Ruben Ibarra didn’t even open the Mexican Winter League with Hermosillo. By the time he got into the Naranjeros’ fifth game, though, he made his arrival impossible to miss.
The Reds prospect blasted two home runs in that first appearance, and he has kept right on launching the ball ever since. He homered twice on Wednesday night, then went deep again last night. Through 15 games, Ibarra leads the Mexican Winter League with eight home runs.
The power is the headline, but it’s not the whole story. Ibarra has gone 20-for-59, good for a .339 batting average, and he’s drawn eight walks to post a .426 on-base percentage. Add in the damage from the long ball and his slugging percentage sits at .797, which gives the right-handed hitter a 1.223 OPS.
He’s also been one of the league’s biggest run producers. Ibarra has scored 11 runs, but he’s driven in 24, which leads the league despite the modest sample size.
He’s also first in slugging percentage, seventh in batting average and second in OPS. He has hits in 13 of his 15 games, and in one of the two hitless outings he still reached base twice by going 0-for-1 with two walks.
He’s had multiple hits five times, and at this point he looks like a real MVP candidate in the early going.
Ibarra hit 25 home runs for Double-A Chattanooga this past season.
Juan Brito is also carrying his Cincinnati momentum into winter ball. The Reds picked him up from Cleveland in a trade deadline deal after the Guardians designated him for assignment, with the move later officially listed as one deal in the transaction logs even though it was first reported separately from the trade that also brought a pitching prospect to the Reds organization.
Brito didn’t go straight to the big league club after the trade. He spent August with Triple-A Louisville before getting called up in September, and he finished strong in Cincinnati. After hitting just .176 in 15 games with Cleveland earlier in the year, Brito posted a .309/.339/.509 line over 18 games with the Reds in the final month.
He didn’t jump into Dominican Winter League play right away either, but he’s now on the Toros roster and has appeared in 10 of their 15 games. Brito has mostly played first base, with three starts at second and one at third. At the plate, he’s been just as productive as he was down the stretch in Cincinnati, going 11-for-34 with a .324/.444/.500 line and as many walks as strikeouts.
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Former Reds Trade Piece Could Reopen A Painful Luis Castillo Debate
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For Reds fans, Stoudts latest stop is another reminder of how much that Castillo deal still lingers in the background. Cincinnati has already seen one of the pieces from that trade move on to a new developmental home, and Tampa Bays track record makes this a situation worth watching closely, even if it remains to be seen whether Stoudt can finally turn the promise that once made him a notable part of the return into something more lasting. [Read more 🡒]