Major League Baseball extreme fatigue list includes 66 Dominicans

The Dominican Winter Baseball League (LIDOM) nowadays features mainly AA and AAA players, with a few major leaguers thrown in. There was a time when the LIDOM was mainly big leaguers, with a few minor leaguers thrown in. The time was that big leaguers returned to their Dominican homeland to play for their beloved hometown teams. That time has passed.

Miguel Tejada was perhaps of the hometown boys to play in the prime of his career with his Dominican Winter League team. Today, the big league clubs tell their players if they can play in the winter leagues and how many games. They may force an American player to go down and play twenty games, even though he wants to enjoy his off-season (see Mark Trumbo). Or they may tell a native of Santiago, Dominican Republic that he can not play with his hometown team because he has pitched too many innings.

Not more than a few years ago, MLB implemented an 'extreme fatigue list' to standardize player's ability to play in the Caribbean winter leagues. A player makes the fatigue list when they reach 160 innings for major league pitchers, 600 innings behind home plate for catchers, and 502 turns-at-bat for infielders and outfielders. These are negotiated for each position and also depend on whether playing time is accrued at the major or minor league levels, but these are rough numbers.

This year, the 'extreme fatigue list' includes a record 66 Dominican baseball players. The list includes Ivan Nova, Fernando Martinez, Wilson Valdez, Jimmy Paredes, Emilio Bonifacio, Erick Aybar, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Esmil Rogers.

The fact is many of these players, especially the established big leaguers, would not be playing in the Dominican Winter Baseball League even if they were not on the 'extreme fatigue list.' These players are making too much money to risk injury for virtually no pay, in comparison to their big league salaries. But other fringe major leaguers or high level minor leaguers that need the extra pay check from a Dominican Winter Baseball League team would welcome the extra work and money.

With the 'extreme fatigue list' they are not given this option. If they are on this list, then the Major League club can hold them out of the Dominican Winter Baseball League. And in many cases, the clubs choose to use this option. It is not a good thing for the LIDOM because they lose players and have to draw from even lower levels of professional ball.

Dominican pitcher Ivan Nova is on the 'extreme fatigue list,'
photo by Keith Allison on Flickr

Dominican baseball player Ubaldo Jimenez to make first start for Indians, Jugador de Dominican beisbol va a jugar primer vez por Indians

Dominican baseball player Ubaldo Jimenez has had an up and down existence in Major League Baseball with the Rockies, and he was recently traded to the Cleveland Indians.

Just last year, Jimenez pitched a no-hitter and was in the running for the Cy Young at the end of the season, after finishing with a 2.88 ERA and 19-8 record.  He was named the ace of the Rockies pitching staff this past off-season, and got off to decent start to the year.  Then he cracked his cuticle and could not pitch, and it all fell apart.

He was 6-9 with a 4.46 ERA and the Rockies decided to trade him to the Indians for three minor leaguers.  Interesting move.  The Rockies seemed to trade him at the first sign of trouble.  He did have two complete games and one shutout for the Rockies.  Complete games and shutouts do not just fall out of thin air.  It takes some real skill to achieve that stuff on a consistent basis, which Ubaldo seems to do.

The Indians got an ace, or at the very worst a number two starter.  Aces are like gold in the MLB landscape, so the Dominican Baseball Guy cannot agree with this move from the Rockies.  Even if they were out of the playoffs this season, Jimenez is just 26, so would seem to have a long career ahead of him.

He makes his first start today, and the Dominican Baseball Guy will of course be following him.  Ubaldo Jimenez es de Nagua, Republica Dominicana.

The Indians logo has to be one of the coolest in MLB:

Dominican baseball pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez returns to Rockies tonight, Dominicano Jimenez lanza este noche

Ubaldo Jimenez pitches for the Rockies
by Chamber of Fear on Flickr

The Dominican Baseball Guy is a big fan of Ubaldo Jimenez and thinks Jimenez will be an ace for many years to come.  So, the Dominican Baseball Guy has been blogging on Jimenez and his rough start to the season.  He is the ace of the Rockies pitching staff, but had to leave in the opening game of the season.  Jimenez went to the 15 day disabled list on April 6th.

He is returning tonight to face the Giants.  Don't ask the Dominican Baseball Guy how that adds up to 15 days on the DL.

The Rockies are 12-4 thus far, but will need Jimenez this series and in a division with the defending World Series champions.  So, this is a good time for him to be returning.  Jimenez is looking to build on his Cy Young worthy performance last year, but this is not a good start.

Ubaldo is from Nagua, Dominican Republic.  He pitched a no-hitter last year.

Ubaldo Jimenez goes to disabled list for Rockies

As the Dominican Baseball Guy recently posted, Ubaldo Jimenez is the ace of the Rockies pitching staff.  He is coming off a year in which he started for the NL in the all-star game and challenged for the Cy Young at the end of the year.

So, it was strange to see him struggle in his opening day start and give up five earned runs in six innings.  But it turns out there is an exclamation in that he had an injured pitching thumb.  Apparently he has a cracked cuticle on the thumb.  Yes, that right, he is going to the 15 day DL for a cracked cuticle.  The Rockies and Jimenez do not want the pain in his thumb to alter his mechanics and lead to an arm injury, so he will see a short stint on the DL for the first time in his career.

Ubaldo is from Nagua, DR.

Ubaldo Jimenez, by Chamber of Fear on Flickr

Ubaldo Jimenez to ace Rockies staff

It comes as no surprise that Ubaldo Jimenez will be the Rockies ace for the upcoming season, but the Rockies made it official last week.

He had a Cy Young worthy first half last season, but fizzled in the second half.  Jimenez was in fact the National League starter in the all-star game.  He basically had no run support in the second half of the season, but still finished with a 19-8 record and 2.88 ERA.  He also made the prestigious Dominican Baseball Guy all-Dominican team for 2010.

Ubaldo is from Nagua, DR.

David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic

The David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic is this weekend in Cap Cana, Dominican Republic.  Here is the official website.  The tournament proceeds fund the David Ortiz Children's Fund, which provides money for pediatric medical care in Boston and the Dominican Republic.  There are a slew of articles covering his charity golf tournament, many coming from Dominican publications (see this one).  This is a huge story in the Dominican Republic, as Ortiz is one of the most famous Dominican players.  The Boston Herald covered it as well and put out a few articles: one on Ortiz's future in Boston, one on Adrian Beltre and his contract opportunities for next year, and several blog posts from Cap Cana on their Extra Bases blog.

In attendance were Dustin Pedroia, Daniel Bard, Jon Lester, Darnell McDonald, Jed Lowrie, Tim Wakefield, Adrian Beltre, Johnny Damon, Pedro Martinez, Vlad Guerrero, Robbie Cano, Ubaldo Jimenez, Placido Polanco and Francisco Liriano.  Bill Russell, Jim Rice, and some other celeberities were there too.  Ortiz is of course the star though.  Here he is with Bobby Orr:

David Ortiz is not alone.  Lots of current and former Dominican players do charity work for their home country.  Jose Bautista is currently teaming with the NCAA to recruit Dominican student athletes.

Dominican Baseball Guy MLB 2010 All-Dominican Team

It is finally time for the Dominican Baseball Guy's prestigious All-Dominican team.  This is a yearly all-star team of the best Dominican players in the MLB for each season.  It is based on numbers, the year each player had, but also on who the Dominican Baseball Guy thinks is the best Dominican Player at each position.  So here is the 2010 MLB All-Dominican Team, as chosen by the Dominican Baseball Guy.

1B Albert Pujols: He did what he always does: .312, 42 HR, 118 RBI.  There is a reason they call this guy "la maquina" or "the machine."  He has hit .300 with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI in every year of his 10 year career.  Pujols has already won a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger for 2010.  Pujols won the August Dominican Baseball Guy Player of the month and the NL Player of the Month Award.  He is from Santo Domingo, DR.


2B Robinson Cano: This was another easy choice for the Dominican Baseball Guy.  Like Pujols, Cano won both the Gold Glove and the Silver Slugger for 2B in the AL.  So, since he is the best fielder and hitter at his position, he obviously gets a spot on the All-Dominican Team for 2010.  He made the Sporting News post season All-Star team at 2B too.  Cano won the AL Player of the Month for April.  Cano is from San Pedro de Macoris, DR.





SS Hanley Ramirez: Hanley had a self-admited down year, but he still hit .300 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI.  The Dominican Baseball guy is no sure how this guy does not have 100 RBI every year.  He won the Home Run Derby, after which the Dominican Baseball Guy tabbed him as the "sweetest swing in the game."  He has already won the Sporting News NL SS of the year award.  Hanley is from Samana, DR.






3B Adrian Beltre: Adrian won the AL Silver Slugger award for third base.  He has been in the big leagues for 13 years and had perhaps his best year at the plate this year with the Red Sox (.321, 28HR, 102 RBI).  He was the Dominican Baseball Guy June 2010 Player of the Month.  Beltre is from Santo Domingo, DR.

OF Jose Bautista:  Bautista led the MLB with 54 HR and was third in RBI with 124.  He won an AL Silver Slugger and the Hank Aaron award for the top hitter in the AL.  He won the Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican Player of the Month, and the AL Player of the Month for July and August.  Another obvious choice for the All-Dominican Team.  He is from Santo Domingo, DR.

OF Nelson Cruz: So, Nelson only had 22 HR and 78 RBI this year, but he only played in 108 games.  The Dominican Baseball Guy thinks he showed his true form in the playoffs, setting an all-time record for extra-base hits in the playoffs.  If he can stay healthy he will be an All-Star for many years to come.  Cruz is from Monte Cristi, DR.


OF Vladimir Guerrero: OK, Vlad only played a handful of games in the outfield this season.  But the Dominican Baseball Guy did not see any other Dominicans that warranted receiving this prestigious award for this season.  Vlad had an incredible year too (29 HR, 115 RBI, .300).  He is a lifetime .320 hitter, which is 5th on the active list and 54th all-time.  This from a guy that is seen as a power hitter.  One of the Dominican Baseball Guy's favorite players ever, he is from Nizao, DR.

Starting Pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez: Ubaldo got off to a great start and won the NL Pitcher of the Month for April and May.  He was 15-1 at the All-Star break.  He slowed down later in the season, but still finished 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA in 220 innings.  According to this article he is still in a 4 way race for NL Cy Young.

Relief Pitchers Rafael Soriano and Carlos Marmol: Soriano was 3rd in the MLB in saves with 45.  He won the Delivery Man of the Month Award three times this year and The Dominican Baseball Guy Pitcher of the Month award once.  Marmol won the Delivery Man of the Month award once, was 7th in the MLB in saves, and set an MLB record with 15.99 Ks per 9 innings.  Rafael is from San Jose, DR and Carlos is from Bonao, DR.

Rookie Neftali Feliz: Neftali tied for fifth in MLB in saves and set a rookie record with 40 saves.  He won the AL Rookie of the Year award already, so he is surely the top Dominican rookie this season.  Neftali is from Azua, DR.

Notice there are no catchers on the All-Dominican team.  The Dominican Baseball Guy has noticed a strange trend: there are very few Dominican catchers at any level.  The Dominican Baseball Guy does not know of any Dominican catchers in the big leagues, and even in the Dominican Winter Baseball League, a lot for the catchers are imports.  Other than this lack of a catcher, this All-Dominican team has an All-Star or someone that could play for any big league team at every position.  It would be a pretty successful club if they were to all play together.  Not sure how they keep managing to do so bad in the World Baseball Classic.

Dominican MLB 2010 Players of the Month

The Dominican Baseball Guy awarded monthly winners for the top Dominican player and pitcher in the MLB throughout the 2010 season.  These are based solely on the Dominican Baseball Guy's opinion as to which Dominican players had the best month.  Here are the winners throughout the season:

May: Ubaldo Jimenez and Vladimir Guerrero
June: Neftali Feliz and Adrian Beltre
July: Rafael Soriano and Jose Bautista
August: Wandy Rodriguez and Albert Pujols/Jose Bautista
September: Carlos Marmol and Pedro Alvarez

A number of Dominicans also won the official player of the month award for the NL and AL during the 2010 MLB season.  Here is the list of Dominicans that won these awards:

NL Pitcher of the Month (April and May): Ubaldo Jimenez
NL Player of the Month (August): Albert Pujols
NL Rookie of the Month (September): Pedro Alvarez
AL Pitcher of the Month (April): Francisco Liriano
AL Player of the Month (April): Robinson Cano
AL Player of the Month (May): David Ortiz
AL Player of the Month (July and August): Jose Bautista
AL Rookie of the Month (September): Neftali Feliz

Pretty incredible that Dominicans won 10 of the 37 player of the month awards on the year.  This from a country of 10 million people.

Look for the Dominican Baseball Guy's prestigious 2010 All-Dominican team to come out soon.

All Star Game

The Dominican Baseball Guy hoped to blog about the All Star game, but there really is not much to say.  Most of the Dominicans were shut out.  Here is the yahoo sports recap if anyone is interested.

Hanley Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Albert Pujols, Jose Bautista, Vladimir Guerrero, Adrian Beltre, and Robinson Cano were all hitless.  David Ortiz had 1 hit.  Jose Reyes did not play because he was injured.  So, the Dominicans were 1-12 on the night.

The Dominican pitchers fared a little better.  Ubaldo Jimenez pitched two scoreless innings to start the game for the NL.  Rafael Soriano and Jose Valverde each pitched a scoreless inning for the AL.  Neftali Feliz, and Fausto Carmona did not get to pitch.

So the Dominican Baseball Guy is sad to report that not much happened with the Dominicans in the All Star game this year.  But they did have 14 Dominicans selected to the game and David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez put on a great show the night before in the Home Run Derby, as the Dominican Baseball Guy says in his previous post.

Dominican MLB All Stars

The Major League All Star game is tonight and the Home Run Derby was last night.

Two Dominicans, David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez fought it out in the finals of the Home Run Derby.  What can the Dominican Baseball Guy say about Hanley Ramirez.  Probably the sweetest swing in the game.  He already has a batting title and now he is winning the Home Run Derby.  And he plays shortstop.  But experience won out this time as David Ortiz paced himself.  Hanley is from Samana and Big Papi is from Santo Domingo.  Ortiz counseled a young Ramirez early in his career:

"Hanley is like a son to me. He grew up with us in  Boston" Ortiz said.  "I was all over him, because i knew he had a super talent. I'm really happy for him. He showed what he could do."  

Many young Dominicans have been unable to adjust to cultural differences and pressures of big league play.  Obviously these two have made a swell transition to the MLB.

Here is a preview of tonight's All-Star Game.  And it took me several minutes (an eternity in internet time) to find a list of the current All Star rosters.  The Dominican Baseball Guy was surprised to see that there are 81 All Stars.  Lots of All Stars.  Five out of 20 starters are Dominican, and there are 14 total Dominicans out of the 81 All Stars.  This is 17% of the All Stars, while no other country (besides the United States of course) is represented by more than 2 All Stars.  Of course, Ubaldo Jimenez will start for the NL and he says that he is happy to represent his family and the Dominican Republic in this interview.  Should be a good game tonight, we will see how these Dominican peloterros do.

Dominican MLB June 2010 Players of the Month

There were again, like usual, several Dominicans that got some AL and NL Player of the month votes.  No Dominicans won any of the player of the month awards, this being the first month of 2010 that this has happened.  Ubaldo Jimenez (NL Pitcher of the Month for April and May), Francisco Liriano (AL Pitcher of the Month for April), Robinson Cano (AL Player of the month for April), and David Ortiz (AL Player of the Month for May) have all won the award this year (see the MLB.com Player of the Month page).  It is pretty incredible that Dominicans have won 5 out of the 12 player of the month awards thus far this season.

For June, Adrian Beltre and Vladimir Guerrero were the only Dominicans to get any votes, both for the AL Player of the Month.  Even though the Dominican Baseball Guy loves Vladimir Guerrero, the Dominican Baseball Guy cannot pass up Adrian Beltre for the June 2010 Dominican Baseball Guy Dominican Player of the Month.  Beltre (.376, 7 HR, 19 RBI) had a huge month and would normally win the MLB award if it had not been for Josh Hamiliton's incredible month of June (.454 (49-108),9 HR, 31 RBI).  But this is the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Player of the Month and Josh Hamilton is not Dominican.  Beltre also led a surge by the Red Sox who were 18-9 on the month. Beltre played for the Dominican Republic in the most recent World Baseball Classic, here he is with Albert Pujols during this competition:

As for the pitchers, amazingly no Dominicans got any votes for the MLB Pitchers of the month, this after Jimenez won the first two in the National League.  The Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Pitcher of the Month for June 2010 goes to Neftali Feliz.  The Dominican Baseball Guy is of course a fan of the Rangers, but Feliz is two off the MLB lead in saves with 23 thus far.  He had 8 in June.  He is from Azua on the southwest coast of the Dominican Republic.  There seem to be a lot of players from this city, so the Dominican Baseball Guy will tag this city every time it is mentioned.  Neftali is only in his second big league season, but has become the full time closer on a very good team.  Here is Neftali with Micheal Young after a save:

Also, the Dominican Baseball Guy liked the recap of the MLB Player's of the Month over at http://fullcountpitch.com/.

Dominican MLB May 2010 Players of the Month

Instead of doing sporadic updates on Dominican players throughout the season, the Dominican Baseball Guy will start announcing Dominican Players of the Month for the rest of the season.  We will also announce the prestigious all-Dominican team at the end of the year, so look for this.

For May there is really no question who the Dominican pitcher of the month is.  Ubaldo Jimenez has been named the National League Pitcher of the month for April and May, so he is the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican pitcher of the month for May 2010.  At 12-1 with a razor-thin 1.16 ERA, Jimenez is off to the finest pitching start since 1920, this according to an article by a friend of the Dominican Baseball Guy, Judd Spicer.  Jimenez is well on his way to an NL Cy Young award.

For the Dominican Player of the Month it was a very close race, as David Ortiz, Vladimir Guerrero, and Robinson Cano all had amazing months in May.  David Ortiz received the AL Player of the month award after hitting .363 with 10 HRs and 27 RBI.

Robinson Cano has carried his opening month hot streak and continued it May to a .370 average through 65 games.  He is another player from San Pedro de Macoris, the city highlighted in the book The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris.  This city claims to have the most players in MLB per capita of any city, and the stats seem to bear this fact.  The Dominican Baseball Guy will get a list of players from this Dominican city up soon.

But, the Dominican Baseball Guy's Dominican Player of the Month goes to Vladimir Guerrero.  He has similar stats (.330, 10 HRs, 31 RBI, ) to the other two Dominicans that played well in May.  But he has always been a favorite of the Dominican Baseball Guy and he plays for the Dominican Baseball Guy's favorite team, so Vladimir Guerrero wins it.

Dominicans in 2010 MLB (Update #2)

There is a lot going on with Dominican Players in MLB right now.  This is an obvious fact since there were around 80 Dominicans on opening day rosters.  This number will fluctuate throughout the season as players are called up to the big show, or sent down to the minors, but the Dominican Baseball Guy thinks there should be at least 80 Dominicans in the big leagues all year.  So, some of these Dominicans will surely continue to make news.

Ubaldo Jimenez and Francisco Liriano continue to pitch well as starters, as the Dominican Baseball Guy stated a few posts back.  Jimenez is definitely a front runner for National League Cy Young at this point.

Vladimir Guerrero is playing very well for the Rangers.  He is in the top 10 in the American League in average and RBI right now.  Guerrero has long been a favorite player of the Dominican Baseball Guy.  He is a .322 lifetime hitter, an incredible lifetime average for someone that also hits for power.  He was the AL MVP in 2004 and has 4 Silver Slugger awards.  He also has a great arm in the outfield and the Dominican Baseball Guy has seen him throw out many runners from right field.  He had a walk off hit a few days ago too.

Alfonso Soriano and Robinson Cano are also off to good starts.  They are both from San Pedro de Macoris, the city highlighted in the new book, The Eastern Stars: How Baseball Changed the Dominican Town of San Pedro de Macoris.

Jose Bautista has played well for the Blue Jays.  Albert Pujols is doing his normal thing, batting like 1.000 with runners in scoring position and churning out his normal triple crown contending numbers.  Jose Guillen and Nelson Cruz have hit well, although Nelson Cruz has been injured some.

Interesting that the Dominican Baseball Guy does not mention some of the most famous Dominican ballplayers like Pedro Martinez and David Ortiz.  There is a new crop of Dominicans playing in MLB and there will be another group behind them, as there are no shortage of Dominican prospects in the minor leagues.

Dominicans in MLB Season Thus Far (Update #1)

What can I say? Obviously a lot is going on with the MLB season in full swing. As I said in the last post, there were 86 Dominicans on opening day rosters.

Ubaldo Jimenez and Francisco Liriano have pitched well after pitching well in the Dominican Winter Baseball League this past winter.

Ubaldo Jimenez was named the Rockies ace at the start of the season. He gave up a career in medicine to play baseball. Jimenez pitched a no hitter few days ago.
Liriano dominated the winter league and has turned that into a great start to the MLB season. Check out Judd Spicer's article on Liriano and the Dominican Winter League. This article has all the stats from his first three starts: 23 inning scoreless streak, .93 ERA so far, and a bunch of strikeouts in three starts.
These are the two Dominican starters that stand out thus far. There are probably more Dominicans pitching as relievers and the Dominican Baseball Guy will update the Dominican relievers and field players later.

Dominicans Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz News

There are a couple good articles on MLB.com this week regarding Dominicans Ubaldo Jimenez and Nelson Cruz.

This article about Jimenez talks about his past season and where he will fit in the Rockies rotation this year. He could be the ace and pitch on opening day. Ubaldo pitched about 35 innings for Licey in the Dominican Winter League this year and talks about why he decided to pitch down there, even though he is assured a spot in the Rockies rotation after last years performance:

"I threw probably 35 innings, something like that," said Jimenez, who worked in the in the round-robin portion and the semifinals of the Dominican Winter League playoffs for Licey. "I love pitching at home. My family and my friends, they're never going to have a chance to see me pitch in person. I do it for them."

The Dominican Baseball Guy has heard this sentiment expressed many times by Dominican players, as well as the opposite expressed by American or other non-Dominicans playing in the Dominican Winter League. The Dominican Baseball Guy posted about this issue after speaking with American Mark Trumbo who left the league after a few weeks.

Dominican Nelson Cruz also saw action in the Dominican Winter League this year. He played for the team that I was following, Los Gigantes. He did not have a great year in the winter league, but this was in limited action after getting hurt. Despite this he was extremely popular with Gigantes fans. He has been a good player for them in years past, so much of the city was excited when he played. The Gigantes also promoted his appearance aggressively, announcing his first game on radio spots as well as sending a truck with loud speakers out to roam the city and announce his arrival.

This article talks of his relationship with Dominican Vlad Guerrero, and how they will team up in Texas this year. Cruz says that Guerrero has always been his favorite player. He has also been one of the Dominican Baseball Guys favorite players, so this is great that he will be with the Rangers. Lifetime .321 average with power, and a canon for an arm, and golfing balls for HRs. Gotta love Vlad. As a Rangers fan from Texas, I am excited about this move and the rest of the Rangers team this year.