Wilber Bucardo

Wilber Antonio Bucardo Castillo

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 2", Weight 175 lb.

• Born November 20, 1987 in León, León Nicaragua

BR minors page

Biographical Information

Wilber Bucardo pitched in the minors and for the Nicaraguan national team, as did his younger brother Jorge Bucardo.

Wilber was signed by the San Francisco Giants in July 2004. He allowed 3 hits, 4 walks and 3 runs in 1 1/3 IP for Esteli in Nicaragua in 2005 but was much better with the DSL Giants (5-2, 2.72, 7 BB in 56 1/3 IP). He helped the Nicaraguan national team win Gold at the 2006 Central American Games. He also split 2006 between Esteli (2-5, 6.14) and the DSL Giants (3-2, 12 Sv, 1.82). He tied Armando Hernández, Olman Rostrán and José Luis Sáenz for the most losses in Nicaragua while tying Gredlis Francisco for 7th in the Dominican Summer League in saves.

For the next few seasons, he was only active in the US. He split 2007 between the AZL Giants (6-2, 1.94, 10 BB in 60 1/3 IP) and Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (1-0, 3.60 in 1 G). He was third in the Arizona League in ERA (behind Matt Mitchell and Jacob Wild) and tied Fabian Williamson for second in wins (one behind Robin Molina). In 2008, he was 6-7 with a 4.57 ERA for Salem-Keizer. A year before his brother dominated the loop, he tied Houston Summers and Doug Salinas for the most losses in the Northwest League. He and Jorge formed a solid 1-2 punch for the 2009 Volcanoes as Jorge was 6-3 with a 2.64 ERA and Wilbur 4-1 with a save and a 3.02 ERA. He pitched the last three innings of a combined no-hitter against the Everett AquaSox, finishing what Craig Westcott and Brandon Graves had started. It was the first no-hitter in team annals.

Bucardo missed all of 2010 to injury, a year before the same thing happened to his brother. Returning to Salem-Keizer in relief in 2011, he was 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA in 16 games to end his minor league career at 25-16. He returned to Nicaragua in 2012 to pitch for León, going 3-1 with 5 saves and a 2.45 ERA. As a swingman for them in 2013, he was 4-4 with 3 saves and a 3.92 ERA. He helped Nicaragua win the 2013 Central American Games. In 2014, he went 7-2 with 5 saves and a 3.09 ERA, leading the league with 37 games relieved. He and Jorge both pitched for Nicaragua when they won the Silver Medal in the 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games, their best finish in years. In two games, he worked three innings and allowed four hits, two walks and two runs (one earned).

Wilber fell to 0-3 with 4 saves and a 4.26 ERA for León in 2015. Moving back to a starting role in 2016, he put up a strong year at 12-6, 1.93 and got a save in his lone relief stint. He was back with Nicaragua when they won the 2017 Central American Games. He pitched in two games; against El Salvador, he relieved Osman Gutiérrez with one out in the 7th and helped blow a lead, allowing two runs in 1 1/3 IP before Pedro Torres took over; Nicaragua would rally to win. Versus rival Panama, he replaced Armando Ruiz with one out and two on in the 9th, with a 2-1 lead. He got Ibrahim McKenzie to hit into a game-ending double play to register a save.

Sources

• 2011 Giants Media Guide
• Nicaraguan Baseball Federation
• MILB.com
• 2014 Central American and Caribbean Games site