Eric Pardinho almost pursued a different sport during his childhood in Brazil.
The Toronto Blue Jays are ecstatic the pitching prospect chose baseball.
“I heard he wanted to be a soccer player,” said Dennis Holmberg, Pardinho’s manager with the Bluefield Blue Jays, on Baseball Central Wednesday. “His dad said, ‘No, you’re not going to be a soccer player. You’re going to be a baseball player. You’re going to be a pitcher.’
“However he was spoonfed to be a baseball pitcher, is quite the decision to have been made.” [sidebar]
Pardinho, 17, is in his first season as a professional after the Blue Jays signed him as an amateur free agent for $1.4 million last year. The right-hander owns a 2.88 ERA and 1.06 WHIP over 11 starts and 50 innings for the rookie-level Appalachian League club. He’s walked 16 and struck out 64 while holding opponents to a .199 batting average.
The five-foot-10 Pardinho features a dynamic fastball that touches 96 m.p.h. and also throws a curveball, changeup and slider. His repertoire is strong, but Holmberg, a 67-year-old who’s managed in the Blue Jays’ system since 1979, has been impressed with how Pardinho carries himself, especially considering the adjustment he’s had to make to life in North America.
“He’s a very humble kid, he’s a quiet kid,” Holmberg told hosts Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker on Sportsnet 590 The FAN. “He knows he has a [high] ceiling and has a future ahead of him, but there’s nothing too cocky about the guy.”
Pardinho hails from Bastos, a small municipality in Sao Paulo. It’s a far way from Virginia, but the teenager says his transition has been smooth.
“It’s been a very positive experience,” Pardinho told MLB.com recently. “I have learned a lot of new things, and I feel like I’m progressing. I’m really focused on working hard to maintain my health and listening to my coaches. The food and the bus rides are much different from my life in Brazil, but it’s been fun and I’m adjusting.”
Listen to Holmberg’s full interview here.
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