6/1/26 : Dominican Summer League Opening Day
- Steve Potter
- 4 minutes ago
- 5 min read
Today is opening day for the Dominican Summer League (DSL) which was founded in 1985. Since the 2016 season the Phillies have fielded two teams (Phillies Red & Phillies White) in the league, this year they will consolidate into one club. The move is designed to allow for a more concentrated focus on individual player development at the team’s Dominican Academy. The league plays games to mid August with 72 games per team scheduled.
The DSL Phillies team (entitled Phillies) will be managed by Felix Castillo who will be in his second year as a manager, he has been a Phillies DSL coach since the 2019 season. Felix played minor league baseball from 2010 to 2015 as a catcher. The club’s Bench Coach will be Manny Martinez who served as the hitting coach for the Phillies Red club last season and as a coach for Phillies White in 2024. He was the hitting coach for Phillies Red in 2023 and manager of the DSL Mets from 2015 thru 2022 - he played in three major league seasons in the 1990’s with the Phillies, Mariners, Pirates and Expos. Waner Santana will be the team’s infield coach, for the past three seasons he was the manager of the Phillies White team. In 2010 Waner was the strength and conditioning coach for the DSL Phillies. He then served as manager of Phillies Red from 2017 to 2019 and again in 2021, was a coach in 2022 to 2023 for Phillies Red. He played minor league baseball in the Giants organization as a middle infielder from 2000 to 2002. Four others round out the coaching staff (Pitching Coach - Carlos Hernandez, Assistant Pitching Coach- Cesar Cabral, Hitting Coach - Melky Mesa and Hitting Development Coach - Guillermo Matos).
The opening day roster includes players from seven countries (Aruba, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Italy, Japan, Panama and Venezuela) demonstrating the diversity of the Phillies international scouting efforts. With one club instead of two the talent base has a more qualitative competitive balance.
Matt Winkleman (Phillies Minor Thoughts) provides a more detailed analysis of the Phillies Dominican League efforts than anyone not within the organization, I suggest reading his efforts on both the opening day roster and throughout the summer. That being said here are a few players to look out for on the squad.
Pitchers :
RH Justin Burgos - 17 years old - Dominican Republic - signed 1/15/26 - Baseball America says this “he stands out for his size, athletic delivery and loose arm, and he touches the low 90s with his fastball while showing flashes of feel for both a curveball and changeup.”
RH Yilmar Samudio - 17 years old - Panama - signed 1/15/26 - Baseball America says this “a fastball that touches 96 mph. It’s a strong fastball for his age with good feel to pitch. His ability to spin a breaking ball gives him another standout trait.”
RH Cristian Rego - 17 years old - Cuba - signed 4/3/26 - he was part of the 2024 Cuban under-18 team - noted for a big arm with a fastball range from 94-96 mph and a secondary mix that includes a slider, sinker, change up and curve. He emigrated to the Dominican Republic.
RH Luis Mirabal - 18 years old -Venezuela - signed 1/15/26 - features a fastball in the 90-93 mph range, slider and change up. Shows that he knows how to pitch with mix and sequencing. Good mechanics.
LH Samuel Ortiz - 17 years old - Venezuela - signed 1/15/26 - Baseball America says this “sits in the low-90s with a lively fastball that touches 93 mph. That’s a strong fastball for his age, especially from the left side, and he pairs it with a high-spin breaking ball that should rack up whiffs as he continues to refine its shape, with his breaking ball ahead of his changeup.”
Catchers :
Deivas Velasquez - 18 years old - Venezuela - signed 1/15/25 - did not get into a game last season - injured - Baseball America says this “has a strong frame with a promising mix of both hitting ability and power for a young catcher. He has a short righthanded stroke, shows feel for the strike zone and is aggressive when he does swing.”
Sebastian Saenz - 17 years old - Venezuela - signed 1/15/26 - Baseball America says this “a promising lefthanded bat. He’s a strong, stocky receiver with a short swing, working inside out at times with a handsy stroke to put balls in play at a high clip. Saenz will flash over-the-fence juice to his pull side with solid power for a young catcher.”
Infielder :
SS Juan Parra - 17 years old - Venezuela- signed 1/15/26 - Baseball America says this“He’s a plus runner with a quick first step at shortstop, where he’s an easy, athletic mover. Like a lot of young shortstops, he’s still learning to be more consistent on the routine plays, but he has good hands, actions, range and body control along with an average arm. Parra is a switch-hitter with good plate discipline.”
Outfielders :
Francisco Renteria - 17 years old - Venezuela - signed 1/15/26 - Baseball America says this “has played for Venezuela in multiple international tournaments, most recently the U-15 World Cup in 2024. His physicality, power and athleticism all jump out. His strength and explosive bat speed yield some of the best raw power in the 2026 international class and enable him to put on a huge show during batting practice, launching balls out of the park from the middle of the field over to his pull side.”
Dayber Cruceta - 18 years old - Dominican Republic - signed 1/15/25 - posted a .291/.438/.373 slash line and .811 OPS in 42 games (169 PA’s) with 6 doubles, a triple and HR last year for the Phillies White squad. Baseball America says this “he’s a lefty with a handsy swing, good strike-zone judgment and makes contact at a high clip with a good offensive track record as an amateur. It’s mostly gap power now with the chance for more once he fills out.”
It’s always fun and entertaining to watch the DSL games, the players play with tremendous enthusiasm and energy, their passion for the sport shines thru. Wishing this year’s DSL Phillies great success - it’s a strong group of collective talent - will be interesting to see how these young men develop and mature over the next few years.
I used Baseball America as a source of information and excerpts from the international scouting articles written by Ben Badler. Would also like to acknowledge and thank Edwin Soto (Assistant Director - Player Development), Manny Amador (Dominican Academy Field Coordinator) and Travis Hergert (Director - Pitching Development - Programming) for their input and guidance.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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