It may be brutally cold and the landscape covered in white in northeast Ohio, but there is baseball being played in Venezuela. Cleveland Indians first baseman Jesus Aguilar took full advantage of the better playing conditions there, where he was named the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League’s (LVBP) Player of the Week for games played between December 12 and 18.
This year marks the sixth season that the 26-year-old Aguilar has played with the Leones del Caracas club in the LVBP. The Maracay, Aragua, Venezuela native led the league with four home runs in his six games during the week, including blasts in three straight games from December 16 to 18. He amassed 20 total bases for the week while going 7-for-18 (.389) at the plate with a .560 on-base percentage and seven runs batted in.
He hit safely in five of his six games played during the week. His best performance may have been at Aragua on December 16, when he was 2-for-2 at the plate with a single, a homer, one run scored, three runs batted in, and three more walks for good measure. He followed it the next day with a 2-for-3 performance with another homer, two runs scored, two more driven in, and another walk.
The right-handed hitter is slashing .310/.429/.595 through 35 games for Caracas with six doubles and nine homers. He has hit .326 against right-handers and has a nearly even strikeout-to-walk ratio with 25 Ks and 24 free passes this offseason entering action on Tuesday. He leads his club in homers, walks, slugging percentage, and OPS, is second in total bases, RBI, and on-base percentage, and is third in batting average. His home run production is fourth overall in the league.
Aguilar received 75% of the votes for the award. He had previously won the Player of the Week award in the LVBP during the 2013-2014 season.
He is the second Indians player to earn Player of the Week honors so far this season in the Venezuelan Professional Baseball League. His Columbus Clippers teammate, Giovanny Urshela, took home the award in the seventh week of the season (November 21-28) while playing third base for Aguilas del Zulia. Former Indians minor leaguer Carlos Rivero (2005-2010) won the award in the season’s ninth week.
Aguilar is joined on the Caracas roster by several faces familiar to the Indians organization. His Columbus Clippers teammates Yandy Diaz and Yhoxian Medina are on the team. Former members of the Indians organization – Asdrubal Cabrera, Gregorio Petit, Fernando Nieve, and Jhoulys Chacin – have also been part of the Leones roster this season.
The LVBP regular season ends on December 29.
Photo: AVS Photo Report
