Last night the LIDOM (Dominican Winter League) draft was held. The rules are different this year than in years past as far as which players are eligible to be drafted. While the rules used to have any player born in the Dominican Republic to be eligible for the draft as long as they had played in Single-A by August of the current year, the rules this year have changed it to players must have reached High-A by August or have spent two seasons in Single-A. Players who had played in the Dominican Summer League at some point and were also 23-years-old were also eligible. That left just two players in the Cincinnati Reds farm system eligible to be selected this year.
Right-handed pitcher Stharlin Torres was the first player selected from the organization. Aguilas Cibaenas took him with their 3rd round pick, and the 18th overall selection in the draft. Five minutes later the Aguilas took the other player from the farm system when they selected Deivi Villafana in the 4th round with the 24th overall selection in the draft. There were nine rounds and 54 total players selected out of the 99 players who were eligible this season.
In 2025, Stharlin Torress had his second straight outstanding season. In his first taste of pro baseball in 2024 he posted a 1.76 ERA for the DSL Reds and Rojos while throwing 56.1 innings. He followed that up by dominating the Arizona Complex League where he had a 1.88 ERA in 2025, but threw just 38.1 innings after missing the final month of the already short rookie-league season.
This season things didn’t go quite as well. Torres began the year with Single-A Daytona where he pitched in 15 games and posted an ERA of 5.93 in his 68.1 innings. After allowing just two home run in his first two combined seasons he allowed 12 of them in the Florida State League this season. He walked batters at a higher rate than in the past and his strikeout rate plummeted.
His time with the Tortugas was seemingly split into a good half and a bad half. He didn’t join Daytona until late April, but in his first nine starts he had an ERA of 8.47 with 16 walks, 30 strikeouts, and 10 home runs while giving up 51 hits in 39.1 innings. That stretch culminated with an 8-run, 1.1 innings outing against St. Lucie.
A week later he got back on the mound at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona and threw 6.0 shutout innings. He didn’t look back from there, posting a 2.48 ERA in his final six starts with the Tortugas while giving up two home runs, walking just seven, and striking out 21 batters in those 29.0 innings pitched. Torres then joined Dayton in early August and pitched in five games down the stretch for them, making two starts then pitching out of the bullpen in three games. With the Dragons he threw 15.2 innings with a 4.02 ERA.
Deivi Villafana’s path was both different and similar to that of Torres. Both players began their professional career in the Dominican Summer League in 2024, but Villafana was already 21-years-old when that happened, while Torres was just 18 at the time.
You can see the career stats for Stharlin Torres here.
For Villafana, his 2024 season didn’t start when the regular season did. In fact, he didn’t even sign with the Reds until a month after the 2024 Dominican Summer League season began. It was be nearly a month after he signed before he got on the mound. He had just three weeks left in the season and only pitched in five games before the year ended.
In 2025 he made the jump up to the Arizona Complex League Reds. Things didn’t exactly go his way. He pitched in 12 games and made eight starts, throwing 46.2 innings with a 6.56 ERA while giving up 78 hits. He did walk just nine batters and strike out 42 as he showed a good ability to throw strikes.
In 2026 he began the season with Daytona in the Florida State League. The first 13 games he pitched in went well. He gave up two home runs and had a 3.61 ERA in 52.1 innings. But his final three starts with Daytona were a bit of a struggle as he allowed 14 runs in 14.0 innings. After that he joined the High-A Dayton Dragons. In the final five weeks of the regular season he was inconsistent, but more of his outings were on the negative side of the ledger as he posted a 7.91 ERA in 33.0 innings.
You can see the career stats for Deivi Villafana here.
While some players do play the year in which they were drafted, that isn’t always the case. The Dominican Winter League is arguably the top winter league in the world and the level of play is quite high. It tends to get higher as the season goes on as more high-level players join the league as the playoffs get closer. Early on in the season there are more opportunities for guys who are in A-ball to get onto the field and get chances to perform.