2021/2022 Cardinals Winter Ball Report – January 28

Photo: Ivan Herrera (Springfield Cardinals)

This report recaps the results of St. Louis Cardinals prospects competing in winter leagues during the period of January 18th – January 26th.

Since there are only a few active prospects remaining, pitchers and hitters will now be combined into the same report. No St. Louis prospects saw any game time this week as Venezuela and Colombia became the final two leagues to crown champions.

The Caribbean Series now begins on January 28. There are a few Cardinals playing for Panama while there is also a large MLB presence in the tournament with players such as Robinson Cano, Roberto Perez, Marcell Ozuna, and Roberto Osuna participating.

LVBP (Venezuela)

Navegantes won the final series in seven games against Caribes, claiming the final spot in the Caribbean Series and representing Venezuela.

Freddy Pacheco, RHP, Caribes

Freddy Pacheco did not make an appearance for Caribes in the final series. His struggles throughout the season put him closer to the bottom of the pecking order in the bullpen for the biggest games of the season.

Season Stats
ERA – 13.94
Innings Pitched – 10 ⅓
K/9 – 10.45
BB/9 – 9.58

Freddy Pacheco

LCBP (Colombia)

Jhon Torres’ team, Caimanes, won the LCBP championship as they were victorious in four of the first five games in the best-of-seven series.

Jhon Torres, outfielder, Caimanes

Jhon Torres did not play in any of the games in the final series. The outfielder is not listed on Caimanes’ Caribbean Series roster, so his winter league season is over.

Season Stats
.240/.320/.321/.641
Plate Appearances – 56
Walk Rate – 8.9%
Strikeout Rate – 12.5%

Jhon Torres

Caribbean Series Preview

The Caribbean Series begins on Friday, January 28 and runs through Thursday, February 3. Six countries will participate – Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Panama – and they are represented by the victorious teams of their domestic leagues.

The location of the tournament rotates each year. Last year it was held in Mazatlan, Mexico, but this year it is being held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.

Representatives from each of the countries participating are as follows:

Mexico – Charros de Jalisco

Dominican Republic – Gigantes del Cibao

Venezuela – Navegantes del Magallanes

Colombia – Caimanes de Barranquilla

Puerto Rico – Criollos de Caguas

Panama – Astronautas de Los Santos

The rosters of these teams are not the same as they were during the domestic seasons. Teams routinely add the best talent from other teams and sometimes they will even add native MLB players to the roster for the sole purpose of playing in the Series.

Historically, the most successful teams have come from the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico as the Dominican Republic has won the tournament 21 times and Puerto Rico has won it 16 times. Mexico has won nine times and Venezuela has won seven times while Panama has only won twice and Colombia has never been victorious.

The Cardinals only have representatives playing for Panama as both Ivan Herrera and Wilfredo Pereira are playing for Astronautas. Ivan Herrera is joining from the runners up – Federales. Something to notice is that Herrera, a catcher by trade, is listed as 1B/DH. This is where he played during the domestic season and it is probably a directive of the Cardinals to preserve his body.

There is a limited Cardinals presence in this tournament, but there are plenty of big leaguers. For Mexico, Christian Villanueva, formerly of the Padres, and Roberto Osuna are former MLB players. The Dominican Republic has the most talented roster with players like Robinson Cano, Marcell Ozuna, Hanser Alberto, Juan Francisco, Jose Siri, Ronald Guzman, Richard Urena, and Kelvin Gutierrez, and more all having MLB experience.

This makes Gigantes the clear favorite in the tournament, which is usually the case for the Dominican team. Some are also suggesting that Panama could surprise with its strong pitching staff, of which the aforementioned Wilfredo Pereira is a part.

Puerto Rico has enlisted longtime now-Guardians catcher Roberto Perez, while Panama’s starting catcher will likely be former top-100 prospect Christian Bethancourt.

Colombia is usually a large underdog, but it does have MLB experience in the form of Sandy Leon and Dilson Herrera. An interesting tidbit about the Venezuelan champions is that they are one of two teams in Venezuela that is not allowed to carry any players with MLB affiliated ties on their active roster, so their talent pool is limited. Still the team has MLB experience from Junior Guerra, Willians Astudillo, Alejandro de Aza, and Pablo Sandoval. Also, former Cardinals prospect Rayder Ascanio will suit up for the Venezuelan champions.

I have been unable to verify if the tournament will be televised in the United States. ESPN typically carries it on ESPN Deportes, but I have been unable to find any information to confirm that for this year. It is also possible that MLB.com will pick it up since the site covered LIDOM all season, but that is purely speculation.

The final winter league update will come after the conclusion of the Caribbean Series.