José Luis Larrinaga

José Luis Larrinaga Ocampo

• Bats Right, Throws Right

• Born April 28, 1977 in Havana Cuba

BR register page

Biographical Information

José Luis Larrinaga pitched in Cuba and Belgium and for the Belgian national team.

Larrinaga was 0-1 with a 5.10 ERA in 18 games for the Metropolitanos in the 2005-2006 Serie Nacional. He was one of the team's more effective relievers. He moved to Belgium in 2008. Belgian stats are presently (as of 4/24/22) unavailable prior to 2010. In 2011, he was 8-6 with a 3.47 ERA for the Borgerhout Squirrels. He was third in the First Division in IP (120 2/3), tied T.J. Antonacci for 4th in K (82), led in games pitched (20) and starts (19), tied Yannick Gontier and Cédric De Smedt for 5th in wins and tied for 4th in losses.

In 2013, he was 11-1 with a 2.92 ERA. He was 7th in ERA, second in wins (two behind Antonacci), tied for second in games pitched (17, one behind Robbe De Jongh) and was second with seven complete games (behind De Jongh). He was 11-3 with a 2.20 ERA in 2014 as the Squirrels won their first title in 57 years. He tied Alexis Marquez for the win lead, tied for third in games pitched (16, behind De Jongh and Gontier), was 5th with 86 IP and was 5th in ERA (between Gontier and Jordy van den Heuvel).

The next year, he faded to 5-13, 4.78 for the Antwerp Royal Greys. He led the league in losses (by five), led in innings (133 2/3, 23 2/3 ahead of De Jongh), allowed the most hits (165, 40 more than De Jongh), gave up the most runs (119, 36 more than anyone else), surrendered the most earned runs (71, 6 more than the runner-up) and allowed the most homers (9). He was 5th with 81 strikeouts. In '16, he returned to Borgerhout and rebounded to 12-1, 1.98 with a save. He was second in wins, fourth in ERA and tied for second with 19 games pitched (one shy of De Jongh).

In the 2017 Federations Cup, he was 0-1 with a 12.15 ERA, losing to the Astros Valencia; it was the only loss for the champion Squirrels. He tied Evgenii Chernozemsky and former major leaguer Romulo Sánchez for second in the event with three appearances. In the Belgian season, he was 5-1 with two saves and a 3.16 ERA, finishing fifth in ERA (between Anderson Gerdel and Robin Roevens), tenth in K (40), tied for 7th in wins (with Gregg Mareels and Jace Van Droogenbroeck), tied Mo Hackl for first in saves and tied Gerdel for 4th with 18 games pitched. The Squirrels won their second Belgian title of his career

He allowed four runs in 6 1/3 IP for Borgerhout in the 2018 CEB Cup. Pitching only in relief for the Squirrels that summer (Sánchez, Kenny Vandenbranden and Van Droogenbroeck were the starters), he was 0-1 with two saves and a 2.66 ERA. He tied Migeot, Gontier and Morris De Vriendt for the save lead. Moving to the K. Deurne Spartans, he had a 8.22 ERA in two outings in the 2019 European Champions Cup but only Gerdel had a better ERA for the hard-hit team. His 15 hits allowed were second-highest in the Cup (behind Gerdel) and he tied Zack Dodson for 7th in innings. He was 0-5 with a save and a 6.30 ERA in a rough summer for the Spartans. He tied for 5th in Belgium in losses.

Larrinaga was 1-0 with a save and a 2.40 ERA in 2020 as a player-coach. The season was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he was 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA. Having obtained Belgian citizenship by now, he pitched for the country in the 2021 European Championship. He first appeared against Bronze Medal winner Italy, relieving Tomasz Oberto in the 4th with a 3-0 deficit, two on and one out. He retired Leo Ferrini on a fly but walked Dario Pizzano and Vito Friscia to force in a run then Alberto Mineo hit a bases-clearing triple. Ernesto Liberatore flew out but it was now 7-0. Belgium closed it to 7-3 in the bottom of the inning. In the 5th, Larrinaga walked Federico Celli and allowed an Erick Epifano single but bounced back to get Mattia Mercuri on a fly and fellow Cuban Noel González hit into a 6-3 double play. Lino Ballardini took over in the 6th. He also pitched versus Great Britain, succeeding Zane Hendrickx in the 8th with a 8-3 deficit, one on and one out. He walked Kent Blackstone, retired Gabriel Rincones Jr. on a fly but gave up a two-run triple to Alex Crosby and RBI single to Aaron Singh to make it 11-3. He walked Grant Kerry then got Jordan Edmonds looking at strike three to end the frame. Belgium amazingly tied it in the bottom of the inning, then Roevens entered to pitch the 9th. Larrinaga's 15.43 ERA was not Belgium's highest for the Euros - Oberto and Ballardini were both higher.