The right-handed starter arrives in Culiacán following two seasons in Major League Baseball and a summer campaign among the top pitchers in the Mexican Baseball League.
CULIACÁN, SINALOA. – Guinda pitching has a new name for the 2026-2027 season. Darius Vines, a 28-year-old American pitcher, has signed with Tomateros de Culiacán to reinforce the starting rotation.
The signing is backed by his stellar summer campaign. Pitching for Tigres de Quintana Roo, he logged 76.0 innings across 15 starts, finishing with a 3.32 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP—stats that ranked him sixth in ERA and fifth in WHIP among all starters in the Mexican Baseball League (LMB).
His pitching style is the force behind those numbers. Vines gets results through command, averaging 2.3 walks and 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
That performance opened the door with the Cincinnati Reds, who signed him to their Triple-A affiliate, where he pitched seven innings across three games, allowing just one earned run while posting a 0.85 WHIP and a 1-0 record.
Major League Baseball is not unfamiliar territory for him either. He debuted in 2023 with the Atlanta Braves and returned in 2024. From that debut season came 14 strikeouts in 20.1 innings, a 1.08 WHIP, and a 1-0 record.
What arrives in Culiacán is a starter who brings innings workload and elite command—the latest move by the organization to shape its pitching staff heading into the 2026-2027 campaign.