Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to Play in Dominican Winter League
3 years ago
It was reported Monday night that Vladimir Guerreo Jr. has been granted permission and will play Winter Ball in the Dominican Republic.
Vladdy will be joining the Escogido Baseball Club, a team already loaded with young talent. Vladdy will play alongside Julio Rodriguez, the Seattle Mariners prospect who ranks among the top 10 prospects in all of baseball and the undisputed top prospect in baseball in shortstop Wander Franco. The roster also includes Gregory Polonco of the Pirates.
As far as Blue Jays fans go the other name to watch on this team is Otto Lopez. Lopez was just added to the Blue Jays 40-man roster to protect him from being selected in the Rule 5 Draft. Lopez is a versatile player having played every position but catcher and first base. It looks like the Blue Jays want to get him more focused on playing a middle infield position. In 2019 Lopez played 693.1 innings at shortstop after playing less than 100 innings there the year prior. Reading some scouting reports he doesn’t sound like a great defender, which means he’s likely headed for second base. The position he is currently playing for Escogido.
Lopez has hit well in the low minors, but his lack of power is what’s kept him as a fringe prospect. He has more of a high average, high contact type of hitter. He’s been leading off for Escogido. If he can show a little power in the Winter League he may be a player who factors into the Blue Jays plans long-term.
Vlad Jr. I would expect to play third base for Escogido. He says he wants to “take back third base” and what better way to prove it to the Blue Jays brass that he can do it than doing it in games.
Vlad has put in the work this off-season. We’ve all seen the tweets, and if you watch the Team Guerrero Youtube channel, you can see the work he’s putting in. Seems like every couple days there is another video of Vladdy in the gym or working out outside. He still has his power, he was hitting some bombs in his latest video.
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Obviously he needs to get the ball off the ground, this is a good opportunity for him to try some things against live pitching.
Vladdy has done the training and now needs to show he can do it in game situations. He is expected to join the team next week. If you want to watch the league you can stream games on DR Sports. They offer an MLB TV type of package where you can watch every team for just $19.99.
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