With many individuals from the 
Phillies’ organization playing in the Caribbean “Winter” leagues, there is still plenty of baseball action to keep tabs on. Below is a run down of all the key players spending time trying to sharpen their skills and gain some extra experience during the North American offseason.
Dominican Winter Baseball League-
David Herndon, a 2010 rookie that spent the entire season on the Phillies’ big league roster, is pitching for the Cibao Gigantes. In 2 relief outings, Herndon has pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings. He hasn’t walked or struck out a batter in his limited game time, to this point. Herndon, 25, was a Rule 5 draft pick by the Phillies last off-season. In 47 games in the Majors this season, Herndon posted a 1-3 record with a 4.30 ERA, while allowing just 2 HR in 52 1/3 innings pitched.
Antonio Bastardo, a teammate of Herndon with the Phillies this season, continues to occupy the same bullpen as Herndon. In 5 relief outings with the Gigantes, Bastardo has held his opponents hitless in 5 innings, while striking out 6 batters and walking none. With the Major League Phillies this year, Bastardo went 2-0 with a 4.34 ERA in 25 games.
Juan Perez, who the Phillies recently signed to a minor league contract, is another pitcher on the Gigantes roster. The lefty hurler is 1-1 with an 11.81 ERA in 13 DWBL outings…all in relief. The 32-year-old Perez pitched with the Dodgers Triple-A affiliate in Albuquerque in 2010, and posted a 4-3 record with a 2.96 ERA and a save in 45 games there. Last week, Perez was announced as a Phillies non-roster spring training invitee.
Domonic Brown, another Phils rookie in 2010, is playing with the Escogido Leones. The lefty hitting outfielder has struggled, going just 1-for-19 (.053 avg) in his first 6 games played in the Dominican League.
Timo Perez, a former Major Leaguer who spent time with the Phillies Double-A club in Reading this year, has been hitting very well for the Licey Tigres. In 27 games, the lefty batting outfielder has posted a .333 average, which is good enough for 4th best in the league. Perez, a Dominican native, also has 2 HR and 15 RBI for the Tigres.
Phillies pitching prospect Yohan Flande hasn’t been extremely sharp with the Toros. In 5 games, 4 of which were starts, the 24-year-old Flande has a 1-1 record with a 5.63 ERA while allowing opposing batters to post a .313 average. In 27 starts at Double-A Reading this year, Flande went 10-8 with a 4.38 ERA.
Infielder Ozzie Chavez, who split the regular season with Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley, is batting .130 in 12 games with the Toros, with no extra base hits and 3 runs scored. Chavez is a native of the Dominican Republic.
Derrick Loop, who pitched with High-A level Clearwater and Lehigh Valley in the Phillies system this year, has a 1-0 record and a 3.00 ERA in 11 relief outings for the Aguilas. Loop has held batters hitless with runners in scoring position thus far in DWBL action.
Former Phillie Fabio Castro leads the Dominican League in all three pitching triple crown categories (wins, ERA & strike outs) for the Gigantes. Castro is 4-1 with a 1.29 ERA and 52 strike outs in 35 innings over 6 starts.
Mexican League-
Pitcher Brian Mazone, who went 7-13 in 28 starts with Lehigh Valley this year, is doing poorly with the Mexicali Aquilas. In 3 Mexican League starts, Mazone has a 0-2 record with a 10.22 ERA. Mazone, a 34-year-old minor league journeyman, has never pitched in the majors.
20-year-old catcher Angel Chavarin, who was a member of the Gulf Coast League champion Phillies squad this year, is hitless in 2 games with the Mexicali Aquilas thus far.
Highly regarded catching prospect Sebastian Valle has been solid with the Los Mochis Caneros. The Mexico native Valle has posted a .264 average with 3 homers and 10 RBI in 27 games. Valle was a member of the A Level Lakewood BlueClaws that won two consecutive South Atlantic League championships over the past couple seasons.
Puerto Rican League-
Julio Rodriguez, another member of the 2010 SAL title winning Lakewood club, is pitching with the Carolina Gigantes. The 20-year-old righty hurler has a 2-1 record 3.80 ERA in 6 games, 5 of which were starts. In 20 games combined between short season Williamsport and A level Lakewood, in 2010, Rodriguez went 7-3 with a 1.89 ERA in 90 1/3 innings pitched.
Former Phillie Antonio Alfonseca is also a member of the Carolina roster. In 12 games, Alfonseca is 1-0 with a 3.38 ERA.
Venezuelan League-
Luis Unda, a left-handed outfielder, has gone 3-for-9 (.333 avg) in 4 games with the Cardenales. Unda, 20, batted .245 with no homers and 16 RBI in 44 games with the Gulf Coast League Phillies in 2010.
Switch-hitting infielder Freddy Galvis is batting .188 in 21 games with the Navegantes. Galvis has well regarded defense, but his .586 OPS in 138 games with Double A Reading in 2010 isn’t the sort of offense the Phillies are hoping for from him.
A member of the Phillies’ 2009 World Series team who toiled around at Double A in 2010, Sergio Escalona, hasn’t been on point thus far with the Tiburones. In 8 games, Escalona has no decisions and a 9.00 ERA. One plus for the 26-year-old lefty is that opponents are only batting .167 against him.
Melvin Dorta, a 28-year-old infielder that played with Reading and Lehigh Valley in 2010, is batting .108 in 12 games with the Aragua Tigres.
Harold Garcia, who made headlines this year by setting the Florida State League hitting streak record at 37 consecutive games, is batting .267 through 19 games with Zulia Aguilas. Unfortunately for Garcia he has no extra base hits and is just 1-for-3 in stolen base attempts.
24-year-old infielder Fidel Hernandez, who spent time at Clearwater and Reading this year, is also on the Aguilas roster. His .191 average and .515 OPS are rather unimpressive.
Venezuela native Cesar Hernandez is 7-for-21 (.333 avg.) in 8 games with the Margarita Bravos. Hernandez, 20, is a switch hitter. He batted .325 with 32 steals in 65 games at short season Williamsport in 2010.
Andy Tracy, who played with the IronPigs and the Phillies over the past few seasons, has joined the Bravos after struggling (2-for-29) in 8 games with the Aguilas in the Dominican League. In 3 games in the Venezuelan league, Tracy is 1-for-4, with a double and 2 walks.
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Jay Floyd is PhilliesNation’s minor league contributor. You can read more from Jay by visiting his site, PhoulBallz.com.
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