Pinango’s Tattoo Keeps Alexander at the Center of His Rise

Yohendrick pinango carries his father on his right arm and in his game. The Toronto Blue Jays outfielder said the tattoo sleeve dedicated to Alexander helps drive the rise he has made in baseball. His path started with loss at age 6, then kept moving through family support and long hours in Venezuela.

Alexander’s mark on Pinango

Pinango said his father died on May 11, 2008, when he was six years old, but the memory never left the family story. He described Alexander as a man who helped in the community and wanted his son to become a ballplayer and a big-leaguer.

“My dad was a great human being. He was the guy always helping in the community. Unfortunately, he got killed,” Pinango said through interpreter Hector Lebron. He added that making it to the Blue Jays organization gives him a chance to reach a goal his father set for him.

“It’s difficult to live with that. But you’ve got to learn, to find a way to live without him and to accomplish one of the goals that he had for me. One of his dreams for me was to become a ballplayer, a big-leaguer. That’s one of the things I took from him and I’m very happy that I made it, not only for myself but for him, because I know that’s what he wanted me to do.”

Carora to Barquisimeto

The baseball trail began when Pinango joined a local league in Carora at age 7. He said that first stop ended with a championship and all the individual hitting awards, a quick signal that the bat would carry him further than the neighborhood field.

At 13, he hit for the cycle while Alvaro Bernalete was watching, and Bernalete invited him to join Future Stars. Barely a teenager, Pinango moved to a facility in Barquisimeto and shared one of the bunkbeds in a dorm room with roughly 20 kids.

That stretch led to a bigger break in 2018, when Jose Luis Montero helped negotiate a deal with the Chicago Cubs once the international signing period opened. Pinango spent 5½ years in that system before the Blue Jays acquired him, turning a childhood routine into a pro career that kept advancing.

Blue Jays path with No. 14

Pinango said his father played professional basketball in Venezuela and also played volleyball and baseball recreationally, and that he tried to get him to bat right-handed. The right-arm sleeve carries an image of Alexander, the date of his death, the number 14, and references to the three sports he played.

He also said his older sister Noris took custody of him after his father died, and his aunt Noris educated him and pushed him in baseball. Pinango still sees the baseball rise as something shared with the people who raised him and the father he lost at 6.

“Even before I played in a league, off the field, I always worked out with him and he knew it,” Pinango said. “He always told me that, to keep working, you’re going to be good.”