logo
Blue Jays: Yohendrick Piñango and three others set to play in Venezuelan Winter League
alt
Photo credit: © Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
Cynthia Ryley Delaney
Oct 14, 2026, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Oct 14, 2026, 12:46 EDT
Comments
There are a handful of Toronto Blue Jays prospects who have begun their winter leagues.
Recently, the Venezuelan Winter League kicked off, with four players named to rosters. Outfield prospect Victor Arias will play for Águilas del Zulia, outfielder Alexis Hernandez with play for Navegantes del Magallanes, pitcher Richard Gallardo will play for Tigres de Aragua, and Yohendrick Piñango will play for Cardenales de Lara.
Piñango is the only one of the four with big league experience. This past season, the outfielder appeared in 58 games with the big league club, slashing .260/.306/.396 with five home runs in 180 plate appearances. Most of Piñango’s season was spent with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, where he slashed .269/.351/.455 with 11 home runs in 308 plate appearances, good for a 112 wRC+.
This isn’t Piñango’s first taste of action with Lara, as he played the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons with the Venezuelan-based team. In 2024-25, he slashed .250/.33/.438 with a home run in 36 plate appearances. He had a much better stint last season, slashing. 363/.444/.714 with eight home runs in just 110 plate appearances.
Arias is the lone player of the four to rank on MLB Pipeline’s top 30 Blue Jays’ prospect list. The outfielder had a tough season with the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, slashing .226/.277/.379 with 10 home runs in 351 plate appearances, good for just a 72 wRC+. Back in the 2023-24 off-season, Arias appeared in a game for Magallanes, but hasn’t played a game since.
Hernandez finished the 2026 season as a teammate of Arias. Splitting his time between the High-A Vancouver Canadians and the Fisher Cats, Hernandez slashed .298/.386/.493 with 15 home runs in 439 plate appearances for a 132 wRC+. The Rule 5 draftee (in the minor league portion) made his Venezuelan Winter League debut in 2025-26 with Magallanes, slashing .304/.370/.487 with a home run in 27 plate appearances.
Gallardo is another player the Blue Jays selected in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. Last season, the 25-year-old righty posted a 4.25 ERA and 4.89 FIP in 106 innings of work, splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A. This will be his third season playing in the Venezuelan Winter League. He made a scoreless start back in 2023-24, but finished his 11.2 innings of work in 2025-26 with a 9.26 ERA.
These are just the four Blue Jays playing in the Venezuelan Winter League for now. Others can join them as the season continues, and there’ll be a handful of other players in the organizations playing in the Puerto Rican Winter League (like Yariel Rodríguez), the Dominican Winter League, and Mexican Winter League.
Cynthia Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, DFOEdmonton, and DFOCalgary. She can be followed on Twitter @CynthiaRDelaney.
News
MORE NEWS. IN YOUR INBOX.
CLICK TO SUBSCRIBE TO OUR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

Breaking News