Skip to main content

Updates on All Four Caribbean Winter Leagues

With many individuals from the Phillies' organization playing in the Caribbean "Winter" leagues, there is still plenty of baseball action to keep tabs on. Below is a run down of all the key players spending time trying to sharpen their skills and gain some extra experience during the North American offseason.


Dominican Winter Baseball League-

David Herndon, a 2010 rookie that spent the entire season on the Phillies' big league roster, is pitching for the Cibao Gigantes. In 2 relief outings, Herndon has pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He hasn't walked or struck out a batter in his limited game time, to this point. Herndon, 25, was a Rule 5 draft pick by the Phillies last off-season. In 47 games in the Majors this season, Herndon posted a 1-3 record with a 4.30 ERA, while allowing just 2 HR in 52 1/3 innings pitched.

Antonio Bastardo, a teammate of Herndon with the Phillies this season, continues to occupy the same bullpen as Herndon. In 5 relief outings with the Gigantes, Bastardo has held his opponents hitless in 5 innings, while striking out 6 batters and walking none. With the Major League Phillies this year, Bastardo went 2-0 with a 4.34 ERA in 25 games.

Juan Perez, who the Phillies recently signed to a minor league contract, is another pitcher on the Gigantes roster. The lefty hurler is 1-1 with an 11.81 ERA in 13 DWBL outings...all in relief. The 32-year-old Perez pitched with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque in 2010, and posted a 4-3 record with a 2.96 ERA and a save in 45 games there. Last week, Perez was announced as a Phillies non-roster spring training invitee.

Domonic Brown, another Phils rookie in 2010, is playing with the Escogido Leones. The lefty hitting outfielder has struggled, going just 1-for-19 (.053 avg) in his first 6 games played in the Dominican League.

Timo Perez, a former Major Leaguer who spent time with the Phillies Double-A club in Reading this year, has been hitting very well for the Licey Tigres. In 27 games, the lefty batting outfielder has posted a .333 average, which is good enough for 4th best in the league. Perez, a Dominican native, also has 2 HR and 15 RBI for the Tigres.

Phillies pitching prospect Yohan Flande hasn't been extremely sharp with the Toros. In 5 games, 4 of which were starts, the 24-year-old Flande has a 1-1 record with a 5.63 ERA while allowing opposing batters to post a .313 average. In 27 starts at Double-A Reading this year, Flande went 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA.

Infielder Ozzie Chavez, who split the regular season with Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, is batting .130 in 12 games with the Toros, with no extra base hits and 3 runs scored. Chavez is a native of the Dominican Republic.

Derrick Loop, who pitched with High-A level Clearwater and Lehigh Valley in the Phillies system this year, has a 1-0 record and a 3.00 ERA in 11 relief outings for the Aguilas. Loop has held batters hitless with runners in scoring position thus far in DWBL action.

Former Phillie Fabio Castro leads the Dominican League in all three pitching triple crown categories (wins, ERA & strike outs) for the Gigantes. Castro is 4-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 52 strike outs in 35 innings over 6 starts.


Mexican League-

Pitcher Brian Mazone, who went 7-13 in 28 starts with Lehigh Valley this year, is doing poorly with the Mexicali Aquilas. In 3 Mexican League starts, Mazone has a 0-2 record with a 10.22 ERA. Mazone, a 34-year-old minor league journeyman, has never pitched in the majors.

20-year-old catcher Angel Chavarin, who was a member of the Gulf Coast League champion Phillies squad this year, is hitless in 2 games with the Mexicali Aquilas thus far.

Highly regarded catching prospect Sebastian Valle has been solid with the Los Mochis Caneros. The Mexico native Valle has posted a .264 average with 3 homers and 10 RBI in 27 games. Valle was a member of the A Level Lakewood BlueClaws that won two consecutive South Atlantic League championships over the past couple seasons.


Puerto Rican League-

Julio Rodriguez, another member of the 2010 SAL title winning Lakewood club, is pitching with the Carolina Gigantes. The 20-year-old righty hurler has a 2-1 record 3.80 ERA in 6 games, 5 of which were starts. In 20 games combined between short season Williamsport and A level Lakewood, in 2010, Rodriguez went 7-3 with a 1.89 ERA in 90 1/3 innings pitched.

Former Phillie Antonio Alfonseca is also a member of the Carolina roster. In 12 games, Alfonseca is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA.


Venezuelan League-

Luis Unda, a left-handed outfielder, has gone 3-for-9 (.333 avg) in 4 games with the Cardenales. Unda, 20, batted .245 with no homers and 16 RBI in 44 games with the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2010.

Switch-hitting infielder Freddy Galvis is batting .188 in 21 games with the Navegantes. Galvis has well regarded defense, but his .586 OPS in 138 games with Double A Reading in 2010 isn't the sort of offense the Phillies are hoping for from him.

A member of the Phillies' 2009 World Series team who toiled around at Double A in 2010, Sergio Escalona, hasn't been on point thus far with the Tiburones. In 8 games, Escalona has no decisions and a 9.00 ERA. One plus for the 26-year-old lefty is that opponents are only batting .167 against him.

Melvin Dorta, a 28-year-old infielder that played with Reading and Lehigh Valley in 2010, is batting .108 in 12 games with the Aragua Tigres.

Harold Garcia, who made headlines this year by setting the Florida State League hitting streak record at 37 consecutive games, is batting .267 through 19 games with Zulia Aguilas. Unfortunately for Garcia he has no extra base hits and is just 1-for-3 in stolen base attempts.

24-year-old infielder Fidel Hernandez, who spent time at Clearwater and Reading this year, is also on the Aguilas roster. His .191 average and .515 OPS are rather unimpressive.

Venezuela native Cesar Hernandez is 7-for-21 (.333 avg.) in 8 games with the Margarita Bravos. Hernandez, 20, is a switch hitter. He batted .325 with 32 steals in 65 games at short season Williamsport in 2010.

Andy Tracy, who played with the IronPigs and the Phillies over the past few seasons, has joined the Bravos after struggling (2-for-29) in 8 games with the Aguilas in the Dominican League. In 3 games in the Venezuelan league, Tracy is 1-for-4, with a double and 2 walks.

______________________________________________________


For updates and more, follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

PhoulBallz Interview: BlueClaws OF Justin Crawford

Justin Crawford w/ junior reporter Evan At the age of 19, outfielder Justin Crawford has played his way into the conversation of being considered as one of baseball's top prospects. The son of four-time MLB All-Star Carl Crawford, Justin has looked every bit as impressive as his position as the 17th overall draft selection last year would have most fans thinking he should be.  He opened the season with Class A Clearwater where, in 69 games, he notched a .344/.399/.478 slash line.  And since mid-August when he was promoted to Class A Advanced Jersey Shore, the younger Crawford has posted a .300/.364/.440 line.  He's also stolen 44 bases in 52 attempts overall. And while the BlueClaws enter the final week of the regular season 1/2 game out of first place in their division, I spoke with Justin Crawford about the team's hopes of making the postseason for the first time since 2018. I also asked Justin about the similarities and differences between his skillset and his father'

Jersey Shore clinches playoff berth on final day of regular season

Ottto Kemp, image- Jay Floyd With an extra-inning victory over first-half division champions Hudson Valley on Sunday, the Class A Advanced Jersey Shore BlueClaws clinched the team's first playoff appearance since 2018, winning the second-half division title. Key performers in the BlueClaws' clincher were righty hurler Jason Ruffcorn, who threw three innings of relief to earn the victory and third baseman Otto Kemp, notched three hits, a walk, two stolen bases and plated the game winning run in the 11th inning on a sacrifice fly.  On top of that, Kemp, who turned 24-years-old on Saturday, made an absolute game-saving defensive play to help the club hold their lead in the bottom of the 11th frame. One of Jersey Shore's most consistent performers all season long has been right-handed reliever Cam Wynne.  The Phillies' 20th round draft pick in 2021 out of Nebraska.  In 34 appearances, one start, the 24-year-old tallied a 1-1 record with one save, a 2.44 ERA and a .190 batti

RHP Pipkin headed to AFL after hot August

After completing what was easily the best month of his career, righty hurler Dominic Pipkin is ready to face the tough competition of the prominent Arizona Fall Leage.   Pipkin, who was the Phillies' 9th round draft selection in 2018, has had moderate success in his five years as a pro, posting a 4.93 ERA, a 7.6 K/9 mark and a .260 batting average against mostly at the lower levels on the minors. After missing time this year with an unspecified ailment, the six-foot-four 170-pounder proved to be healthy as he dominated AA competition in nine appearances with the Reading Fightin Phils during August.  Pipkin's impressive production resulted in a 1-0 record with a save and a 0.96 ERA while striking out eight and walking three in 9 1/3 innings. The California native says his efforts to improve have helped him touch 100 MPH on the radar gun, while his fastball velocity is mostly around 96 MPH.   Pipkin's arsenal includes that improved fastball as well as a slider while his curve