Tim Rogers
As we spoke about yesterday the winter league in Venezuela is underway. With two Dodgers on the Leones del Caracas I’ve been following them. So far Keibert Ruiz and Romer Cuadrado have started in both games. So far Los Leones are 2-0. In the second game both Dodger farmhands combined for three hits (two of them doubles), scored two runs and drove in three as Los Leones won 8-3.
Cuadrado stood out a bit though. He started the game in center field and batted eighth. For a minute let’s take a look at Romer’s background. The native of Maturin, Venezuela was signed as an international free agent by the Dodgers in December of 2014. He had his best season in 2017 at Ogden when he slashed .335/.413/.523 (AVG/OBP/SLG). In 2018 he had a miserable season but showed improvement in 2019. With COVID-19 wrecking 2020 Cuadrado had not played in a competitive baseball game since 2019 when the winter leagues started and he’s showing that he’s ready.
In the first game of the season Cuadrado had an RBI single along with a walk. Game 2 he had a single, double, two runs batted in and a run scored. He also made a great catch in center field.
The best way to follow Los Leones is via their Twitter account. The best social media to follow Romer Cuadrado on Instagram (@romercuadrado17) and Keibert Ruiz is on Instagram at (@keibert_ruiz). We’ll see if we can track down more Dodgers minor leaguers on their winter league teams and report on them.
