The 2024-2025 Winter League season is officially underway in the Caribbean, with last year’s champions kicking off their respective seasons in the Winter leagues in Mexico and Venezuela.
In Mexico, two games began celebrating Mexico’s 80th Winter baseball season. In the first game, League champions Naranjeros de Hermosillo defeated Yaquis de Obregon to start their quest to repeat as champions. Willie Calhoun, the eight-year MLB veteran, went 3 for 4 with an RBI to lead the offense for the defending champions. Naranjeros’ pitching was led by another MLB veteran, Robert Stock, who pitched six scoreless innings for Hermosillo. Despite their best efforts, Obregon could not muster any offense against Stock, as they could only collect five hits during the game. Liga Arco’s other match saw Aguilas de Mexicali, who will host the Caribbean Series in February, receive the Sultanes de Monterrey visit. However, unlike the previous game, the visitors defeated the home team. Mexicali could not find any offense against Monterrey’s starter Noah Bremer, who scored five innings, struck six, and walked none. The California native and former sixth-round pick of the Texas Rangers is making his debut in the Mexican league after stints in the Atlantic Independent League last year and formerly the Puerto Rico Winter League with Criollos de Caguas. Monterrey’s offense was led by Carter Aldrete, who went 2 for 4, with two runs scored and five batted in to celebrate his 27th birthday.
In Venezuela, Ozzie Guillen and Tiburones de la Guaira began their quest to repeat as league and Caribbean Series champions by receiving Navegantes de Magallanes to start the 2024-25 season, a season that will be dedicated to Vic Davalillo, who is one of Venezuela’s greats. “I am not focused on repeating; I am focused on our team playing good baseball,” affirmed Guillen before the start of the season. However, the festivities turned sour for the more than 12,000 fans who showed up to La Guaira to celebrate last year’s title as Magallanes’ unrelenting offensive assault of 12 runs on 18 hits left La Guaira’s pitchers searching for answers. Veteran Keon Barnum and MLB veteran Renato Nuñez led the offense for Magallanes. Barnum went 2-3 with two runs scored and four RBI, and Nuñez added four RBI of his own on three hits, two of them HRs, in six trips to the plate. Barnum is making his debut season in Venezuela, and Magallanes is excited to see the offensive output the Independent League star will put in Venezuela after collecting 41 HR and 115 RBI last year for the Charleston Dirty Birds of the Atlantic Independent League. Navegantes’ offensive output was more than enough for Junior Guerra, who pitched six scoreless innings with as many strikeouts.
LMP in Mexico and LVBP in Venezuela continue their seasons tonight, as all the teams in Venezuela will see action tonight. With the Dominican Winter League and the Puerto Rico League slated to start their seasons in a few weeks, this promises to be an exciting Winter league season in the Caribbean in route to the 2025 Caribbean Series in Mexicali in February, where the Champions of each of these leagues and the representative from Japan’s Winter league will face off in a five-team tournament to determine the next Caribbean Series champion.
