Baltimore Orioles: Complete Winter League Roundup

We’re taking a trip around the winter league scene to check in on some of the top performances from Baltimore Orioles prospects.

From the Dominican Republic to Venezuela and even all the way out to Australia, professional baseball leagues around the globe provide Major League Baseball prospects to work on various aspects of their game while returning home to their native country during the offseason. A handful of veteran players also make trips to play in one of these winter leagues and if you look closely through the rosters, you see players like Carlos Zambrano still climbing the mound and former Baltimore Orioles outfielder Alejandro De Aza living the dream.

Many of these leagues are wrapping up play in the coming days, ahead of the highly anticipated Caribbean Series, a tournament of champions among the league winners from Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. Across the Pacific Ocean, the Australian Baseball League will also wrap up its season shortly, with the playoffs commencing this week.

There’s only so much we can take away from these winter league performances. The more competitive leagues are said to be equivalent to AAA baseball, with most, like the Australian Baseball League, consisting of talent you would find in High-A or Double-A ball.

With limited video, we’re forced to mainly rely on box scores and stat lines. However, successful winter ball seasons can help propel a prospect to a successful year in minor league ball. See guys like Buddy Reed and Franchy Cordero as examples of this. Reed, a former second-round draft pick, struggled to hit Low-A pitching, had a big winter in Australia, and then dominated High-A ball. He continued to translate that into success at the Future’s Game and in the Arizona Fall League.

Will Baltimore Orioles fans witness anything like this with current Birds who flew south for the winter? Let’s run through each of the winter leagues and see who stood out.

Pedro Araujo and company have had fairly successful winter ball campaigns in the Dominican Republic.

The claiming of Hanser Alberto off waivers went largely unnoticed and for good reason. With any future signing, expect to see Alberto’s name immediately after as the player designated for assignment to clear a space on the currently full 40-man roster, however, for now, he is a part of Birdland.

Alberto is having one of the more successful seasons among the small number of Orioles who are putting in the time during the winter. In 171 at-bats, Alberto finished with a .322/.366/.392 slash line, adding nine doubles, one home run, and a .758 OPS. He continued to hit right-handed pitching with more success, hitting .331 against RHP, something he has done well over the course of his minor league career. We’ll see how much longer he calls Birdland home.

A few days ago, fellow contributor Chuck Boemmel discussed Pedro Araujo’s 2018 season and what 2018 may hold for the young pitcher. A Rule 5 pick from last season, Araujo will have to remain on the active roster for a few games before the Orioles can option him to the minor leagues, but his 2019 is off to a productive start.

Araujo went 2-1 with a 2.79 ERA in eight contest, striking out 14 hitters and walking just two. Right-handed batters hit a microscopic .095 against Araujo and struggled to get the ball in the air.

It may be easy to dismiss Araujo’s ability to pitch at the major league level, but he’s had success in the minors and has the tools to become a reliable option out of the bullpen, with a little more seasoning in the minors. Maybe a successful trip to the Dominican Republic will have a positive effect on him come spring training.

Lastly from the Dominican Republic, Diogenes Almengo. A 23-year-old RHP who signed a minor league deal with the Baltimore Orioles before the 2018 season, Almengo struck out 36 hitters and allowed a .215 batting average across 28 innings with the Delmarva Shorebirds and Aberdeen Ironbirds last season. He continued his positive run back home in the Dominican.

Almengo appeared in 22 games, posting a 4-1 record and 3.04 ERA across 26.2 innings. He allowed just one home run in a league full of powerful hitters and top prospect talent. There’s very little information out there on Almengo, but he’s piqued my interest and will be someone we follow a little more closely in 2019.

Baltimore Orioles shortstop prospect Chris Clare started out hotter than the Australian heat to begin his first winter league experience.

A growing league that featured expansion teams from South Korea and New Zealand this season, the Australian Baseball League was the home for two Baltimore Orioles minor leaguers, shortstop Chris Clare and outfielder Guiyuan Xu.

Xu has struggled in affiliate ball since the Orioles signed him out of China in 2015. Across parts of three seasons, Xu has hit .207 with eight extra-base hits and a .263 on-base percentage. Affectionately known as “Itchy”, Xu was the first baseball player signed out of a Chinese MLB player development center, inking a $10,000 deal as a 19-year-old. While it would be unique to see him climb the organizational ladder, the odds of that happening are pretty slim.

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Playing for the expansion Auckland Tuatara, Xu hit .264 (.292 against RHP) with a .343 OBP and five doubles. Despite finally showing an ability to get on base, he did record a strikeout rate of 37% in his 91 at-bats.

The major story out of Australia was Frederick Keys shortstop Chris Clare. Through the first month of the season, Clare was hitting .410 with a .500 OBP before playing sparingly in the month of December. He finished his first winter ball experience with a .283 average, 383 OBP, 11 doubles, and a .764 OPS. Over his final 10 games, Clare failed to finish above the Mendoza-Line, but he did draw eight walks.

Clare’s ability to work deep into counts is impressive. Paired with his ability to handle the shortstop position, Clare will likely begin the year in Double-A with the Bowie Baysox and shouldn’t be overlooked. With a severe lack of middle infield prospects, Clare’s path to the majors is open, if he can capitalize on it.

Now we wait just a few more weeks before the return of baseball here in the states. Pitchers and catchers officially report to spring training in 19 days.