Tag: caribbean series

Who is Eduardo Rivera? Red Sox prospect led LBPRC in Ks, pitched in Caribbean Series this winter

As he prepares for his first spring training as a member of the Red Sox organization, it feels like an appropriate time to look back at the winter pitching prospect Eduardo Rivera had.

Rivera, a 21-year-old left-hander, spent the winter on his home island of Puerto Rico. The San Juan native opened the 2024-2025 Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente (LBPRC) regular season with the Cangrejeros de Santurce and was excellent.

In 11 regular-season appearances (seven starts), Rivera posted a 1.15 ERA and 0.95 WHIP with a league-leading 56 strikeouts to 12 walks over 39 innings. He made an additional start for the Cangrejeros in the playoffs — in which he struck out eight across six scoreless frames — before they were eliminated by the Senadores de San Juan on January 12.

Three days after Santurce was knocked out of the semi-finals, Rivera joined the Indios de Mayaguez for their best-of-nine LBPRC championship series matchup against San Juan. The lefty got the starting nod in Games 2 and 6 (the clincher) and picked up where he left off by tossing 10 total innings of shutout ball as Mayaguez was ultimately crowned league champion for the 20th time in franchise history.

As a result of being on the championship-clinching team in the LBPRC, Rivera made Puerto Rico’s roster for the 2025 Caribbean Series in Mexicali, Mexico. He unfortunately struggled in his lone start against the Dominican Republic in round-robin action on February 4, surrendering seven runs (three earned) on six hits, one walk, one hit batsman, and five strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings. The Dominican Republic then defeated Mexico in the final on February 7 to take home its fifth Caribbean Series title.

Regardless of how it ended, it was nonetheless a productive winter for Rivera after what must have been a turbulent 2024 season stateside. The southpaw was released by the Athletics (the organization that originally selected him in the 11th round of the 2021 draft out of high school) last May. He then signed a minor-league contract with the Red Sox in June and made four appearances (one start) in the rookie-level Florida Complex League before joining Low-A Salem in late July.

In six outings (four starts) for Salem, Rivera forged a 1.99 ERA (2.56 FIP) with 30 strikeouts to seven walks over 22 2/3 innings in which opposing hitters batted just .175 against him. Among the 21 Red Sox minor-leaguers who threw at least 20 innings in the Carolina League last year, Rivera ranked first in WHIP (0.93), second in ERA and line-drive rate (16 percent), third in strikeout rate (33.3 percent) and xFIP (2.59), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (11.91), batting average against, FIP, and groundball rate (54 percent), fifth in walks per nine innings (2.78), sixth in swinging-strike rate (14.7 percent), and seventh in walk rate (7.8 percent), per FanGraphs.

Rivera, who does not turn 22 until June, is currently regarded by SoxProspects.com as the No. 58 prospect in Boston’s farm system after previously being unranked. The imposing 6-foot-7, 237-pound hurler throws from a three-quarters arm slot and incorporates a high leg kick into his delivery. He primarily operates with a 92-95 mph fastball that has reached 97 mph and also mixes in a changeup and slider.

Barring a trade or other surprise move, Rivera is projected by SoxProspects.com to make the jump to High-A Greenville for the start of the 2025 season. Whether he does so as a member of the Drive’s starting rotation or bullpen remains to be seen.

(Picture of Eduardo Rivera: Miguel Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Red Sox first base coach Ramón Vázquez leads Criollos de Caguas to second straight Puerto Rican Winter League title

Red Sox first base coach Ramon Vazquez made some history on Thursday night by becoming just the third manager to ever win four titles in the Puerto Rican Winter League (Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente).

Vazquez’s Criollos de Caguas took down Indios de Mayaguez by a final score of 4-3 at Estadio Isidoro “Cholo” García on Thursday to win the best-of-seven championship series four games to one.

This marks the second straight year in which Caguas have come out on top in Puerto Rico. The back-to-back national titles brings their total up to 20, which is the most among teams in the LBPRC.

Alex Cora, of course, hails from Caguas, so it is safe to assume the Red Sox manager is proud of what his hometown team accomplished on Thursday.

Vazquez himself has been at the helm of Criollos for the most recent pair of those 20 championships. He previously won two titles as manager of Cangrejeros de Santurce in 2015-2016 and 2018-2019.

A veteran of nine major-league seasons, Vazquez originally joined Cora’s coaching staff in Boston in November 2017. After serving as a coach and interpreter through his first three years with the club, the Aibonito native was named quality control coach/interpreter upon Cora’s re-hiring in Nov. 2020.

Last season, Vazquez shifted from quality control coach to first base coach when it was revealed that unvaccinated individuals such as Tom Goodwin would not be granted on-field access during the playoffs.

Goodwin, who had served as Boston’s first base coach since 2018, was relieved of his duties in October. Two months later, the Red Sox announced that Vazquez would be taking over as first base coach on a full-time basis and that he would also be responsible for coordinating the team’s base-running instruction.

Now 45 years old, Vazquez is about to embark upon his fifth season as an integral member of the Red Sox coaching staff. Before that, though, he will be representing his home island of Puerto Rico in the 2022 Caribbean Series.

The tournament, which begins next Friday and runs through February 3, will feature winter league champions from Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Panama, Colombia, and host nation Dominican Republic.

Criollos de Caguas have won five Caribbean Series titles in their storied history. They most recently finished as the runner-ups behind Aguilas Cibaenas of the Dominican Winter League last year.

(Picture of Ramon Vazquez: Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports)