Thyago Vieira

Thyago da Silva Vieira Lucio

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 210 lb.

• Debut August 14, 2017

• Born January 7, 1993 in São Paulo, São Paulo Brazil

BR page

Biographical Information

Thyago Vieira made his major league debut in 2017.

Vieira signed with the Seattle Mariners at age 17; the scouts were Emilio Carrasquel and Hide Sueyoshi. He was 2-0 with a 4.00 ERA in 12 games for the 2011 VSL Mariners, but walked 22 in 18 innings. In 2012, he returned to the same club and put up a 3-5, 6.05 record. His walk rate was better, as he issued 17 free passes in 55 innings. He led the Venezuelan Summer League with 12 hit batsmen, was second with 12 wild pitches and tied for fourth in losses.

He then joined the Brazilian national team for the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He did a strong job as their closer. In their opening upset win over host Panama, he relieved Kesley Kondo in the 9th with a 3-2 lead and allowed only a Jeffer Patiño walk in saving it. He then got the nod in the finale, also against Panama, relieving Murilo Gouvea with one on, one out in the 9th and a 1-0 lead. He allowed a single to Carlos Ruiz but then struck out two major league veterans, Carlos Lee and Rubén Rivera, to end it. He led the qualifiers in saves as Brazil won a spot in the World Baseball Classic for the first time.

In the 2013 World Baseball Classic itself, he was not as sharp. with two runs in 1 1/3 IP to tie Kondo for the second-highest ERA on the staff (Gabriel Asakura was at infinite ERA). He had a crucial call against China, with the winner locking up a spot in the 2017 World Baseball Classic. He relieved Gouvea with a 2-0 lead, one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the 8th but he walked Lei Li on four pitches to end the shutout. Ray Chang then hit a two-run single to put China ahead for good. Vieira retired Fujia Chu on a grounder but hit Wei Wang to load the bases and was relieved by Hugo Kanabushi, who would let two of the inherited runners score.

Vieira was 4-5 with a 3.84 ERA for the Everett AquaSox that summer. He tied for 8th in the Northwest League in losses and led with 16 hit batsmen. In 2014, he was 1-1 with a save and a 5.31 ERA in 13 games for the Clinton Lumber Kings (14 BB, 23 K in 20 1/3 IP) before an elbow injury cut his season short. He was 1-4 with a 6.97 ERA for Clinton in '15. He rebounded in 2016 with the Bakersfield Blaze, going 1-0 with 8 saves, a 2.84 ERA and 53 whiffs in 44 1/3 innings.

Back with Brazil for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, the right-hander played one game. In the semifinals, he relieved Felipe Sales with a 4-3 deficit in the bottom of the 8th against Great Britain. He allowed a Champ Stuart single. Todd Isaacs bunted and Vieira threw to second for the force. Jordan Serena drew a walk but Vieira recovered to get Chris Berset on a grounder and Albert Cartwright on fly to end it. Brazil did not score in the 9th, though, and was eliminated. He had a 3.38 ERA in five games that fall for the Peoria Javelinas.

He opened the summer of 2017 with the Arkansas Travelers (2-3, 2 Sv, 3.72 in 29 G) and moved up to the Tacoma Rainiers (2 Sv, 3.18 in 7 G). He was named to the World team as part of the 2017 Futures Game, relieving Jaime Barria with a 7-3 deficit in the top of the 7th. He walked Bryan Reynolds and allowed a hit to Brian Anderson but recovered to fan Zack Collins and get Scott Kingery on a fly. Jairo Labourt took over. He made his major league debut with the Seattle Mariners a little over a month later, on August 14, 2017. The hard-throwing (average fastball around 99 mph) hurler was the second Brazilian pitcher in the majors, following André Rienzo. In his debut, he relieved Casey Lawrence with a 11-2 deficit in the 9th and went 1-2-3, retiring Baltimore's Chris Davis on a liner to the mound, Joey Rickard (whiffing) and Caleb Joseph on a grounder.

Sources

• 2012 and 2016 Mariners Media Guides
• World Baseball Classic
• 2017 Futures Game

Related Sites

• Thyago Vieira on mlb.com
• BR Minors page