Lucas Nakandakare

Lucas Martín Nakandakare

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 1", Weight 192 lb.

• Born September 18, 1989 in Vicente López, Buenos Aires Argentina

BR Minors page

Biographical Information

Lucas Nakandakare was one of two Argentinians signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in December 2006 (the other was Mauricio Nagahashi). He hit .302/.446/.344 for the VSL Devil Rays/Reds in 2007 as a 1B/C/DH but did not play in 2008. In 2009, he slipped to .172 in 27 games as a first baseman. He was on the Argentinian national team that won Gold in the 2011 South American Championship and 2012 South American Championship. In the 2013 South American Championship, he came up with two outs in the 9th in the Gold Medal game against Brazil's Romulo Shindo and got aboard to start the tying rally; Exequiel Talevi pinch-ran for him. He next played in the US with the independent McAllen Thunder in 2013, hitting .213/.300/.225 as their most-used catcher. He was one of three Argentinians on that team, alongside Jacinto Cipriota and Nagahashi. He played for Argentina in the 2015 South American Championship. He was 2 for 3 with a walk, run and RBI in a bit role for Argentina when they won Silver in the 2016 South American Championship.

In the 2018 South American Championship, he caught when Juan Martín played 1B, going 2 for 9 with two walks and three runs as they won the Gold for a spot in the 2019 Pan American Games. In the Gold Medal Game, he hit 8th and caught, going 1 for 4 with a run against defending champion Brazil; his single off Jean Tomé started an insurance rally in the 9th. In the 2019 Pan American Games, he was 1 for 5 with two walks and handled seven putouts at catcher, allowing two steals in two tries.

He hit .438/.444/.438 with four RBI in five games in the 2022 South American Championship, going 3-for-3 in the semifinal win over Peru when his single off Juan Casas drove in Cipriota with the winning run. He was 0 for 3 against former major leaguer André Rienzo in the title game, when Argentina was shut down by Brazil. He tied Felipe Burin and Gustavo Landin for 6th in the event with 7 hits, tied Landin for 6th in average and he tied for 7th in RBI. Argentina played in the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, their first World Baseball Classic Qualifier. He was their starting catcher in their debut appearance and drew a walk from Amir Asghar of Pakistan his first time up. He began their comeback win over New Zealand with a 7th-inning walk from Elliot Johnstone to kick off the winning rally. He finished the event 2-for-9 with three walks and two runs. Only Talevi and Lucas Stalman scored more runs for Argentina and only Talevi and Eduardo Zurbriggen had better OBPs for the team. He tied for 8th in the Qualifiers with three walks.