White Sox MiLB Report: Prospects Bond Together in Dominican Republic
White Sox prospects bond during a trip to the Dominican Republic. Top prospects get a chance to see how others from the area grew up.
While most of the news about the White Sox have been about their attempts to sign a superstar free agent, the best news of this past week was a trip many of their top prospects made. Earlier this week, many of the Sox top prospects took a trip to the Dominican Republic.
Top prospects such as Zack Collins, Eloy Jimenez, Jimmy Lambert, and Seby Zavala were on hand during the White Sox visit to the Dominican Republic. Jimenez, a native of the Dominican Republic, was able to showcase his home country to fellow Sox prospects.
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The Sox had up to thirteen of their prospects go on a retreat to the Dominican Republic according to James Fegan of The Athletic (subscription required). A trip brought together by Sox director of player development Chris Getz was appreciated by many of the team’s prospects. Some of whom who had played before energetic crowds in other Spanish-speaking countries such as Cuba.
For Jimenez, the trip back to his native country was a chance for him to reflect on his own personal journey to playing professional baseball in the United States. According to Fegan, Jimenez saw this trip as an opportunity for players in the Dominican Republic to get used to seeing familiar faces that could help in their transition to playing major league baseball. Many players that come from the Dominican Republic and other Spanish-speaking countries typically have a hard time adjusting to life as a baseball player in the United States.
"“It was … everything: it was hard, it was scary, I didn’t know the language. When you know a couple of guys you see in the United States, you say, ‘Oh, I’ve seen you there in the Dominican’ and you can talk with more confidence. But when you don’t know anybody and the first time you see some guy, what are you going to talk to him about? You’re afraid to talk to him.” Eloy Jimenez"
The White Sox putting together a trip to the Dominican Republic for many of their top prospects was a good idea. Some of those prospects got a chance to see life in another country and got a better understanding of another culture. This is the type of good news that shouldn’t go unnoticed for the Sox.