It’s been a bit of a slow year when it comes to the Cincinnati Reds and the participation of their players in the various winter leagues this offseason. The biggest names to participate are Jose Barrero and Aristides Aquino, but their stays were very short in the Dominican Winter League. New addition to the 40-man roster, Daniel Duarte, has been dominant in the Mexican Winter League and he’s not the only pitcher having success this winter.
Daniel Duarte
It’s been a good year for right-handed reliever Daniel Duarte. Five weeks ago he was added to the Reds 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. That culminated a good body of work for the Mexican native who represented his country at the Olympics over the summer after pitching at four different levels in the farm system in 2021, topping out in Triple-A Louisville where he threw four perfect innings with seven strikeouts.
Following the season he headed off toe Mexico to continue pitching in the winter league with Los Mochis. He’s pitched in 17 games since the beginning of November and he’s dominated, allowing just 2 runs in 17.1 innings (1.04 ERA) where he’s allowed just 9 hits, walked 4 batters, and he’s picked up 22 strikeouts.
Reiver Sanmartin
The lefty pitched in both Double-A and Triple-A during the regular season, both in the bullpen and the rotation, before making two starts against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the final week of the regular season for the Reds. The Colombian native joined the Eastern Stars in the Dominican Winter League. Sanmartin has now made 7 starts and posted a 1.74 ERA in 31.0 innings. He’s been stingy in allowing baserunners, giving up just 16 hits and walking 11 batters in that stretch while striking out 19.
The Rest of the Pitchers
Here’s a look at how all of the Cincinnati Reds pitchers have performed in the winter leagues this year:
*Stats only from the winter leagues in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico. The Australian Winter League was cancelled this year, while leagues in Nicaragua and Colombia don’t have easily accessible stats for their leagues*
Alejo Lopez
After a regular season that saw him hit well over .300 between Double-A and Triple-A and also making his Major League debut, Alejo Lopez has spent his offseason playing in the Mexican Winter League. Things haven’t gone as well as he likely would have hoped. The switch-hitter has walked 22 times with just 18 strikeouts in 143 plate appearances. The flip side of that is that the hits and power just hasn’t followed as he’s hitting just .235/.357/.319 so far.
Brian Rey
After missing the 2020 season with a cancelled minor league season, Brian Rey began his year in High-A Dayton, but quickly was promoted to Double-A Chattanooga. He also saw four games in Triple-A Louisville. In total he hit .289/.368/.425 between his three stops this past season. Following the season he headed to Puerto Rico. The league there began later than the other ones, but thus far Rey has hit .348/.434/.413 in 13 games played for 1st place Mayaguez.
The Rest of the Hitters
*Stats only from the winter leagues in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, and Mexico. The Australian Winter League was cancelled this year, while leagues in Nicaragua and Colombia don’t have easily accessible stats for their leagues*
AA and Barrero aren’t doing well so far. And I’m inferring that AA is much older than the average player in the league? Regardless, he won’t make it through spring training if he doesn’t kick it up a notch.
Barrero literally played in two games.
Exactly, what’s taking him so long! LOL. Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Maybe a worry with Lopez. I would like to see what he could do at the ML level since he mastered AA and AAA. The Mexican League was somewhat a small sample size and who knows what kind of coaching he was getting.
Even though it is written that Lopez has shown no power, his 2 homeruns are more than the combined total of the other 10 players Doug listed.
Don’t overlook the fact Lopez does get on base.
Thanks for this present this Christmas Eve. Merry Christmas!
Seems like we might have something in Duarte. Good that he was added to the 40 man roster. I hope they shut him down soon. We need him to save some of that arm for the regular season – assuming we have one.
Merry Christmas everyone. Doug, thanks for your dedication to redleg nation.
Merry Christmas redleg nation!