Los Angeles Dodgers prospect Eliezer Alfonzo Jr. is slated to make his Major League Baseball debut on Sunday night against the San Diego Padres, despite the recent death of his mother and sister in Venezuela. The pair were found deceased after being pulled from rubble following a series of devastating earthquakes that struck the country on June 24.
Alfonzo Jr.'s mother, Patricia, 50, and sister, Eliana, 16, had been missing since the earthquakes. His father, former MLB catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, had secured heavy machinery to aid rescue crews searching the wreckage of the Hotel Eduards in Macuto, where they disappeared. Earlier in the week, the machinery helped in the rescue of the family dog and Patricia's cell phone from the debris.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts acknowledged the immense personal loss Alfonzo Jr. is enduring. "I haven't seen him today, and don't really know what to say about it, outside of my heart goes out to him and his family," Roberts told reporters. "So he is in there, he is gonna play today. But obviously heavy heart's not even justifying it."
The elder Alfonzo had held onto hope of finding his wife and daughter alive. He last spoke to his wife about half an hour before the first magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck on June 24, as she and Eliana were preparing to attend a game at Estadio Forum La Guaira. The first quake was followed by a 7.5 magnitude tremor just 39 seconds later.
It is believed that the wives of Delfines de La Guaira players Gorkys Hernandez and Harold Chirinos were also found dead under the rubble. The wife of former MLB player Gorkys Hernandez and the wife and children of Argentine soccer player Lucas Trejo were also reported to have died in the disaster.
Alfonzo Jr., 26, signed a minor league contract with the Dodgers in November and was officially called up to the major leagues on July 4th. The earthquakes in Venezuela have resulted in a death toll that has risen to 2,595, according to Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez.