Jorge Bucardo

Jorge Osmar Bucardo Castillo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 190 lb.

• Born October 18, 1989 in León, León Nicaragua

BR register page

Biographical Information

Jorge Bucardo pitched as high as AAA; his brother Wilber Bucardo has been his teammate on the Nicaraguan national team.

Bucardo was signed by the San Francisco Giants in 2006. He debuted with the 2007 DSL Giants with a dominant 7-2, 1.35 campaign, walking only 7 in 60 innings. He was 5th in the Dominican Summer League (between Richard Acosta and Alejandro Mendez), missed the top 10 in wins by one and was 7th with a 0.87 WHIP (between Juan Aquino and Geison Aguasviva). That earned him a trip stateside in 2008 with the AZL Giants, where he was 3-1 with a 3.68 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 51 1/3 IP. He was 10th in the Arizona League in whiffs, between Joshua Blanco and Deybi De La Cruz.

In 2009, the right-hander posted a 6-3, 2.64 record for the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes, with a 1.05 WHIP. He was third in the Northwest League in ERA behind Nick Greenwood and Julio Ramos), tied Ramos for 4th in wins, tied Ramos and Braden Tullis for 9th in strikeouts (64) and led in WHIP (.02 ahead of Greenwood). He was named the NWL's top right-handed starter. Jorge had his first full-season league experience in 2010 with the Augusta GreenJackets (9-4, 2.21 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) and San Jose Giants (2-2, 4.42). He was second in the South Atlantic League in ERA (.09 behind Robbie Erlin), 3rd in WHIP (behind Erlin and Chris Balcom-Miller) and tied for 7th in wins. Among Giants farmhands, he had the best ERA of any hurler with 100+ IP, was 3rd with 121 strikeouts (behind Eric Hacker and Chris Heston), had the best WHIP of any hurler with 100+ IP (1.17) and tied David Mixon for third in wins. He was named the league's All-Star right-handed pitcher but lost Most Outstanding Pitcher honors to Jimmy Fuller.

After three straight excellent seasons, his promising career was sidelined by a shoulder injury that caused him to miss all of 2011. He returned in 2012 but struggled in limited action in relief (6.55 ERA in 8 games for Salem-Keizer). He split 2013 between Augusta (2-1, 6 Sv, 1.84 in 27 G) and San Jose (2-0, 4.82 in 5 G), posting a 0.99 WHIP and 2.36 ERA overall out of the bullpen. He was not as sharp in 2014 (4.27 ERA, 1.61 WHIP) between San Jose (1-2, 3.81 in 33 G) and the Fresno Grizzlies (0-1, 6.55 in 8 G in AAA) to end his once-promising career in the minors. In 146 games (62 starts), he had gone 32-16 with 6 saves, a 2.92 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.

Bucardo pitched for Nicaragua in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, when they won a Silver Medal, their best finish in years. He tied José Luis Sáenz for the team lead with three games pitched. In 2 1/3 IP, he allowed four hits, a walk and an unearned run. In 2015, he pitched in Nicaragua for Dantos, going 10-2 with a 1.50 ERA and .88 WHIP. He lost the ERA title by .05 to José Villegas and was two wins behind leader Samuel Estrada.

Back with Nicaragua for the 2015 Pan American Games, he started against powerhouse Cuba and carried a 3-0 lead into the 4th but allowed a solo homer to Alfredo Despaigne and a two-run shot to Urmaris Guerra. He left after 4 2/3 IP in favor of long-time major leaguer Vicente Padilla with 5 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs and 2 strikeouts, with a 6-3 lead still in place. His relievers could not hold on in a 11-6 loss. His 5.79 ERA was still better than the team mark of 6.66 for the Games and he was the most effective of the first six pitchers they tried versus Cuba.

In Nicaragua in 2016, he was 11-5 with a save and a 2.11 ERA for Dantos. In the 2017 Central American Games, he closed out Wilton López's opening win over El Salvador, working a hitless, walkless, scoreless frame while fanning one. Versus top rival Panama, he replaced Gustavo Martinez in the 7th with a 1-0 lead and again did very well (2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 1 K) before handing the ball over to Armando Ruiz; his brother wound up saving that one when Ruiz faltered. Nicaragua won the Gold.