Francis Candela

Francis Candela

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 5", Weight 159 lb.

• Born August 11, 1983

Biographical Information

Francis Candela was an infielder for the Philippines in the 2001 Asian Junior Championship and 2011 Southeast Asian Games (taking home a Gold that year). In the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he played two games. Replacing Fernando Laurel at third base late in a 16-0 loss to Taiwan, he grounded out in his only at-bat, against Yi-Hao Lin. In his other game, he pinch-hit for Jennald Pareja in the 4th versus New Zealand and stayed in at 2B. He was retired by Jamie Wilson his first time up and grounded out against Wilson later. In the 8th, he hit into an error by Daniel Lamb-Hunt to score Laurel and later scored on a hit by Devon Ramirez; his club still lost, 10-6. Defensively, he made no errors even as his infield mates made 6 that day (one by Laurel and five by American minor league players Leighton Pangilinan and Ryan Pineda). He hit .286/.444/.286 when the Philippines won the 2015 East Asian Baseball Cup and was named the All-Star at 3B.