Dominican baseball player Jordany Valdespin makes debut for Mets

Ranked as the number six prospect in the Mets system at the start of the year, Dominican baseball player Jordany Valdespin made his debut with the big league club this week.  He is a career infielder, but the Mets brought him up to play some outfield and serve as an all-around utility player, a la Martin Prado in Atlanta or Emilio Bonifacio in Miami.

The Dominican baseball player Valdespin made his first appearance on Monday and also played on Thursday for the Mets.  He is yet to get on base in four at bats in those two games.  But people around the Mets organization have no doubts about his potential as a big league starter:

• “From a physical ability standpoint, he’s the closest thing to Jose Reyes,” said ex-Mets general manager Omar Minaya.
• “His skills? Off the charts,” said Mets manager Terry Collins. 

Valdespin is from San Pedro de Macoris, Republica Dominicana.  His Dominican background led him to befriend fellow Dominican baseball player Jose Reyes.  The two met when Valdespin came to Mets spring training in 2010.  Reyes has counseled Valdespin about on-field issues, but also encouraged him to grow and mature off the field.

In this mentor role, Jose Reyes is continuing a tradition of established Dominican baseball players counseling young and up and coming Dominican players.  David Ortiz has been known as a mentor for young Dominicans for many years, and others have done the same.  It is a major transition for Dominican baseball players new to the big league game, and the country more generally.

Dominican baseball players like Jose Reyes and David Ortiz are doing a great service for their countrymen by helping to ease the transition for young players such as Jordany Valdespin.

Dominican baseball player Jordany Valdespin in the minor leagues in 2011, photo by Paul Hadsall on Flickr

Dominican baseball players in Opening Day game, Peloteros Dominicanos juegan en el primer dia de la temporada MLB

It is finally opening day and the Reds and Marlins have just kicked off the first day of the MLB season, well not counting that opening game or two played in Japan.

So...you ask...how many Dominican baseball players will be playing in this Opening Day game?

Well the Cardinals start Rafael Furcal, and...crickets.  That is the only Dominican player the Cardinals have on the roster.  That has to be some kind of record, only one Dominican baseball player on the entire roster.  But it is so.  Furcal is from Loma de Cabrera, Dominican Republic.

The Marlins on the other hand, have a few Dominican players on their roster.  They have Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, and Emilio Bonificio all starting.  And that is it.  Reyes is from Villa Gonzalez, Ramirez is from Samana, and Bonificio is from the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo.

This is a pretty small number of Dominican baseball players represented on these two teams.  It is just below the ten percent mark of last season for Dominican players on MLB rosters to start the year.  We should see the total number of Dominican baseball players on opening day rosters for this season in the next couple days.

Hanley Ramirez is one of several Dominican baseball players to start on opening day,
photo by afagen on Flickr