Baltimore Orioles Ryan Flaherty on experience in the Dominican Winter League- MLB News
Second baseman Ryan Flaherty is one of the few debutants for the Baltimore Orioles in the Major League. The 26-year-old was selected by the birds in 2011’s Rule 5 Draft from the Chicago Cubs.
He was originally drafted by the Chicago ball club in the first round of 2008’s MLB’s Amateur Draft from the Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee and played in the Cubs farm system for four years.
After being selected by the Orioles, he made his Major League debut for the Baltimore ball club on April 7, 2012. Since then he has come a long way, has played 77 games with a batting average of .216 and a .258 on-base percentage.
The batter had 19 RBI’s and six home-runs to go with 33 hits in 153 at-bats. He hit his first home-run in mid of April and got his first career grand slam in September against the Boston Red Sox. He also hit a home-run against the New York Yankees in the
American League Division Series in Game 3.
Recently he was playing in the Dominican Winter League to further hone his skills. He spoke about that and much more in a recent interview with MLB.com.
To a query about the open wish of manager Buck Showalter for Ryan to play in winter league and get some more at-bats, he said that it was a great learning experience. For now he is enjoying the experience and learning every day.
‘’Winter league [ball] has been a great learning experience. I feel every time I get a chance to play, I learn more about myself and the more at-bats I get, I can learn from them,’’ Ryan said in the interview to MLB.com.
When asked about a shortened break in the winters due to his stint in the Dominican Republic, he did not complain and was looking forward to be back on the playing field for the spring training.
‘’There are definitely times it gets long, but I enjoy playing and am now looking forward to January and the beginning of February, to getting back in the weight room and getting some work there before Spring Training arrives,’’ Flaherty said.
He enjoyed his first experience in the Dominican Winter League and was impressed by the passion the locals had for the game.
‘’It is definitely a different culture down here than it is in the United States. They are very passionate about baseball here,’’ Ryan said.
Every year a number of players from the US go for winter leagues and gain valuable experience overseas. Ryan Flaherty has just recently started his Major League journey and stints such as these will certainly carry great value in enhancing his experience
and level of understanding for the game.
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