 2020 Olympics at stake, he relieved Eduardo Vera in the 10th with a 2-2 tie against the US. Due to the extra innings rule, there were two men on base and Dalbec bunted them over. He intentionally walked Waters to load the bases but struck out Bohm and got Jacob Cronenworth on a fly. Mexico scored in the bottom of the 10th when Efren Navarro singled off Caleb Thielbar to bring in Noah Perio Jr. to complete the upset win and punch a ticket to the Olympics.

Carlos had a 0.82 ERA and 17 K in 11 IP for Navojoa in 2019-2020, saving six. The 2020 Mexican League season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also delayed the Olympics a year. In the winter of 2020-2021, he had a 0-2, 2.66 record and two saves for the Mayos. He was 5th in the LMP in saves, between Jesus Pirela and Miguel Aguilar.

He pitched two games for Mexico in the Olympics (still called the 2020 Olympics despite the postponement). In the opening 7-4 loss to Gold Medal winner Japan, he relieved Oliver Pérez with two out in the 9th and struck out Hideto Asamura. His other game, he replaced Pérez with a 12-5 deficit against Israel, two outs and one on in the 7th. He retired Ian Kinsler to end the inning. In the 8th, he went 1-2-3 against Danny Valencia, Ryan Lavarnway and Blake Gailen (K'ing Gailen). He got Nick Rickles swinging to open the 9th, walked Ty Kelly, retired Mitch Glasser and walked Assaf Lowengart. César Vargas then succeeded him.