Luciano Fernando

Luciano Fernando

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 8", Weight 174 lb.

• School Hakuoh University
• High School Kiryu Daiichi High School

• Born April 13, 1992 in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul Brazil

BR register page

Biographical Information

Luciano Fernando has played in Nippon Pro Baseball.

Fernando was born in Brazil and moved to Japan at age 5. He was a 4th-round pick of the Rakuten Golden Eagles in the 2014 NPB draft. He made his NPB debut as a pinch-hitter for Takero Okajima in the 9th inning of a 3-0 loss to the Nippon Ham Fighters in 2015; he was retired by Shohei Otani. His first hit in NPB was a home run off Ryohei Kiya. He hit .192/.250/.256 in 84 plate appearances over 39 games that year and did not add a second home run. He handled 25 chances error-free in the outfield. He saw reduced time in 2016, going 2 for 11 with a double.

He was on the Brazilian national team in the 2016 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He debuted in their opener as a pinch-hitter for Juan Carlos Muniz with the bases loaded and a 6-0 lead in the bottom of the 7th against Pakistan. He singled off Ihsan Ullah to score Leonardo Reginatto and later came home on a single by Rodrigo Maciel with the final run of a 10-0 mercy rule win. In the semifinals against Great Britain, he started in right field and hitting 8th and was a bright spot in a 4-3 loss, reaching base in 3 of 4 times up. He singled off Blake Taylor but was erased on a double play grounder, drew a walk from Chris Reed but was stranded at second, popped up against Reed with two on and two out in the 6th with a 3-2 deficit and singled in the 8th off Reed but was stranded at second again. He led Brazil in times on base in the loss. He did not finish among the qualifiers, but would have led Brazil in average (.750, .333 ahead of Reginatto), OBP (.262 ahead of Dante Bichette Jr.), slugging (.023 ahead of Muniz) and OPS (212 ahead of Bichette).

Sources

• Japanese Wikipedia entry
• World Baseball Classic