Osvaldo Carvalho Jr.

Osvaldo Aparecido Carvalho Júnior

• Bats Left, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.

• Born August 6, 2001

Biographical Information

Osvaldo Carvalho Jr. debuted for the Brazilian national team in the 2022 South American Championship. In their opener, he took over Felipe Mizukosi at short in a rout of Bolivia. He drew a walk from Luis Rico his first time up, came around to score, then batted later in the same inning and doubled off Marcelo Padilla to score Raphael Parra; he then scored his second run of the 5th. He wound up as Brazil's main shortstop, hitting .313/.400/.500 with 7 runs in 6 games for the champs while fielding .870. He led Brazil in runs, tying Sebastián García for the tourney lead, and also led the event in doubles (3) and assists (13, one ahead of Susumu Yoza). His three errors also tied for the lead (with Johan Leon, José Salas and Percy Venegas).

He played for the Nikkei Marília team in Brazil's biggest city, Sao Paulo, and was the MVP of the Brazil Cup in 2024. At the time and when he appeared in the 2026 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers in March of 2025, he was the only player on the national team without any professional experience. In fact, his major source of income was as a construction worker, laying down pavement on highways, a profession he had to turn to during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021. He had to ask permission from his employer to take time off in order to participate in the event.

Further Reading

• Michael Clair: "Construction worker is living his baseball dreams with Team Brazil", mlb.com, March 3, 2025. [1]