GUADALAJARA, Mexico — When Mets pitcher Seth Lugo speaks, the Louisiana in him becomes apparent. There is a Southern accent and no hint that he has Puerto Rican roots. He does not speak Spanish, and he had never been to the island until last month, when he met his relatives there for the first time. He jokes with his family that he is “quarter-Rican.”
But because his paternal grandfather was born on the island, Lugo, 27, was on the mound for Puerto Rico’s team in its opening game of the World Baseball Classic on Friday at Estadio de Béisbol Charros de Jalisco.