Bio
RHP Heitor Tokar was a valuable part of the 2023 Explorers staff, working in both long relief and in the rotation as the need warranted during the season. He was originally signed by Sioux City on May 2, 2023, making his X’s debut on May 14. Tokar tossed two scoreless innings on May 14 in a 2-1 win over Kansas City, part of a three-game sweep to start the season. For the season, Tokar went 3-4 with a 5.95 ERA, allowing 54 ER in 81.2 innings pitched. He would strike out 69 with 35 walks and garner a 1.629 WHIP for the season.
Tokar would pitch in 12 games in relief and make 11 starts for the X’s in 2025. In the pen, Tokar worked 30.2 innings, surrendering 23 ER with a 6.85 ERA, and as a starter, he would pitch in 51 innings while giving up 31 ER posting a 5.47 ERA. The overall numbers are inflated due to one start on August 22 where he gave up 10 ER in five innings in a loss at home to Milwaukee. In all of his other 10 starts, he would not allow more than four runs and only gave up 21 runs in 46 innings to drop his ERA to a 4.10 as a starter. Tokar had a key stretch for the Explorers the second time he was moved to the rotation in late July into August. Over four starts from July 28 to August 9, he worked 17.1 innings, giving up seven earned runs with a 3.68 ERA. The highlight during that run was a quality start for the righty on August 3. Tokar threw six innings, surrendering no earned runs in a 5-4 win over Fargo-Moorhead, completing a sweep of the RedHawks at Lewis and Clark Park.
Tokar’s value to the Explorers was also present early in the season during a three-game stretch in June. He would make the start on June 15 against Gary SouthShore and pick up the win, going five innings and giving up three ER on four hits. Three days later on June 18, he pitched one inning of relief at Lincoln and then would make his next start six days later, going four innings in game one of a doubleheader while also picking up a win at Fargo-Moorhead. He held Fargo to one run and did not allow a hit in the 8-1 win for the X’s.
Tokar, 23, a native of Marília, Brazil, was the youngest player on the team at only 22 years old when the season started in 2023. He started his professional career by signing with the Houston Astros and playing in the Dominican Summer League in 2018 as a 17-year-old . At the time he was considered the 50th best international prospect by Baseball America. His first season in pro ball he was 0-1 with a 1.66 ERA and 0.76 WHIP for the DSL Astros. Tokar would appear in one game for Team Brazil in the 2019 Pan American Games Qualifier, working one relief inning in a loss to Mexico. In 2019 he would go 1-0 with a pair of saves in 35 innings with a 2.83 ERA, making the move to the GCL Astros. He also struck out 29 batters while only walking 11 that year.
Tokar was set to appear once again for Team Brazil and was included on the 2020 World Baseball Classic Qualifier roster before that was one of the first baseball events to be canceled due to the pandemic. After the cancellation of the 2020 season, he would return to the Astros organization, making two stops at the rookie-level FCL Astros and at class A Fayetteville. He was 2-1 in the FCL with a 3.86 ERA with 18 punchouts in 14 innings, and he added another 40 innings in A ball with a 4.73 ERA with a 3-3 record with two saves. In 2022, Tokar went 3-4 for at High A Ashville in 20 games with a 8.02 ERA. Tokar threw 76.1 innings with a 1.76 WHIP and 64 strikeouts over 20 games with 11 starts.
Tokar was once again a member of the national team for the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifier for Brazil. He was second on the team in appearances, working in two of the four games. He would come into his relief appearance and preserve a 4-3 Brazil lead, working 3.1 innings and shutting down a rally by New Zealand after Brazil claimed a 4-0 lead early. Brazil would go on to win the game 12-7.
He started in the finale against Nicaragua with a spot in the 2023 World Baseball Classic at stake but would suffer a hard-luck loss, giving up two runs while Brazil saw their bats go cold for the second game in a row in a 3-1 loss.